Pope Francis visits Azhar’s Sheikhdom to meet with Tayeb

Secretary of Egypt’s Azhar and a high-profile delegation from the Islamic institution received Vatican’s Pope Francis during his visit to Azhar Sheikhdom on Friday in the framework of his current visit to Egypt. The Pope met with Azhar’s Grand Imam Ahmed Al Tayeb to discuss the issues of common interest between the highest religious leadership in the world.

The meeting comes upon an invitation from the grand imam during his visit to Vatican last May. The Pope also participated in Azhar’s World Peace Conference that has been launched on Thursday. Francis is scheduled to deliver a speech before the conference in which a number of great religious leaders participate.

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi hosted the pope at Heliopolis’ presidential palace, then he met with Coptic Patriarch, Pope Tawadros II to discuss the recent developments in the relations between the two churches. Vatican’s pope also is scheduled to hold a liturgy in Air Defense Stadium on Friday.

 Francis denounces violence in God's name and papal aides say a moderate like Tayeb would be an important ally in condemning radical Islam.

But Tayeb is under fire over the slow pace of reform at Azhar, which critics in Egypt's parliament and media accuse of failing to combat the religious foundations of Islamist extremism. They say Azhar is an ossified institution whose clerics have resisted pressure from Sisi to modernise their religious discourse.

Egyptian Catholic Archbishop Kirilos, Pontifical Vicar for the Vatican in Egypt, revealed the details of the two-day visit scheduled to be conducted by Vatican’s Pope Francis on April 28. He said that Francis decided to visit Egypt during the current critical period, as he carries a message of peace.

He added that the visit aims to follow the Catholic community in Egypt in addition to strengthening ecclesiastical relations between the Catholic Church on one hand and other eastern Orthodox Churches and Azhar on the other hand.

In an address to the Egyptian people this week, Francis said he hoped his visit would help bring peace and encourage dialogue and reconciliation with the Islamic world. But it comes at a painful time for Egypt's Copts, the Middle East's largest Christian community; three weeks after Islamic State suicide bombers killed 45 people in twin church bombings.