Morocco’s Catholic Community Grows as Sub-Saharan Migrants Reshape Church

"The universal Church and that of Morocco have undergone major changes. All of this must be assimilated to answer the question: what Church today for Morocco?" This is the problem raised by the Archbishop of Rabat, Cardinal Cristobal Lopez Romero, reported by the confessional newspaper La Croix, which headlines on the new face of the Moroccan Catholic Church.

According to the newspaper, the kingdom, as the main gateway to Europe, has regularized thousands of migrants, among whom there are many Christians. The Archbishop of Rabat explains that "the Catholic Christian population is predominantly African. In our communities, there are more men than women, more young people than adults, and more blacks than whites," he confides to the daily.

He explains that "for about ten years, the Church of Morocco has seen the number of faithful increase and remains alive, young and dynamic, thanks to the influx of sub-Saharan African students and migrants who invest in the parishes."

This statement will be supported by a faithful who recounts to the newspaper her experience within the Catholic community in Morocco. "It’s still a good thing for us who are in a Muslim foreign country, to also get acquainted with our religion. So I really think it’s a very good thing that there is a Catholic church in Morocco."

Like her, they are more than 90% from sub-Saharan Africa. Some are students attracted by the university scholarship system. The share of Europeans, expatriates or pieds noirs descendants, is constantly decreasing. There are still 44 churches animated by 57 priests of about fifteen nationalities, supervised by two bishops, in Tangier and Rabat, the newspaper informs.

To better supervise this growing congregation, the Moroccan Catholic Church has created the original function of pastoral assistant. "The Holy Father has encouraged lay ministries, and with the pastoral assistants who are now six in number, we are precursors," estimates Father Nourissat, originally from France. These young people benefit from theological training at