VATICAN/RABAT, March 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Pope Francis heads to Morocco on Saturday, the first pope to do so in 35 years, with inter-religious dialogue and immigration on the agenda.
The Argentine pontiff will be welcomed by the North African country’s population of around 30,000 Roman Catholics, mostly sub-Saharan African students or migrants headed for Europe.
Up to 10,000 are expected to attend a mass in a Rabat stadium on Sunday, a first in the 99-percent Sunni Muslim country since Jean Paul II visited in 1985.
Following on from his visit to the United Arab Emirates in January, the papal mass will come the day after meeting the “Commander of the Faithful” King Mohammed VI and other senior religious leaders.
The spiritual leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Roman Catholics has repeatedly called for religious tolerance and dialogue and his visit is keenly awaited by the country’s Christian minority.
According to the constitution, “Islam is the religion of State, which guarantees freedom to worship for all.”
Unlike in Muslim-majority countries such as the UAE, apostasy in Morocco does not carry the death penalty.
Muslims can convert, but proselytising — described as “shaking the faith of a Muslim or converting them to another religion” — can be punished with up to three years in prison.
Francis will on Saturday meet migrants at the Caritas Diocesan Centre and give a speech.
Migrants are increasingly crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa to Spain since Italy all but closed its ports.
The Church has set up several such reception centres in different Moroccan cities, staffed by Christians and Muslims.
When Jean-Paul II visited in 1985 he attended an inter-religious meeting for 80,000 youths in a stadium.
Then King Hassan II was the first Arab head of state to invite the pope to visit, and he himself visited the Vatican in 1991. — NNN-AGENCIES
