The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was visiting Cairo (Egypt) on 27-29 April 2017, upon invitation of the Grand Imam of Al Azhar Mosque, Cheikh Ahmed Mohamed el-Tayyib. He was invited by el-Tayyib to address the International Conference on Peace, during which Pope Francis, the WCC General Secretary Olav Fykse Tveit and the Grand Imam also spoke.
The simultaneous presence of Pope Francis, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria Theodoros and the Coptic Patriarch Tawadros at the meeting in the great Sunni university, just a few days after the attacks in Coptic churches in Egypt that have bloodied Palm Sunday is a sign of unity of Christian unity, a significant call for peace in the world, during these difficult times with the winds of war blowing, while it also expresses the will to dialogue together with those Muslims who reject violence and justification of terrorism and massacres in the name of religion. Continue reading