Pope Francis to start historic visit to Egypt Fri.

CAIRO, April 28 (KUNA) -- The Catholic Pope's Francis will start an official historic visit to Egypt Friday to promote interreligious dialogue and tolerance.
This visit comes upon an invitation from President Abdelfatah Al-Sisi, who met Francis when he visited the Vatican in late 2014.
The Pope is scheduled to fly to Cairo on Friday 28th for a two-day pastoral journey during which he will celebrate Mass, participate in a Conference for peace to be organized by Al-Azhar, meet with clergy, Egyptian Christian community.
One of the highlights of the visit is his meeting with the Orthodox Coptic Patriarch, Tawadros II and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmad Al-Tayyeb.
The Pope's visit to Egypt comes in the wake of the Palm Sunday attacks on the Orthodox Coptic churches in Tanta and Alexandria.
It also coincides with the 70th anniversary of the Egyptian-Vatican relations, which dates back to 1947.
Pope Francis, in a letter to the Egyptians published by the Catholic Church in Egypt, hoped the visit would contribute to dialogue among faiths.
Both Egypt and Vatican share the same stances over a several key religious and political issues, particularly the importance of the Muslim-Christian dialogue, countering extremism, prohibition of abortion, protection of the environment, and peace in the Middle East.
Reflecting the strong relations between both sides, they have founded a joint dialogue committee on May 28th, 1998.
On February 24, 2000, Pope John Paul II paid the first every papal visit to Egypt.
Pope's John Paul II was greatly welcomed from the government and Egyptian people, Muslims and Christians alike.
Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak paid a visit to Vatican on March 13, 2006 and met Pope Benedict XVI and discussed bilateral relations and several of key issues of mutual concern such as the future of peace in the Middle East.
Al-Sisi and Pope Francis, at their 2014 meeting in the Vatican, called for resuming dialogue between Al-Azhar and the Holy See through the joint committee.
In May 2016, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmad Al-Tayyeb visited the Vatican, where the pope embraced him. During their meeting, they focused on their mutual efforts to foster interreligious dialogue, peaceful coexistence and tolerance.
On July 16, 2016, a delegation from the Vatican visited Egypt where they discussed launching an international initiative for interfaith dialogue and proposed organization of an international conference for dialogue among civilizations in 2019. (end) esm.rg.ibi