Marrakech – The Coordination of Moroccan Christians has called on the country’s political parties to write freedom of belief and religious practice into their electoral programs, framing the upcoming September 2026 legislative elections as an opening to set the priorities of political, legislative, and rights reform.
In a memorandum issued in Rabat on August 21, the group made clear that its demands seek neither special privileges nor an exceptional legal status. It anchored them instead in the principle of “equality in dignity and rights,” and in guaranteeing freedom of belief and the practice of religious rites within the framework of the law.
Moroccan citizenship, it argued, should not be bound to a particular creed, since belonging to the homeland precedes any difference in belief.
The coordination pressed parties toward a clear commitment to revisit the constitutional provisions tied to freedom of belief, alongside a review of Articles 220 to 223 of the Penal Code governing the practice of religion.
It clarified that the proposed revision would not strip away legal protection against coercion, violence, or the exploitation of vulnerability, but would bring legal texts into line with the constitution and Morocco’s international obligations, “without disproportionate restrictions” on freedom of conscience and belief. Among those provisions, Article 220 criminalizes “shaking the faith of a Muslim.”
The memorandum reached beyond legislation. It called for resolving the legal and administrative obstacles that face Moroccan Christians in matters of marriage and its documentation, the registration of civil-status records, burial and cemetery procedures, and personal-status papers, along with recognition of the civil rights that flow from a citizen’s religious choices.
The group appealed for a clear framework that would let Moroccan Christians practice their rites and prayers “peacefully and safely,” and for mechanisms to confront discrimination, incitement to hatred, threats, violence, and social stigma tied to belief. It also urged a regular institutional dialogue with representatives of the community, and their inclusion in shaping public policy.
The coordination grounded its case in the Moroccan Constitution – particularly Article 3, which names Islam the religion of the state while guaranteeing every individual the free exercise of religious affairs, and Article 41.
It invoked the constitution’s preamble and Morocco’s human-rights commitments, pointing to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which the kingdom ratified in 1979. The group also recalled royal directives affirming that the Commandery of the Faithful rests on protecting the religious sphere, a conception it treats as a national foundation for dialogue.
The demands are not new. The coordination recalled that its representatives met the secretary-general of the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) on April 3, 2017, then wrote to the head of government that May, requesting the right to bury their dead according to their beliefs, to document marriages, and to worship without fear or harassment.
Years on, it contended that the moment now requires a shift “from correspondence and demands to clear legislative and institutional reform.”
The group insisted it seeks no redefinition of the Moroccan state’s identity, nor any change to the provision naming Islam the state religion. “We do not place ourselves outside the national frame of reference,” it wrote, “but consider ourselves part of the Moroccan fabric,” demanding that the constitution serve “as a shared reference for all citizens.”
The coordination then cast the matter as a broader test. “The issue of Moroccan Christians should not be viewed as that of a religious minority seeking privileges,” the memorandum reads. “It is, in essence, a test of the ability of the state, society, and elected institutions to protect the citizen’s freedom, dignity, and personal choices.”
Citizenship, it added, “is indivisible,” warning that no state of rights can be complete if some citizens need “social permission or exceptional courage” to exercise constitutional guarantees.
The group closed by tying its appeal to “Moroccan citizenship first and last,” cautioning that a difference in belief should never diminish citizenship, dignity, or rights.
The next parliament, it argued, will carry the responsibility of completing the constitution’s legislative framework and making its declared rights genuinely practicable – for a Morocco that “accommodates all its citizens” and turns difference in belief into “a gateway to coexistence, not discrimination.”
Read also: Open Doors 2026 Report Counts Morocco’s Christians at 37,400
