Pope seeks to build on Muslim outreach with Morocco trip

FILE – In this Sunday, March 10, 2019 file photo, Christians, mostly sub-Saharan migrants, take part in a Sunday mass in a cathedral in Rabat, Morocco. Pope Francis is forging ahead with his promotion of moderate Islam during a weekend trip to Morocco, seeking to build on warming ties with the Sunni world while also ministering to a tiny Catholic community and offering solidarity with migrants. For the 82-year-old pope, the 27-hour, whirlwind visit to Rabat will be a welcome reboot to a year that has otherwise been dominated by the global Catholic clergy sex abuse scandal and the downfall of three of his cardinals. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy, File)

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis is forging ahead with promoting moderate Islam during a weekend trip to Morocco, seeking to build on warming ties with the Sunni world while also ministering to a tiny Catholic community and offering solidarity with migrants.

For the 82-year-old pope, the 27-hour, whirlwind visit to Rabat, the Moroccan capital, will be a welcome reboot to a year that has otherwise been dominated by the global Catholic clergy sex abuse scandal and the downfall of three of his cardinals.

The trip comes after Francis’ February visit to the United Arab Emirates, where the pope and the imam of Cairo’s Al Azhar, the seat of Sunni learning, signed a landmark joint statement establishing the relationship between Catholics and Muslims as brothers, with a common mission to promote peace.

The document, which Francis has been giving to visiting heads of state and which has been welcomed by Muslim intellectuals in Europe and the Mideast, is likely to feature in some of Francis’ remarks.

The highlight of the Morocco trip will be Francis’ visit Saturday to the Mohammed VI Institute, a school of learning for imams that epitomizes Morocco’s efforts to promote a moderate brand of Islam and export it via preachers to Africa, the Middle East and Europe.

Morocco, a Sunni Muslim kingdom of 36 million, reformed its religious policies and education to limit the spread of fundamentalism in 2004, following terrorist bombings in Casablanca in 2003 that killed 43 people.

The Mohammed VI Institute, named for the king, trains Moroccan imams, as well as those from sub-Saharan Africa, Tunisia, Libya and Europe.

“Morocco has taken it upon itself to become a patron of moderate Islam in both Africa and Europe,” said Abdellah Boussouf, secretary-general of the Council of the Moroccan Community Living Abroad.

The aim, he said, is to prevent Muslims in Europe and Africa from becoming victims of terrorism to “change the negative image Islam has” in Europe.

Francis had planned to deliver a greeting at the institute, which is located in the Madinat al’Irfane University campus district of Rabat.

But a revised plan calls instead for two students and Morocco’s minister for religious affairs to take the floor, while the pope and king listen, Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said. / gsg