Morocco reacts warmly to Pope Francis' interfaith visit

Pope Francis continued to attempt to strengthen ties between the Muslim and Christian faiths on Saturday. The pope arrived in Morocco, where he was greeted by Morocco's King Mohamed VI. The visit follows a February trip that Francis took to the United Arab Emirates, where he and the imam of Cairo's Al Azhar, the seat of Sunni learning, signed what The Associated Press calls a landmark joint statement establishing the relationship between Catholics and Muslims as a brotherhood.

The pope also showed solidarity with Morocco's migrant communities.

"The issue of migration will never be resolved by raising barriers, fomenting fear of others, or denying assistance to those who legitimately aspire to a better life for themselves and their families," he said.

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Per Vatican News, the Moroccan press has responded warmly to Francis' quick 27-hour visit so far. L'Opinion, a daily Francophone newspaper, viewed the trip as a way of consoling Morocco's Muslim community in the wake of the Christchurch, New Zealand, shootings, in a which a racist, anti-Muslim gunman from Australia killed 50 people at two different mosques in the city. Many of the victims were migrants and refugees.

Al Bayane, another French-language paper, used the opportunity to call for co-existence between Christian and Muslim communities.