Church of Santiago the Mayor of Nador

Nador, Morocco

The Church of Santiago el Mayor is a Catholic temple located in the city of Nador, in the eastern region of Morocco. It belongs to the Archdiocese of Tangier and is one of the few Catholic temples that remain active in the east of the country.

History

The Christian presence in the Nador region is linked to the Spanish Protectorate of Morocco, which covered the north of the country from 1912 until independence in 1956. During this period, numerous churches were built to attend to the resident Spanish Catholic community.

After Morocco's independence, most of the Catholic population left the region. However, the church continued to provide pastoral service to the faithful who remained. The Archdiocese of Tangier, to which it belongs, has 20,000 km ² of jurisdiction and in 2022 had 2,990 baptized faithful.

Nador and the Eastern region

Nador is the capital of the homonymous province, located in the eastern region of Morocco, near the Spanish city of Melilla. The region is part of the Archdiocese of Tangier along with the region of Tangier-Tetuan- Alhucemas. The province of Nador and the province of Drouch are under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of this archdiocese, which is immediately subject to the Holy See.