First meeting of the Franciscan family working with migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean concludes. “Migrants are rejected because they are poor.”
On Sunday, May 12, the first meeting of the Franciscan family gathered in Marrakech, Morocco, to address the issue of migration in the Mediterranean concluded.
The day was marked by the visit of Cardinal Cristóbal López Romero, SDB, Bishop of Rabat, who clearly presented the identity and mission of the Church in Morocco.
Speaking about ecclesial identity, he stated that “The Church in Morocco is migrant both sociologically and theologically.”
Sociologically because the majority of the thirty thousand Catholics in Morocco are migrants from at least a hundred nationalities.
For the cardinal, migration is not a problem or a misfortune.
Migrants are not welcomed in many places because they are poor, and this has to do with “aporophobia” or fear of the poor.
The theological identity of the migrant Church in Morocco comes from its pilgrim nature.
In this sense, this Church is migrant but not foreign because it seeks to embody itself and have a Moroccan face.
A Church that does not seek to establish itself but to build the Kingdom of God based on the values of justice, peace, freedom, life, truth, and, most fundamentally, love.
When addressing the ecclesial mission, the Bishop of Rabat stated that dialogue is at the center of this mission.
Dialogue is understood not as a trend or marketing strategy but as God’s way of communicating with creation and in the history of salvation.
Hence, the ecclesial message is the centrality of the Kingdom of God.
Furthermore, it is a mission that is reflected in the testimony that the Moroccan Church offers to the universal Church: universal brotherhood is possible.
“This testimony is ‘an experience of life that Christians and Muslims can live as brothers,’ he emphasized.”
Cardinal López Romero concluded his reflection by affirming that the Church in Morocco wants to be a sign not by the number of its members but by its authenticity.
It is a fascinating and passionate Church. Though it may be insignificant in size, it can be significant in impact.
After this dialogue, the Eucharist was celebrated with the community of the parish of Saints Martyrs of Marrakech and was presided over by the Cardinal of Rabat.
Each of the Eucharistic moments was lived with joy, hope and celebration.
During lunch, the brothers Fr. Jean de Dieu Bazibuhe, Fr. Fabio Lamour, and Fr. Manuel Corrullón, from the Franciscan fraternity of Marrakech, presented each participant with a souvenir kit.
Thus, the first meeting of the Franciscan family working with migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean came to a close.
