A long friendship of respect continued today in St Mel’s Cathedral, thanks to Longford County Council, the Catholic Church and the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco to Ireland, and the Archives of Du Maroc. An exhibition open to the public, launched yesterday evening in St Mel’s on the 22nd of Nov, the Moroccan Ambassador was in attendance. It is now visible to anyone that wishes to see this great story of strength in unity and peace, just inside the main doors to the church. 

Morocco is a place of openness and friendship with Monotheistic religions, Jewish and Christians. During world war two when hitler asked the then leader in Morocco to hand over all the jews, the leader said, you can have my head on a plate, but I will not give over any Jew out of deep respect, friendship and what is right. The Moroccan Sultans and Kings granted all rights related to spiritual and social life to Jewish and Christians faiths, and only recently in 2016 HM King Mohammed VI of Morocco in his message addressed to the participants of the Marrakech Congress on ‘’Religous minorities in the land of Islam: the legal framework and call to action’’

‘’During its history, Morocco has known a singular model of coexistence and interaction between Muslims and followers of other religions, including jews and Christians. Among the luminous aspects of the history  of this concord is affirmed the Moroccan-Andualusian civilisation resulting from this inter-religious convergence. Indeed, trade, arts developed between those communities that also shared the fruits of wisdom, philosophy and science.’’ 

This fascination and historical representation exhibition is a great insight into this deep held respect and friendship. Dating back over 800 years, this is a shared friendship, showing the country of Morocco as a unique model of religious tolerance. This exhibition was first shown in Christ Church Cathedral last June 2022. 

In the photos you can see two gentlemen Hatim Faycal and Tariq El Hayany, who now are both based in Longford. Both are now part of Longford’s fabric, Hatim a wedding photographer with his partner who is Irish and are married, while keeping their own separate faiths, Ballymahon based. Tariq runs a barbershop in town near Credit Union, and his wife recently opened up a cafe on the way to Tescos past Supermacs. I am sure that locals will share the same hand of friendship and respect that Morocco has shown our own faith and people.