Vatican official travelling to Egypt

The Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue wishes to announce that His Excellency, Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, Secretary of that Dicastery, will return to Cairo (Egypt) for a second visit in the coming days in order to participate in a meeting which will take place at the Al-Azhar University.  His Excellency also visited that University in July of this year.

His Excellency, together with Monsignor Khaled Akasheh, Office Lead for Islam at the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue; His Excellency, Emmanuel Ayad Bishay, Bishop of Luxor; Professor Joseph Maila, expert; and Reverend Father Jean Druel, O.P., Director of the Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies (IDEO) will meet with a delegation from Al-Azhar on Sunday (October 23, 2016) for a preparatory meeting ahead of another meeting which will take place in Rome, probably toward the end of April 2017.  This weekend's meeting signals an official reawakening of the dialogue between the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue and Al-Azhar.

This visit will also furnish an occasion to evaluate, together with His Excellency, Bruno Musarò, Apostolic Nuncio in Egypt; and with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Doctor Abbas Shouman; the possibility of promoting concrete initiatives for peace.