A group of Moroccan Christians called for the right to practice their faith, Morocco World News reports.
Morocco is an Islam nation, and to convert to another religion is not an easy decision since converts would have to endure discrimination, even from their own families.
Rachid, a pastor, revealed that Moroccans come to him to be baptized in his apartment in Ait Melloul near the city of Agadir. There, he leads a house church, filled with afternoon prayers, hymns, and discussion of the word of God with other Christian converts.
Tired of hiding his faith for two decades, Mustapha, together with fellow Christian converts, wrote a letter to the National Council of Human Rights demanding their right to worship.
The pastor disclosed that he became interested in the teachings of the Bible when he was a teenager and at 24, he was baptized in Casablanca.
Rachid organizes covert fellowships with another pastor, Mustapha, who converted in 1994.
“I got weary of the contradictions of Islam,” revealed Mustapha. “I got interested in Christianity and started exchanging messages with a religious center in Spain. Then, I made my decision and converted.”
Tired of hiding his faith for two decades, Mustapha, together with fellow Christian converts, wrote a letter to the National Council of Human Rights demanding their right to worship.
“We demand the right to give our children Christian names, to pray in churches, to be buried in Christian cemeteries and to marry according to our religion,” the 46-year-old pastor told the Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The Moroccan government claimed that it promotes religious tolerance. Rachid admitted that, “The arrests have almost stopped, which is a big step. Harassment has become scarce.”
However, Mustapha clarified that the 2011 constitution may have endorsed freedom of religion, but “the penal code, political parties and society have not followed suit.”
Sources:
Saad eddine lamzouwaq. (2017). Morocco World News. https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2017/05/215356/moroccan-christians-speak-demand-right-worship/
Dailymailcouk. (2017). Mail Online. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-4459632/Moroccos-Christian-converts-emerge-shadows.html