A Lourdes Grotto in Morocco

At the time of WWI, Morocco was under French protectorate, and the French population was in majority Christian. But during the war years they could no longer travel back to France across the Mediterranean because German submarines destroyed the ships. This situation also made it impossible to go to Lourdes on pilgrimage from Morocco.

So the French built a shrine outside Casablanca (the economic capital of Morocco) to Our Lady of Lourdes, with a replica of the actual Lourdes Grotto in the French Pyrenees. This way the mothers of soldiers in combat could entrust their sons to Mary’s protection.

In the same years, the Franciscan Fathers built an underground church, above which a large church was later erected. Work began in 1952 and was completed in 1958. During this time, Morocco became independent from France. The parish was very dynamic through the 1950s and 1960s. When the Moroccanization of businesses and land was established in the 1970s, the church lost most of its parishioners, as foreigners began to leave Morocco.

The Franciscan presence gradually diminished, until the early 21^st century with the arrival of the first African priest to serve an influx of sub-Saharan students attending the parish. Then this Catholic community experienced a new revival.

Aujourd’hui