Pope-Imam Meeting Herald's Renewed Catholic-Muslim Relations
Pope Francis met with the Islamic Grand Imam of Al-Azhar at the Vatican Monday in the Vatican. It's the first meeting between the leader of the Catholic Church and an influential. leader of Sunni Muslims in more than five years, according to the Arab News website.
"The meeting is the message," Pope Francis told Sheik Ahmed el-Tayyib.
El-Tayyib, who is based in Cairo, ended talks with the Vatican more than five years ago after Pope Benedict criticized Egypt for not doing enough to protect Christians. Benedict made his remarks in response to an attack on a Coptic Chrisitan Church that killed 21 people on New Year's Eve in Alexandria.
The leaders met privately for about 25 minutes before parting with a hug. The Vatican described the meeting as one that held "great significance," for Catholic-Muslim dialogue.
Spokesman Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi said the two leaders discussed the need for "authorities and the faithful of the world's great religions to show a common commitment to peace in the world," the Catholic Herald reports.
Francis has made efforts to improve relationships with other faiths, making headlines this past March after washing and kissing the feet of Muslim, Hindu, and Christian refugees.
"All of us together, Muslims, Hindus, Catholics, Copts, Evangelical Protestants, brothers and sisters – children of the same God – we want to live in peace, integrated," Francis said, according to egyptianstreets.com.
The rejection of violence and extremism was also discussed during the meeting with both leaders agreeing on the need to protect Christians in the Middle East.
Last week, the Pope came under fire for comparing Islam and Christianity when it comes to making converts.
"It is true that the idea of conquest is inherent in the soul of Islam," the Pope said.
But he went on to say that Christianity also has "triumphalist" elements.
"It is also possible to interpret the objective in Matthew's gospel, where Jesus sends his disciples to all nations, in terms of the same idea of conquest," he said.
