"The Pope comes in response to the invitation of His Majesty, King Mohammed VI, and of the Church which is a pilgrim in Morocco. He will visit the Moroccan people and the ecclesial community, including the many brothers who are passing through and who laboriously migrate to Europe and in situations of great difficulty" said the Salesian.
"Pope Francis," writes the archbishop of Rabat, "wants to get in touch with the Moroccan people and their authorities, especially His Majesty the King, in a spirit of interreligious Islamic-Christian dialogue that both want to promote."
At the same time, Msgr. López emphasizes: "The Pope's mission, as the successor of the Apostle Peter, is to confirm us in faith. This is the main purpose of his visit."
The archbishop points out that the program has not yet been established, but "certainly will celebrate the Eucharist with all Christians who will want to and can gather." In the meantime, he invited Christians to prepare and "pray every day, personally, in the parish, in groups and in the family, for the success of this papal journey."
"Since our Church is an unknown and minority Church, the visit will help us to make visible the fact that in Morocco there is a Church that is very much alive," added Msgr. López in a conversation with Religión Digital. Moreover, observing that in his travels abroad it is tradition that the Pontiff visits a social work of the Church, the archbishop of Rabat considers it probable that in the end, Pope Francis will visit some relief and social work center for sub-Saharan migrants who arrive in the country.
