World Forum for Chaplains and Spirituality Team Members

It was held in Rabat, Morocco from 15 to 18 July 2025. The meeting

brought together 26 participants including Regional Chaplains, National

Chaplains, members of National Spirituality Teams and members of

CICG World and Regional Teams from: Catalonia, France, Slovenia,

Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Togo, Colombia, Lebanon, Egypt, under the theme ‘Pilgrims of Hope’.

To embark on this pilgrimage, each participant received a map on which different stages of the journey were marked. At each stage we experienced the encounter with ourselves, the encounter with nature, the encounter with others, and the encounter with God. And also, each stage had a symbol to represent it. The encounter with oneself was represented by a backpack that accompanied us throughout the pilgrimage. For the Encounter with nature we used as a symbol a Bottle that will serve to contain the water that will quench the pilgrim's thirst.

The Encounter with oneself was symbolised by a Fallen One, which helped us to walk and the Encounter with God was represented by the Cross, symbol of God's love for all men.

The meeting started with a welcome speech by the World Responsible, who also explained the theme of the meeting. Afterwards, the different delegations were introduced to each other and then we proceeded to divide into base groups and an activity to get to know each other. Later we received the visit of Cardinal Cristóbal López Romero, Archbishop of

Rabat, who welcomed us to Morocco and told us about the situation and the experience of the faith of the Catholics in a Muslim country and of the immigrants from other African countries. He also spoke about the pastoral orientations of his diocese and the importance of the Holy Father's visit to Morocco. The Cardinal celebrated Holy Mass together

with the Chaplains present and the World Chaplain.

The following day we a time of inculturation and confrontation with the social and religious reality of Morocco by visiting the Ecumenical Institute of Theology Al Mowafaqa accompanied by Cardinal Lopez Romero and Mrs. Myriem Khorouz and the Institute of Higher Islamic Studies Dar al Hadith al Hassanya where we were received by its

Director and some professors of the institution.

The experience of the day gave way to the workshop ‘Pathways of Connection’ about the participation of the World Treasurer in the women's group organised by the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue. The day ended with a reflection with artistic expression.

Another busy day followed in which we visited the Cathedral of Rabat where we shared Holy Mass with the Community and then had a talk with Father Oscar Arturo García Padilla, Director of Caritas in the Archdiocese of Rabat who told us about the social and economic

situation of the city. After lunch we went to the Botanical Garden for our Desert Time.

In the evening we had an international night where we shared typical food and dances from each country present.

On the last day we carried out the personal and group evaluation and celebrated the Sending´s Mass.

It was an excellent opportunity to get to know the reality of the country that welcomed us, to learn new things and to share among the participants thoughts, knowledge, games, joys and our brotherhood in the light of our faith.