Fear and forgetting” “

“In Morocco half young people between the ages of 15 and 25 have just one idea: getting out… It’s not difficult to understand why”, says Archbishop VINCENT LANDEL of Rabat. He will be one of the participants at the symposium of African and European bishops to be held in Rome from 10 to 13 November, on the initiative of the CCEE (Council of European Episcopal Conferences). The symposium will not fail to discuss current issues such as immigration and dialogue with Islam. We spoke of them with Monsignor Landel. From the Maghreb and from all over Africa thousands of people are attempting desperate journeys across the Mediterranean to seek their fortune in Europe. But often, unfortunately, they meet with death at sea, frontier restrictions and forced repatriation. Seen from Morocco, what does this fortress Europe look like? “In Morocco half young people between the ages of 15 and 25 have just one idea: getting out… It’s not difficult to understand why. The phenomenon of emigration will not stop and the walls that Europe is constructing will collapse under the pressure of immigration. For we are only at the start. We are already beginning to see people from Asia ready to use the coasts of Morocco as a springboard. We see children, newborn babies… In Italy, Spain or France, all those sent back whence they came will try again to cross over, in every possible way. I know many who are not making their first attempt, though conscious that in this way they are risking their life. Europe needs to stop asking northern Africa to act as its gendarme. That is what is happening in relations between Italy and Libya, or between Spain, France and Morocco. But this cannot long endure. It is indispensable that Europe changes its mentality, because so far Europe has done nothing but act out of fear. But serene decisions cannot be taken with fear”. So what would you ask of Europe? “What I would ask of the West in general, and not just Europe, because the USA also plays an important role in this sense, is to re-think world trade in relation to the African continent. If you make a tour of sub-Saharan Africa you will immediately understand the reasons for this mass emigration. It’s true that Africa must embark on a ‘cultural revolution’. But Europe must do likewise. So long as there is no work in Africa, so long as sufficient sources of employment are lacking, emigration cannot but deteriorate. It is essential to intervene at the level of the World Trade Organization (WTO). We must stop thinking that only the G8 have the right to govern the world and lay down the rules for everyone else. Only on these conditions will young Africans have confidence in their country and no longer try to flee to the northern hemisphere. But now the West is focusing on China and risks once again forgetting Africa”. The Catholic Church in Morocco is living in a minority situation in an Islamic country. In Europe the opposite is the case and social conflicts and problems are constantly arising, not least the debate on Turkey’s entry into the EU… “With regard to questions about the secularism of the State, all the components of the State, not just schools, should intervene. Why today is there so much talk of Moslem festivities whereas Christian festivities are hardly spoken of any more? If a Jewish or Moslem cemetery is desecrated a great furore is rightly caused, but if the same happens in a Christian burial site the matter is virtually passed over in silence. There’s a lot of talk, too, about the building of mosques in Europe. I believe it is right to build them. But why then is any Christian worship prohibited in Saudi Arabia, in spite of the large number of Christians in southeast Asia? A lot is spoken of giving the vote to immigrants. It’s right they be able to vote, but on condition that there is reciprocity, in other words, that I too have the right to vote in Morocco. Let’s not confuse social and economic conflicts with religion”. How can the European and African Churches collaborate? “By listening to each other, on a level of equality. It is not from an office in Paris or Rome that we can learn how we ought to live in our countries. The Church in Africa still has a great need for aid at the level of religious formation and the education of priests. Aid at the level of skilled personnel, but also at the financial level. Some aid organizations of the Church also need to grasp the fact that we too can have ideas about our own needs, even if they considered futile. In Africa too we know how to reflect. The Western Church must also stop being influenced by political discourses that do not always correspond to the reality”.