“May all of you be servants of the hope that our world so urgently needs.”
With this encouragement, Pope Francis bid farewell to the North African country of Morocco. His remarks came at the end of his Mass for the country’s Catholics, who make up less than .1% of a nation where of its about 35 million inhabitants, 99 percent are Muslim.
Here is the Vatican-provided text of the Pope’s closing remarks, which were originally delivered in Spanish:
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At the conclusion of this Eucharist, I wish once more to bless the Lord for enabling me to make this journey in order to be, among you and with you, a servant of hope.
I express my gratitude to His Majesty King Mohammed VI for his invitation, as well as to the Authorities and to all those who helped at every stage of this visit.
I thank my brother Bishops, the Archbishops of Rabat and Tangier, together with the priests, men and women religious and all the lay faithful who are present here in Morocco as servants of the Church’s life and mission. Thank you, dear brothers and sisters, for all that you did to prepare for this visit and for everything that we have shared in faith, hope and charity.
With these sentiments of gratitude, I once more encourage you to persevere on the path of dialogue with our Muslim brothers and sisters, and to cooperate in making visible that universal fraternity which has its source in God. May all of you be servants of the hope that our world so urgently needs.
And, please, do not forget to pray for me.
[Original text: Spanish]
[Vatican-provided translation]
