Mourchidates, pioneering experience in the region

Participants in a meeting on "Our Families, Our Faiths, & Our Futures," held, here Wednesday, hailed the experience of Moroccan women religious councilors, known as Mourchidates, describing the initiative as a unique and pioneering experience in the region.

    "We are proud to welcome the Moroccan Mourchidates," said Jean Abi Nader, Executive Director of the Moroccan American Cultural Center (MACC), adding that this is an appropriate time and great opportunity to highlight the Mourchidates’ experience, which he deemed as "a unique example of tolerance" and feminine leadership in the religious field.

    Such initiative contributes to promoting the role of women in Moslem societies, he underlined.

    During this meeting, Moroccan women religious counselors, on a visit to the US, shared personal experiences and considered perspectives with American Muslim and Jewish women leaders at an interfaith forum.

    "In Islam, women have always served a vital and multi-faceted role," Ilham Chafik, one of the visiting Mourchidate, said, noting that women religious councilors program in Morocco “institutionalizes the role that women have always played (…) and recognizes women as leaders in our communities" in charged with providing spiritual support as well as health and social assistance.

      During their visit to the US, the Mourchidates met with several US State Department officials and Members of Congress, and attended worship service at Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church.

     On Thursday, the Mourchidates will be the guests for a panel discussion in New York City on "Women's Spiritual Voices - Crossing Continents, Finding Common Ground: Exploring the roles of women religious leaders in Islam, Judaism, and Christianity," co-sponsored by MACC and the American Jewish Committee.

MAP