On Wednesday 20 September 2017, Pope Francis received H.E. Dr. Muhammad Al-Issa, Secretary General of the World Muslim League (WML), accompanied by a delegation.

Today an informal meeting was held in the offices of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue between Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Dicastery, and the aforementioned Guests, during which it was reiterated that: religion and violence are incompatible; religions have moral resources capable of contributing to fraternity and peace; the phenomenon of fundamentalism, in particular when violent, is troubling and joint efforts are required to counter it. In addition, situations exist where freedom of conscience and of religion are not entirely respected and protected, so there is an urgent need to remedy this, renewing “religious discourse” and reviewing school books.

The parties agreed to establish a joint permanent committee in the near future.