Loading ...The Maghreb Missionary: Cardinal Cristóbal’s Path of Peace
By: Nissrine Bedda / Arab America Contributing Writer
It may sound a bit out of the ordinary at first, but could it be that we had a close chance of getting our first North African Pope? It sure can! López Romero, born in Spain in 1952, joined the Salesian order and was appointed Archbishop of Rabat in 2018. The following year, he played a key role in welcoming Pope Francis during the pontiff’s visit to Morocco and was elevated to the rank of cardinal on October 5, 2019.
Like many, being born in one country doesn’t always mean you’re deeply rooted in its culture—sometimes, the strongest ties are to the place where life takes you. As the saying goes, “You are from where you reside.” But Cardinal Cristóbal Romero followed a different path. After years of pastoral work in Latin America, he was appointed Archbishop of Rabat in March 2018, embracing a mission far from his birthplace.
“The Catholic Church does exist in Morocco,”
After moving to Morocco in 2003, he served as director of the Salesian community and oversaw parish ministry and educational outreach at the vocational training center in Kénitra. In an interview with ACN International, he mentions:
“The Catholic Church does exist in Morocco,” the bishop proudly said at the beginning of the interview. “It is a vibrant and young church blessed with mercy and with a strong desire to bear witness.” The North African country has two cathedrals, one in Tangier and a second in Rabat. The first was built during the time of the Spanish protectorate, the second during the time of the French protectorate. Bishop López Romero continued, “More young than old people come to our churches, more men than women, more black than white people.” The members of the Church in Morocco are mostly foreigners, faithful from more than 100 different countries. They generally work in companies that operate subsidiaries in Morocco…They move to Morocco to pursue their studies and find the “feeling of security” they are looking for with the Catholic Church.”
Morocco’s Ongoing Migrant Crisis
His work with migrants is a crisis he is particularly interested in being that Morocco/Spain have suffered a severe migrant crisis over the past century with ongoing fatalities across the Tangier-Ceuta-Melilla border. During the course of a 2020 summit on the Mediterranean region in Bari, Italy, López insisted that immigration is “not a problem, but the consequence of many problems”. He went on to mention:
“I suffer a lot when, in Spain, some people, after having participated in the Eucharistic celebration, ask me, in a spiteful tone, not to send any more migrants from Morocco,” he said. “I ask myself: how is it possible to go to Mass and feel almost no compassion for the men, women and children who are suffering?”
A petition released by Amnesty International reported that “On 24 June 2022, people attempting to cross into Melilla through a border crossing between Spain and Morocco were met with a shocking display of unlawful force by Moroccan and Spanish security forces. At least 37 Black people – mostly from sub-Saharan Africa – died unlawfully and 76 remain missing”. One person that goes by the name “Abdessalam saw his brother and cousin being beaten by Moroccan forces” in which he witnessed migrants “…trying to climb the wall, but the authorities had tear gas and stones. They fell down on the Moroccan side and the police were hitting them with wooden sticks. They died because of the beating.”
The Moroccan State has demonstrated extreme measures of disproportionate force to assert its stance, driven by a harmful nationalist agenda aimed at showcasing pride and sovereignty through its Western Sahara Autonomy plan.
Hope From the Pope
The ongoing migrant crisis remains a pressing issue that has largely stayed out of the global spotlight. From his post in Rabat, Cardinal Cristóbal Romero is uniquely positioned to shed light on the excessive force used at border regions. In a time when human rights are too often sidelined, it is a welcome relief to see a cardinal who places the dignity of people above authoritarian fear.
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