Vatican receives Egypt’s ambassador to diffuse tension

(January 12, 2011) Egypt’s ambassador to the Holy See, Mrs. Lamia Aly Hamada Mekhemar was received in the Vatican Tuesday to defuse the tension between the two states after Egypt’s foreign ministry criticized the Pope for meddling in the country’s internal matters.
The Pope in his remarks to the diplomatic corps on Monday cited recent attacks on Christians in Egypt, Iraq and Nigeria, and said these governments must take more effective measures to protect religious minorities. Earlier, Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayyib, imam of the Al-Azhar, the premier institute of Islamic learning in the Sunni Muslim world had also denounced the Pope who had lamented a bomb attack at a church in Alexandria, Egypt, on New Year's Eve that killed 21 Christians.
In her meeting with Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican Secretary for Relations with States, the Egyptian ambassador expressed her government’s worries under the current difficult circumstances, and also was appraised regarding the Pope’s remarks in his address to the diplomatic corps, particularly with regard to religious freedom and protection of Christians in the Middle East. The Vatican official said that the Holy See fully shared Egypt’s preoccupations in avoiding the escalation of conflict and tensions caused by religious issues and appreciated the government’s efforts in this regard. Soon after her meeting in the Vatican, Mrs. Mekhemar flew to Cairo, where she was called by the foreign ministry for consultation.