IN MOSLEM MOROCCO

Cordial relations with the Sultan
FOLLOWING a difficult period during the last years of the French protectorate, the situation of the Church in Morocco has greatly improved since the nation regained its independence.
Today the Church is regarded with more than mere tolerance and is held in high esteem throughout the country.
Catholic authorities maintain cordial relations with the Government of Sultan Mohammed V, who claims descent from Ali, Mohammed's uncle. He is both the religious and the absolute temporal ruler of his overwhelmingly Moslem people.
The Moroccans won back their independence in 1956. Before that time their country was divided between a large French protectorate and a smaller Spanish one, both of which were set up in 1912. The area around the city of Tangier was governed by an international commission.
CANNOT TRY The major defect in the Church's present position is that it cannot try to convert the Moslems, who number over nine million. It is prevented from doing so by the Act of Algeciras of 1906, according to which the Sultan allowed the legal establishment of Catholic institutions provided the Church restricted itsele to ministering to the European minority.
The Church has strictly adhered to the Algeciras agreement and is free to work without hinderance among the Europeans, whose numbcr has grown in the past 50 years from about 5,000 to well over half a million.
Toward the end of the protectorate in the French zone, the Church faced restrictions even in its work among European Catholics. For example, French officials rarely permitted public processions —freely allowed since independence—and otherwise made difficulties for the Church.
When the French exiled Mohammed V in 1953. pressure was put on Church authorities to support his uncle, Ben Arafa, the puppet sultan who was placed on the throne. Many European colonists bitterly criticised the Church for what they called its pro-Moroccan policy. They blamed it for condemning the violence that resulted from French efforts to retain control of the country during the nationalist struggle for freedom.
Although for a short time a few priests supported the colonists' demand for continued French rule, Morocco's two Archbishops resisted such demands. Archbishop Lefevre of Rahat, for example, refused-to attend any palace function while Mohammed V was in exile in Madagascar.
After the Sultan was restored to the throne in 1955. he publicly praised the Archbishop and awarded him the country's highest decoration.
Thanks to the friendly ChurchState relations, the Church is able to maintain a vigorous Catholic Press and operate numerous schools, attended by many Moslem as well as Christian students. It is also active in charitable works, supporting a large number of dispensaries and orphanages.
A special effort has been made in the cultural field to bring Moslems and Christians closer together, notably at the Benedictine monastery in Tioumliline. The study sessions there have been attended by Prince Moulay Hassan, the heir to the throne, Princess Lalai Aicha and several Moroccan cabinet ministers.