The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue has issued a press release to communicate that Bishop Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, secretary of the dicastery, following his visit during the month of July, will return during the coming days to Cairo, Egypt for a meeting at Al-Azhar University.

The Secretary, along with Msgr. Khaled Akasheh, head of the Islam office of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Bishop Emmanuel Ayad Bishay of Luxor, Professor Joseph Maila and Fr. Jean Druel, O.P., director of the Institut dominicain d’études orientales (IDEO), will meet on 23 October with a delegation from Al-Azhar, for a preparatory meeting for the encounter scheduled to take place in Rome, probably towards the end of April 2017, which marks the official resumption of dialogue between the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and Al-Azhar.

The visit will also offer an opportunity to evaluate, along with Archbishop Bruno Musarò, apostolic nuncio in Egypt and deputy to the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Abbas Shouman, the possibility of promoting concrete initiatives for peace.