At a Meeting with refugees in Morocco, Pope Francis has called for more opportunities for legal Migration. Migrants and refugees need to be offered wider opportunities for safe and legal entry in destination countries, said Pope Francis on Saturday evening during his two-day visit in Morocco. “You’re not an outsider, you’re in the middle of the Heart of the Church.”
the head of the Catholic Church traveled on Saturday to Morocco, in order to devote himself to his two heart issues: Migration and the dialogue between Christians and Muslims. Before Pope Francis at the Caritas centre of Rabat met with 60 refugees, who are partly legal, partly illegal in Morocco, was Francis received from Moroccan king Mohammed VI.
The reality of this world make it clear that the dialogue between Christians, Muslims and Jews was insufficient, said the king, who referred to himself as “head of all believers” and thus the minority of Christians and Jews in Morocco. “The dialogue has been going on for a long time, and yet he has not reached his goal yet,” said Mohammed VI, On the Esplanade square in front of the Hassan tower, despite the pouring rain, also the numerous migrants from countries South of the Sahara present.
Pope Francis called on all the faithful to more dialogue, to address the world’s problems. “In this country, a natural bridge between Africa and Europe, I would like to emphasize once more the necessity of cooperation,” said Francis after his arrival in the Moroccan capital Rabat. There is a new impetus for a world would have to be given with greater solidarity.
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The Pope’s visit in the afternoon, the Mausoleum of king Mohammed V and a Imamschule. The solidarity of all believers needed to counter fanaticism and extremism, said Francis. In the war in Syria, many Moroccans of the Terrorist have joined Islamic state (IS). Only at the end of last year, two Scandinavian student were killed in Central Morocco brutally. The authorities saw indications of a Terrortat.
Islam is Morocco’s state religion
In Morocco Islam is the state religion. According to the Vatican, only about 23 000 people there are Catholic. Most of them are drawn either from Europe or especially from countries South of the Sahara. The country has about 35 million inhabitants.
In the run-up to the visit, the two Catholic bishops had pointed out in Morocco on the difficulties for the minorities in the North African country and, therefore, a discussion sparked. The Pope expressed however the hope that Morocco would continue to be “an example for humanity for migrants and refugees”.
On Saturday evening, Pope Francis met without the king Mohammed VI, refugees from the countries South of the Sahara. The illegal Migration and the harsh treatment of refugees, the Pontiff described as a “large and heavy wound”. It is about the image, “we as a society want to make and the price of every life”. This year alone, more than 120 people have when trying to died, to travel illegally across the Mediterranean sea from Morocco to Spain.
is Always denounced again by non-governmental organisations, the handling of the Moroccan security forces of migrants. For some time, migrants from sub-Saharan countries in buses from the Mediterranean coast are transported into the southern parts of the country, to keep them away from the boundaries in the direction of Europe.
Morocco has moved to the topic of Migration, most recently reinforced in the focus, since Rome departs from its hard course, and the Crossing from Libya to Italy is much more difficult. The main route has shifted towards the view of the EU border protection Agency Frontex, in the meantime, to the Western Mediterranean. The Spanish mainland from Morocco between 15 and 150 km.
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For Francis, it is the first trip to Morocco. Before him, Pope John Paul II visited in 1985, the North African Kingdom. The trip is also in the context of his visit to the Arab Peninsula in the beginning of February. There Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar University had signed a document together for inter-religious dialogue. (dpa)
