The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue has announced today that its president, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, accompanied by Bishop Miguel Angel Áyuso Guixot and Msgr. Khaled Akasheh, respectively secretary and head official for Islam of the dicastery, will travel to Cairo, Egypt from Wednesday 22 to Thursday 23 February to attend a seminar at the Al-Azhar University, on the theme “The role of al-Azhar al-Sharif and of the Vatican in countering the phenomenon of fanaticism, extremism and violence in the name of religion”.

The cardinal president will lead the Catholic delegation, which will also include Archbishop Bruno Musarò, apostolic nuncio in Egypt.

Following the historic encounter between Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Professor Ahmad Al-Tayyib, on 23 May 2016, Bishop Áyuso Guixot has visited Cairo several times to participate in preliminary meetings.

The meeting will take place, as on previous occasions, on the eve of 24 February, in memory of St. John Paul II’s visit to Al-Azhar on that date in 2000.