Moroccan Archbishop describes
fruits of Pope Francis’ visit
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| Pope Francis speaks with the Archbishop of Rabat (AFP) |
At the conclusion of Pope Francis’ Apostolic Visit to
Morocco, the Archbishop of Rabat speaks about the future of the Catholic Church
in the country.
By John Waters
With the papal visit to Morocco concluded, Archbishop
Cristobal Lopez Romero of Rabat spoke to Vatican News about the impact of Pope
Francis’ visit and his hopes for the future of the small Moroccan Church.
Archbishop Lopez Romero said he is grateful to God for all
of the graces which the Pope’s trip brought to the Church in Morocco. He
thanked all of the State and Church Authorities who worked to ensure the
success of the visit and highlighted 3 topics addressed by the Pope as being of
particular interest to Moroccans.
Interreligious dialogue
“Let's start with interreligious, Islamic-Christian
dialogue: we think that, with what the King and Pope said, we can take a step
forward. So far there has been much talk of ‘coexistence’ and ‘tolerance’, but
the King has said that tolerance is ‘little’. I also said this after a year:
that is, that we must move on to friendship, mutual knowledge, mutual
enrichment: to build together universal fraternity starting with ourselves. We
must make a qualitative leap in the Islamic-Christian dialogue: I do not know if
we will be able to do it, but it is our work starting from this moment,” said
Archbishop Lopez Romero.
Migration
Addressing the issue of migration, the Archbishop noted
that, as Pope Francis said, migration is a right of the people and he used four
words to describe the correct attitude of the receiving countries: “accepting,
protecting, promoting, integrating.”
Noting the changes that need to be made in this regard,
Archbishop Lopez Romero said, “We must open our hearts. It is necessary that
the doors are opened after having opened our hearts. And we need to change the
laws of international trade, the economic system, so that everyone can stay in
their own country and not be forced to leave their country because of war or
for economic reasons. Migration is a right, but it must be able to be done in
an orderly way that is respectful of human rights.”
Proselytism
Speaking to the Church’s ministers in Rabat, Pope Francis
made a statement on proselytism – the practice of attempting to convert people
to a religion by persuasion and argument – which is illegal in Morocco, where
the majority of the population are Muslims.
The Pope called on Moroccan Christians not to proselytize.
Archbishop Lopez Romero explained why the Pope had chosen his words carefully
for his speech.
“There are Christians who do not understand this aspect: the
Church does not want to proselytize. Benedict XVI already said: ‘The Church
grows not by proselytism but by attraction, by witness.’ This is why we are
‘comfortable’ here in Morocco, where proselytizing is forbidden, because we do
not want to proselytize. Our goal is not ‘to increase the clients of the
Church’: our goal is the Kingdom of God, that peace may grow, that there be
more fraternity, respect for life, more love, and more truth.”
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