Grand Imam of Al Azhar Ahmed el Tayeb and Pope Francis on Monday agreed to hold a global peace conference and to resume dialogue between the Vatican and Al-Azhar, a statement following a 30-minute historic meeting at the Vatican.

The first Vatican meeting between the leader of the world's Catholics and the highest authority in Sunni Islam marks the culmination of a significant improvement in relations between the two faiths since Francis took office in 2013.

"Our meeting is the message," the Pope said in a brief comment.

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said in a statement that the pope and the imam had "mainly addressed the common challenges faced by the authorities and faithful of the major religions of the world".

Source ; MENA