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Al-Azhar freezes dialogue with Vatican indefinitely
Bikya Masr Published in Bikya Masr on 21 - 01 - 2011

CAIRO: Al-Azhar has decided to indefinitely freeze all dialogue with the Vatican over what it called Pope Benedict's repeated insults towards Islam, the institution announced on Thursday.
Al-Azhar is Egypt's top Sunni authority.
Suspending interfaith dialogue with the Vatican on Thursday came in response to Pope Benedict XVI's remarks on the status of Christians in the Middle East.
Pope Benedict condemned attacks on churches that killed dozens of people in Egypt, Iraq and Nigeria this month, saying they showed the need to adopt effective measures to protect religious minorities.
Al-Azhar made the decision during an urgent meeting held by the Islamic Research Academy, run by al-Azhar. The academy's secretary general, Ali Abdel Dayem, said the activities of the Permanent Committee for Dialogue with Monotheistic Religions will be suspended indefinitely.
Benedict called for protecting Christians in the Middle East following the New Year's attack on an Alexandria church that killed 23 and injured 100. His remarks angered Egypt. The Egyptian government considered his statements interference in its domestic affairs and recalled its Ambassador for consultations.
Al-Azhar established the dialogue committee in 1997. It meets twice a year to discuss bilateral collaboration.
For its part, the Vatican said Thursday it wanted to continue its meetings with Al-Azhar.
“The council for inter-religious dialogue's line of openness and desire to dialogue is unchanged,” said Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi.
Lombardi added that the council was “in the process of gathering together the necessary information in order to understand the situation well.”
Sheikh Mahmoud Azab said, “The Pope has repeatedly alleged that non-Muslims are being persecuted in Muslim countries in the Middle East region, which is far from the truth and is an unacceptable interference in the internal affairs of Islamic countries.”
On Wednesday, Arab leaders at a summit in Egypt voiced their “total rejection” of foreign interference in Arab affairs over Christian minorities.
BM

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