Moroccan Ambassador to Vatican: Islamophobia Used as Political Tool

It is in an interview given to the daily Al Massae that the ambassador addressed the issues related to Islamophobia, which, for her, remains an "alibi". On the question of what her role as a diplomat in a state like the Vatican, which in terms of trade, political and other relations, has nothing to exchange with Morocco, Rajae Mekkaoui believes that "the principles of tolerance and coexistence between civilizations, cultures and religions" are sufficient reasons to collaborate.

Rajae Mekkaoui is a university specialist in criminal law and religious sciences. She was the first woman to give a lecture before the King during the religious talks of Ramadan in 2003. But she is above all the first Muslim and Arab woman to be appointed ambassador to the Holy See. She explains the acceptance of her appointment by the immense and deep respect that Pope Francis has for Amir Al Mouminine, King Mohammed VI.

For her, this respect materialized during the last visit of the sovereign pontiff to Morocco. A visit during which he gave strong signals on the relations between the two countries, by elevating the Archbishop of Rabat, Cristóbal Lopez Romero, to the rank of cardinal. And extraordinarily, the Pope reminded the newly appointed Cardinal that the role of the church in Morocco is not to "Christianize Moroccans, but to ensure the exemplary coexistence that has always prevailed between Christians and Muslims in the land of Islam", reports Le360.

Rajae Mekkaoui recalled that "the opposite would have been true for Muslims in Christian lands, if it were not for these populist, racist, xenophobic parties of the European far right who, for electoral reasons, have made Islamophobia their stock in trade".

She believes that, in a world marked by armed conflicts, ethno-religious violence and ecological perils, wisdom and good initiatives are welcome. This is the direction in which the spiritual diplomacy regularly deployed by the king (with his attempts at reconciliation between Arab neighbors in the Gulf) and Pope Francis, through his travels, his Sunday homilies and his annual Urbi et orbi, is unfolding, the same source specifies.