Vatican delegation in Egypt to discuss religious violence

CAIRO – 22 February 2017: A delegation from the Vatican is in Cairo participating in a seminar aimed at countering incidents of violence in the name of religion,

Vatican Radio announced Tuesday

. The two-day seminar, held Feb. 22-23 by Al-Azhar University, comes nearly a year after the historic visit between Pope Francis and Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed al-Tayeb.

The delegation is comprised of members of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, including president Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran and head of the Office for Islam, Monsigneur Khaled Akasheh.

According to Vatican Radio the council’s secretary, Bishop Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, has travelled to Cairo to prepare for the seminar on numerous occasions since the pope’s visit to Egypt in May 2016.

The date of the seminar coincides with the anniversary of the visit of Pope John Paul II to Al-Azhar on Feb. 24, 2000.

John Paul II visited Egypt during a tour of the Middle East, in which he also visited Israel. The visit was the first to Egypt by the late Pope in 22 years, the

Associated Press reported

at the time.