Days after visiting Morocco, Pope Francis said, Wednesday, during his General Audience in St Peter's Square that alongside King Mohammed VI, he «reiterated the essential role religions have in defending human dignity, promoting peace and justice, and in caring for creation, our common home». Pope Francis, who devoted the General Audience to his recent visit to Morocco, thanked, on this occasion, the Moroccan sovereign and the other authorities, «for their warm welcome», the official website Vatican News reports. «To serve hope in our day is to build bridges between cultures, and it was a joy and honor for me to be able to do this in the noble Kingdom of Morocco, meeting both its people and its political leaders», the Pontiff pointed out. Another theme of great importance, said the Pope, was the question of migration. Pope Francis called to mind the «Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration» which was ratified in Marrakech, Morocco, last December. «As the Holy See, we have offered our contribution which is summarized in four verbs: welcome migrants, protect migrants, promote migrants and integrate migrants. It is not a matter of dropping welfare programs from on high, but of making a path together through these four actions, to build cities and countries that, while preserving their respective cultural and religious identities, are open to differences and know how to value them in a sign of human brotherhood», the Pope commented.
