Vatican City, 12 July 2016 – The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue announces that Bishop Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, secretary of the dicastery, will travel in the coming days to Cairo, Egypt, to visit the Al-Azhar University, following the historic encounter between Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Professor Ahmad Al-Tayyib, which took place on 23 May.

Before the trip the secretary, along with Archbishop Bruno Musarò, apostolic nuncio in Egypt, will attend a preliminary meeting on Wednesday 13 July at 11 a.m. with Dr. Mahmoud Hamdi Zakzouk, member of the Council of Senior Scholars of the Al-Azhar University and director of the Al-Azhar Centre for Dialogue.

During the meeting, proposed by the Dicastery by the express request of the Holy Father, the parties will evaluate how to reinstate the dialogue between the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and the Al-Azhar University.