The new face of the Catholics of Morocco
Author: Remy Pigaglio
Publication Date: 15/6/2021
Source: Paudal
The Saint-Pierre cathedral in Rabat is still almost empty. In front, only a few benches are occupied by the twenty members of the choir. As every week, they meet shortly before Sunday mass, to rehearse. African melodies and rhythms rise. Like the Catholic Church of Morocco, the young choristers come from all over the continent.
→ CONTEXT. Morocco: the diocese of Rabat convenes its second synod
When Father Daniel Nourissat, parish priest of Rabat, began the celebration at 11 a.m., the cathedral filled up. The faces, behind the masks, are overwhelmingly black. The choir gives rhythm to the mass with its songs, most of them in French. A song in Lingala, spoken in particular in the two Congos, arises during the quest.
Casimir, the 33-year-old choirmaster, is Togolese. Arrived in Morocco in 2008, he has just defended his thesis in law. “As soon as I arrived in Rabat, I found several Catholic Churches. I was not excpecting that at all ! “, he remembers.
“Which Church today for Morocco? “
From the end of the 1990s, Morocco encouraged the arrival of thousands of sub-Saharan students. In just a few years, they have revived the Church, alongside African workers and migrants. Until then, the Christian community consisted mainly of European workers, and Europeans from Morocco who remained after independence in 1956. “It had dramatically reduced! “, recalls Claude, a 73-year-old Frenchman.
Cardinal Cristobal Lopez Romero, Archbishop of Rabat since 2018, has decided to convene a diocesan synod which started on May 23. “The universal Church and that of Morocco have undergone important changes. All this must be assimilated to answer the question: which Church today for Morocco? “, he describes.
In the two dioceses of Rabat and Tangier, there would be around 20,000 Catholics, a figure that has never really been verified. “There are more men than women, young people than old people, blacks than whites, describes the Spanish archbishop. With over 100 nationalities, our Church has become more Catholic! “
The Church organizes a summer school every year and has created the chaplaincy for Catholic students in Morocco. “These young people are generally 20, 25 years old. They grow up here, in fact, far from home. The Church must be there to accompany them ”, considers Fr. Joseph Bamuamba, originally from Congo-Kinshasa.
Six pastoral assistants
But Morocco is also a land of passage more and more used by migrants who wish to go to Europe. Each year, Caritas Maroc supports thousands of them. Some decide to settle down. “At mass in English, half of the faithful are migrants. About fifteen children, born here, are educated at the Moroccan school, where lessons are in Arabic. Here is an example of one of our new challenges: how to organize catechesis when the children do not write English? “, describes Bro. Manuel Corullón Fernández, Franciscan Custos, originally from Spain.
In order to supervise this growing community, the Church created the original function of pastoral assistant. “The Holy Father encouraged lay ministries, and with the pastoral assistants who number six today, we are precursors! “, considers Father Nourissat, originally from France. These young people benefit from a theological training at Al Mowafaqa, this ecumenical institute created in Rabat by the Catholic and Protestant churches to train their staff in particular.
As for the forty or so priests in the diocese, almost all of them are “Fidei donum”. “It is a Church in continuous change. Half of the priests came after me ”, describes Cardinal Romero.
“A humble light”
If freedom of worship is recognized by the Moroccan constitution, this is not the case for freedom of conscience. In the eyes of the law, a Moroccan can only be a Muslim or a Jew, even if a community of Moroccan Christians (especially Protestants) is tolerated. The Church is thus, in theory, made up entirely of foreigners in a country where almost the entire population is Muslim and Islam is the state religion.
In 2019, during his historic visit to the kingdom, Pope Francis declared that “The paths of the mission do not pass through proselytism, which always leads to a dead end, but through our way of being with Jesus and with others”.
“We do not experience the same relationship with Islam as in sub-Saharan Africa or in Europe, plays Cristobal Lopez Romero. Our approach to Islamic-Christian dialogue is a humble light, but one which can be of use to the whole Church. “
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A Synod for a Multicultural Church
On May 23, Archbishop Cristobal Lopez Romero convened the synod of the diocese of Rabat. The previous synod took place from 1993 to 1995.
The synod must answer the question: “Because of Jesus and the Gospel, which Church in Morocco?” “
In a letter to the people of God,the archbishop considers that“It is necessary to allow ourselves to be questioned and moved by the multiculturality of our Church and also to take root in the culture and reality of this country”.
Link: https://www.paudal.com/2021/06/15/the-new-face-of-the-catholics-of-morocco-2/
