Iftar Reception hosted by the Moroccan Embassy - a moment of interfaith encounter


I feel honoured each year during the month of Ramadan to receive an invitation to an Iftar reception hosted by the the Royal Moroccan Embassy in London. (Iftar is the evening meal when Muslims break their fast, at sunset). The reception is attended mostly by diplomats and people with business interests in Morocco. But this officially Muslim nation always invites leaders of other faiths represented in the country. My invitation is a way of acknowledging the place of the Anglican Church in the Kingdom, one of the four Churches (the others being the Roman Catholic, the Orthodox and the French Protestant) which are officially recognised by the King.

There is also an historic Jewish community in Morocco. This year's Iftar reception was a chance for a mini interfaith encounter when my good friend Archbishop Gregorios and I were able to greet Rabbi Dr Abraham Levy OBE, the Emeritus Spiritual Head of the Spanish and Portuguese (Sephardi) congregation in London. Rabbi Levy is a Gibraltarian from a prominent family on the Rock. His brother, Momy Levy, was a former Mayor of Gibraltar.

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