Morocco's relationship with the church dates back to antiquity

Morocco's relationship with the Christian church dates back to antiquity when, like all the other Roman provinces of North Africa, Christianity entered the country in the end of the 1st century or beginning 2nd century, through trade, colonization and human migrations, said Morocco's ambassador to the Holy See, Abdelouhad Maalmi.

In a lecture he gave at the Rome-based international association "Carita Politica" in the presence of foreign ambassadors to the Holy See, the diplomat recalled that Christianity started to decline in north Africa in 430 and disappeared completely after the arabs and muslims conquered the Maghreb.

However, he went on in his lecture entitled "being ambassador at the Holy See today," Christianity will re-enter Morocco and the rest of the Maghreb in the 12th century but its presence will be restricted to some merchants, prisoners, and mercenaries (from the 12th to the 15th century). The ambassador recalled that the first direct relation between a Moroccan king and the Holy See, was sponsored by Father Lurchundi, when in 1888 the King Moulay Hassan I sent to Rome his foreign minister, Al-Haj Mohamed Torres, to extend wishes and convey gifts to Pope Leon XIII.

This mission was actually the first Moroccan embassy at the Holy See, he explained, and historians consider it as a public testimony of the King's tolerance.

After he read out an abstract of the speech that the ambassador had delivered before the pope Leon XIII, Maalmi said today, king Hassan II is perpetuating this tradition in a more systematic way, in a vision that integrates the new role of the Holy See in international relations, particularly since the 70s when the Vatican consolidated its importance in Europe.

The lecturer further insisted that it is not a coincidence if in the middle of this century which witnessed an upsurge of Islamic extremism in the Arab and Muslim world, Morocco and the Vatican decided to establish permanent diplomatic relations.

In addition to traditions and to the personal friendship between King Hassan II and the Pope, the ambassador said Morocco's relations with the Holy See are associated with the great causes that Morocco defends internationally in its capacity as an Arab-Muslim country, an active member of the Organization of Islamic Conference and a Mediterranean country. Among these causes, the diplomat mentioned Al Quds issue, inter-religious dialogue and the image of Islam in the world, particularly in the west.

Maalmi pointed out in this regard that it is as a militant of Jerusalem (Al Quds) issue that the king associated the Holy See, in 1969 on the eve of a meeting of Islamic countries in Rabat following the arson of Al Aqsa mosque, in Islamic countries' efforts to prompt the international community find a solution to the serious issue of Jerusalem.

The king, the ambassador went on, dispatched a personal envoy to Pope Paul VI from whom he received a letter expressing support and solidarity. In his capacity as chairman of Al Quds committee, stemming from the OIC, the king visited in 1980, for the first time, the Vatican to meet the pope in order to inform him, and the whole Catholic world of the serious situation in Jerusalem.

The ambassador stated further that the Muslim world is expecting clear stances on the part of the Holy See against the systematic Judaization of the holy city at the expense of the Christian and Muslim religions and against the injustice acts targetting the Palestinian people.

Regarding dialogue between religions, the ambassador recalled that the Moroccan king has made of it a cornerstone in his vision of an international order based on justice, peace and solidarity. He added that for more efficiency, Muslims should have a general reference frame, at the level of the organization of Islamic conference, and a body to follow up, propose and coordinate various initiatives taken by Islam and other monotheist religions.

According to the Moroccan diplomat, one of the most important concerns of King Hassan II and of all muslims is the negative image disseminated about Islam in the world, and particularly in the west. "As a commander of the faithful, head of a country that belongs to the Islamic community, the sovereign deems it unfair and intolerable that Islam, which is the second most important religion in the world and one of the most brilliant human civilizations be associated with extremism, intolerance, violence and terrorism."

"To be an ambassador in the Holy See means actually to endeavor with it, as a moral power, to promote and make triumph the great values of peace, justice and solidarity," the ambassador concluded.