MAROCCO

MOROCCO. -

I. GEOGRAPHY

Morocco embraces the northwestern extremity of the African continent, between the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and the Sahara, and is the only one among the countries of North Africa (Magrib) to enjoy the benefit of a double sea frontage, although, while the Atlantic frontage is almost entirely controlled by France, the Mediterranean one lies wholly within the borders of Spanish Morocco.

By far the greater part of Morocco (398,600 sq km, with 9 million inhabitants) is represented by the Sultanate of Morocco, a French protectorate since 1912 and, since 1947, included as an associated State in the French Union. Capital Fez (201,000 inhabitants). In addition to a notable and varied agricultural production (barley, wheat, maize and, more recently, fruit, early crops, grapes and olives), and a rich livestock wealth, the Sultanate is recording promising achievements in the mining sector (phosphates, manganese, cobalt, lead, zinc, antimony, molybdenum), while attempts are being made to compensate for the shortage of raw materials for motive power (coal, petroleum) by exploiting the hydroelectric potential of the Atlas.

Spanish Morocco, too, is a protectorate, under the control of a high commissioner. The territory essentially coincides with the Rif region (22,000 sq km), inhabited by industrious agricultural populations (1.1 million souls), and economically noteworthy for the presence of rich deposits of iron ores, as well as antimony, lead and zinc, all concentrated in the hinterland of Melilla. Alongside the capital, Tetuan, which has 73,000 inhabitants, the two ports of Melilla (62,000 inhabitants) and Ceuta (50,000 inhabitants) retain their importance; together with the Alhucemas Islands, Chafarinas and the Peñon de Velez de la Gomera, they are detached from the protectorate proper, constituting the so-called Presidios. For the geographical map V. AFRICA (I, cols. 707-708).

(Alinari photograph)
MARBLE — Example of a tomb in polychrome marble. Tomb of M. C. Vicentini (1725) — Rome, church of S. Marcello.

With the reorganization under Diocletian, Mauretania Tingitana passed, around 297, under the authority of Spanish Baetica. The expansion of Christianity was slow, owing to the difficulties created by the indigenous populations and the changing course of historical events. After Mauretania was conquered in 429 by Genseric, king of the Vandals, he introduced Arianism there.

Vandal rule lasted for almost a century, until in 533 Belisarius subjected Mauretania to the Byzantine Empire. Less than a hundred years later, present-day Morocco changed rulers once again. The Visigoths of Spain, taking advantage of Byzantium’s wars with the Persians, occupied Mauretania and remained there until the Arab invasion. The Muslims established themselves firmly there toward the end of the 7th century and, having crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, moved on to conquer Spain. The Reconquista of the Catholic kings, completed in 1492 with the capture of Granada and the expulsion of the infidels from the Iberian Peninsula, also aimed to secure outposts beyond the Strait that would protect Spain and Portugal from an immediate offensive return by the Arabs. The consequence was the occupation of Ceuta and Melilla, fortresses permanently maintained against the Muslims’ numerous sieges. Through various treaties concluded in the 18th century, Spain obtained recognition from the Sharifian Empire of its possession of these fortresses and secured commercial advantages. In the same century, France too obtained particular commercial rights, while England, having occupied Gibraltar in 1704, followed the affairs of Morocco with particular attention, strengthening commercial relations with the Sharifian Empire and watching for possible attempts by others to assert their sovereignty over parts of Moroccan territory. Morocco thus gradually became an object of particular attention for the European chanceries and, especially after the French conquest of Algeria, acquired international importance. Opposed to France, which wished to continue in Morocco the expansion begun in Algeria, were the interests of Spain, England, Germany, and other powers. The Anglo-French and Franco-Spanish bilateral agreements of 1904 delimited the zones of influence of Paris and Madrid in Morocco. The International Conference of Algeciras (1906), while maintaining the sovereignty and independence of the Sultan, the integrity of the Sharifian Empire, and economic freedom, recognized for all

MAROCCO—New church in the city of Marrakech (apostolic vicariate of Rabat), dedicated to the holy protomartyrs of the Franciscan Order, blessed on 13 Nov. 1931.

the signatory powers the enjoyment of equal economic and commercial rights in M., without compromising the interests and rights of the individual states, as established by the treaties and agreements concluded. On 30 March 1912, France, by signing a convention with the Sultan, asserted its protectorate over M. A subsequent Franco-Spanish agreement of 27 Nov. of the same year delimited the zone of influence of Madrid. Today M. is politically divided into four parts: 1) a protectorate zone administered by France; 2) a protectorate zone administered by Spain; 3) the neutralized and internationalized zone of Tangier; 4) direct Spanish possessions: the so-called Presidios (Melilla, Alhucemas Islands, Velez de la Gomera, Ceuta, Chafarinas Islands) and Ifni.

In 1225 the Pope sent Dominicans and Franciscans to M., and thus the reorganization of the Moroccan Church officially began. Their activity was limited to Christians: soldiers in the Sultan’s service, mer-

merchants, slaves. The immediate evangelization of Muslims was impossible; whoever had the courage to undertake it paid for his ardor with his life, as did the seven Franciscans at Ceuta in 1227. The see of Fez or M. was established in 1237 at Marrakech. In the following centuries Franciscans and Dominicans succeeded one another as bishops; but very often they did not take up residence in the country and remained in Spain. Until the beginning of the fourteenth century, the Franciscans exercised their ministry among Christians with relative freedom. For the subsequent period, documents proving the continuity of the Franciscan and Dominican work are lacking. It is to be presumed that the wars of the Spaniards and Portuguese with M. and the civil wars among the various dynasties made the missionaries’ work impossible. For the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, there is information concerning the redemption of slaves by the Trinitarians and Mercedarians, some of whom suffered martyrdom. After the conquest of Ceuta in 1415 and Tangier in 1471, both cities were elevated to episcopal sees; in 1570 the two dioceses were united. None of this, however, affected the mission in the Moroccan Kingdom. Missionaries are found there sporadically: Franciscans, among whom Andrea di Spoleto was martyred in 1532; Jesuits from 1548 to 1553 and again in 1576 in Tetuan; Capuchins from 1624 to 1635, while other priestly prisoners exercised their ministry among their companions.

With the appointment of the Franciscan Juan de Prado as apostolic prefect in 1630, the Franciscan mission was reestablished. Although he was martyred in 1631, the Franciscans were later able to found a permanent convent at Meknes and hospices at Fez, Sale, Marrakech, and Tetuan, until their new expulsion in 1790. In Tangier alone, some missionaries were able to remain, and in the end only one Franciscan. In 1859, the apostolic prefect Sabaté renewed the mission. It is the particular merit of Fr. José Lerchundi, apostolic prefect from 1877 to 1896, to have organized the mission by founding stations, schools, and hospices, and by calling in nuns to educate young women. Even during this period, the Franciscans’ activity had to be restricted to the Christians of the sultanate of M. In 1909, the apostolic vicariate of M. was erected. Once the international zone of Tangier had been established and the Spanish and French protectorates proclaimed in 1912, the French Franciscans assumed pastoral care in the French protectorate, which was detached in 1923 as the apostolic vicariate of Rabat.