Clifton Clergy Make it to Morocco
30 December 2008
Parish Priest of St John Fisher in Wellington, Father Bob Rainbow, has recently returned from sabbatical in Morocco where he went with some other priests of the Clifton Diocese. Father Bob writes with his reflections.
Seven people (and their baggage) in a small taxi built for five, seeing sheep loaded with passengers’ luggage on a local bus, eating local fare, contending with over-enthusiastic carpet salesmen and being entertained in the homes of Berber people, were all part of daily life for me during a month sabbatical in Morocco.
Entering into an ancient way of life is I would described the journey when I joined eight other Catholic priests in a ‘Month of Nazareth’, following in the footsteps of Charles de Foucauld, a Frenchman who, 100 years ago and inspired by the 30 years “hidden” life of Jesus at Nazareth, became a hermit living among the Touareg tribes peoples of the Sahara desert.
I joined Fathers Jim Williams and Barnabas Page both of the Clifton Diocese, plus other priests from Britain, Ireland and Austria and deliberately journeyed most of the way by surface transport. As part of this, the party sailed from Algeciras in Spain to Tangier in Morocco, seeing at a glance the mountains on either side known as the ‘Pillars of Hercules’, guarding the entry to the Mediterranean sea - the gateway to the ancient world!
We stayed as self-catering guests of four Trappist monks at the last remaining Catholic monastery in North Africa, in the remote town of Midelt, overshadowed by the 9000-foot Atlas Mountains. I was particularly impressed by the friendliness of the local people, who frequently greeted the strangers in the streets. We were even invited in to share meals, particularly the local speciality of Tajine, despite the people being demonstrably poor; relying on donkeys and mules the way we use cars.
The purpose of the trip was to learn more about the inspirational Charles de Foucauld, including entering into something of his life of both communal and solitary prayer, where one aims to put others first by oneself taking a Christ-like lowest place.
Excursions undertaken included walking out into the local semi-desert to experience something of nomadic life, and taking minibus trips into the mountains.
The month ended with a night in the city of Fes, where we took a conducted tour of its extraordinary souk, the mile-wide ancient Berber market area said to contain over 10,000 tiny shops selling every conceivable sort of both domestic and tourist goods. Certainly the tannery visit will go down in the memory as something out of the middle-ages!
Now I find myself in demand for PowerPoint illustrated talks on these experiences, having already put on shows my own parish and at St Augustine of Canterbury School in Taunton, where I am a part-time chaplain.
Father Bob Rainbow
Parish Priest of St John Fisher in Wellington, Father Bob Rainbow, has recently returned from sabbatical in Morocco where he went with some other priests of the Clifton Diocese. Father Bob writes with his reflections.
Seven people (and their baggage) in a small taxi built for five, seeing sheep loaded with passengers’ luggage on a local bus, eating local fare, contending with over-enthusiastic carpet salesmen and being entertained in the homes of Berber people, were all part of daily life for me during a month sabbatical in Morocco.
Entering into an ancient way of life is I would described the journey when I joined eight other Catholic priests in a ‘Month of Nazareth’, following in the footsteps of Charles de Foucauld, a Frenchman who, 100 years ago and inspired by the 30 years “hidden” life of Jesus at Nazareth, became a hermit living among the Touareg tribes peoples of the Sahara desert.
I joined Fathers Jim Williams and Barnabas Page both of the Clifton Diocese, plus other priests from Britain, Ireland and Austria and deliberately journeyed most of the way by surface transport. As part of this, the party sailed from Algeciras in Spain to Tangier in Morocco, seeing at a glance the mountains on either side known as the ‘Pillars of Hercules’, guarding the entry to the Mediterranean sea - the gateway to the ancient world!
We stayed as self-catering guests of four Trappist monks at the last remaining Catholic monastery in North Africa, in the remote town of Midelt, overshadowed by the 9000-foot Atlas Mountains. I was particularly impressed by the friendliness of the local people, who frequently greeted the strangers in the streets. We were even invited in to share meals, particularly the local speciality of Tajine, despite the people being demonstrably poor; relying on donkeys and mules the way we use cars.
The purpose of the trip was to learn more about the inspirational Charles de Foucauld, including entering into something of his life of both communal and solitary prayer, where one aims to put others first by oneself taking a Christ-like lowest place.
Excursions undertaken included walking out into the local semi-desert to experience something of nomadic life, and taking minibus trips into the mountains.
The month ended with a night in the city of Fes, where we took a conducted tour of its extraordinary souk, the mile-wide ancient Berber market area said to contain over 10,000 tiny shops selling every conceivable sort of both domestic and tourist goods. Certainly the tannery visit will go down in the memory as something out of the middle-ages!
Now I find myself in demand for PowerPoint illustrated talks on these experiences, having already put on shows my own parish and at St Augustine of Canterbury School in Taunton, where I am a part-time chaplain.
Father Bob Rainbow
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