In Morocco, on the paths of Mediterranean Theology
From January 31 to February 7, we participated in an itinerant course in Morocco with a group of 16 people composed of students and lecturers from the St. Louis section of PFTIM and some external guests. It was an experience of a discovery of and dialogue with a culture new to many of us, in an attempt to deepen the research and academic reflection on “Theology of the Mediterranean”. This theology aims to “contribute to the weaving of a network among the Churches of the Mediterranean and, through them, among the peoples of the countries bordering this sea”. It was an opportunity to learn about the reality of the Church in Morocco from within, an “insignificant but significant” Church, a “symbolic” Church, as the Archbishop of Rabat, Cardinal Cristóbal López Romero, called it.
We spent the first days in Tangier, a city at the crossroads of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, a bridge between Spain (and therefore Europe) and Africa. Here we met the religious of the diocese who had gathered to celebrate the feast of consecrated life with their bishop. With them we shared reflections on the theological research being carried out by our faculty in Naples. Then we listened to the Bishop’s testimony about his pastoral experience in Morocco. Another important moment was the meeting with a group of Sufis, with whom we prayed and who shared with us some aspects of their spirituality, talking also about “our Lord Jesus” and his “resurrection for peace”. We found their spirituality in some ways very close to our own.
In the following days, we visited the Church of Rabat and met with its archbishop, who spoke to us about the theology of the “Visitation”, conceived in the 1970s by Christian de Chergé, a monk from Tibhirine. This theology is one of the foundations of interreligious dialogue between Christians and Muslims in this region. Also, in the capital of the Kingdom of Morocco, we had a discussion with some lecturers from the Al Mowafaqa Ecumenical Theological Centre, which continued to deepen our theological research.
One of the most important meetings took place in Midelt, in the heart of the country, in the Atlas Mountains. Following in the footsteps of Christian de Chergé, we visited the monastic community of Notre Dame de l’Atlas, which welcomed the two Tibhirine survivors and inherited their way of living the Christian faith in the land of Islam.
Our days were enriched by the insights of Fr. Luigi Territo on the life and spirituality of Charles de Foucauld, a saint who rediscovered his faith in Christ in this country and in dialogue with the Moroccan people.
We managed to combine moments of study and academic reflection – which provided us with many insights to continue our research on a theology rooted in the Mediterranean – with moments of leisure, such as discovering the medinas of Tangier and Rabat and exploring the local cuisine.
Personally, I am deeply grateful for the experience of this journey, not only for the knowledge I gained, but also for the opportunity to deepen the bond with the other Jesuit brothers with whom I shared this study trip.
Eduard Martinas