Every Wednesday, before the pope's catechesis, some children get to travel in the popemobile. They accompany Pope Francis while he greets pilgrims. This week these were the fortunate ones.
The pope then interrupted his catechesis series on the “Our Father” prayer to recall why he considers his recent trip to Morocco to be important.
POPE FRANCIS
“However, some may wonder why the pope is visiting Muslims and not just Catholics.” “What God wants is for there to be fraternity among us. This is why, in a special way, I made this trip to be with our Muslim brothers and sisters, children of Abraham, like us.”
He recalled that Catholics are not the only believers in the world. He also said that the variety of faiths should not divide.
POPE FRANCIS
“Why does God allow there to be many religions? God wanted to allow it. Scholastic theologians says: God's permissive will. He wanted to allow this reality. There are many religions that are born from culture, but they always look to Heaven, they look to God.” “We should not be afraid of difference, God has allowed it. However, we should be afraid if we do not work together with our brothers and sisters because we live together.”
Pope Francis said that during his trip he wanted to talk about the issue of migrations. Morocco is the last stage for many trying to reach Europe.
This is why he asked that the dignity of migrants not be damaged, because being a migrant is not an adjective: migrants are people.
POPE FRANCIS
“I don't like to say 'migrants.' I like more to say 'migrant person.' Do you know why? This is because 'migrant' is an adjective. On the other hand, 'person' is a noun. We have fallen into the culture of adjectives. We use many adjectives and often forget the nouns, that is, the substance. The adjective is together with a substantive. This is 'person.' This is to say not 'migrant' but a 'migrant person.' This shows respect.”
Morocco, in fact, was also the setting for the signing of a major UN global pact on migration.
The pope's next international trip will be in Bulgaria and Northern Macedonia from May 5-7.
