During his visit to Morocco last weekend, Pope Francis gave a speech that prompted some puzzling headlines. “Conversion is not your mission, pope tells Catholics in Morocco,” said Reuters. “Pope Francis urges Moroccan Christians against converting others,” reported the Daily Telegraph. Catholics online wondered how the Pope’s words could be reconciled with the Great Commission, Christ’s command to “go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). The answer, it turned out, hung on a single word: proselytism. The Pope was speaking to priests, religious and leaders of other Christian communities in the Moroccan capital Rabat. His audience serves in an overwhelmingly Muslim country whose criminal code prohibits conversion from Islam to Christianity. It was in this context that Francis made the following remarks:
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Why is proselytism a problem?
during his visit to morocco last weekend, pope francis gave a speech that prompted some puzzling headlines. “conversion is not your mission,...
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