The Community has taken a new missionary step by opening a new mission in Tangier, a city known as the “Gateway to Africa,” in Morocco—a country of 37 million people, mostly Muslim, where the Catholic presence is a minority, with around 23,000 faithful, less than 1% of the population.
Tangier has approximately one million inhabitants and is the country’s second-largest industrial hub, standing out for its multicultural dynamism. In addition to being a major tourist destination, it is home to a large number of university students, making it fertile ground for evangelization.
This new foundation in North Africa consists of five missionaries from the Community of Life: Analice, Raúl, Maylis, Emanuele, and Luciano. The mission was founded on March 8, the same day the Archdiocese of Tangier celebrates the Easter of the Servant of God, Father José María Lerchundi, a Spanish Franciscan friar in the process of beatification. He is a shining example of a life given for the Moroccan people—loving, serving, and sacrificing himself for the Kingdom of God.
The Archbishop of Tangier, Monsignor Emilio Rocha Grande, joyfully declared that the Shalom Community is a “young sign of hope” for the Archdiocese of Tangier. “This local Church also becomes, for you, missionaries, a great sign of hope and vocational renewal, especially in this Jubilee Year,” Monsignor Rocha emphasized.
In this initial phase of the mission’s foundation, the missionaries will focus on language study and cultural immersion while simultaneously beginning the work of human and Christian formation with Sub-Saharan youth through the “Path of Peace,” a spiritual and formative journey within the Shalom Charism.
