Vatican open to talks with Muslims despite Al-Azhar’s 'freeze'

(January 21, 2011) The Vatican has said that despite a leading Islamic institute freezing its talks with the Holy See, the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Inter-religious dialogue remains committed to dialogue. The Al-Azhar University, in Cairo, Egypt, the pre-eminent institute of Islamic learning in the Sunni Muslim world said on Thursday it is freezing its dialogue with the Vatican to protest Pope Benedict XVI's recent remarks calling for the protection of Christians in Egypt. The move from Al-Azhar comes as Muslim-Christian tensions have been rising in Egypt following the New Year's bombing on a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria that killed 21 Christians. Following the attack in Alexandria and other attacks on Christians in Iraq and Nigeria, Pope Benedict, in a speech on Jan. 10 to diplomats, called on governments in the region to protect Christians. Egypt's government has rejected international expressions of concern over the country's Christian minority as foreign meddling in its internal affairs. Al-Azhar released a statement on Thursday saying its governing council “decided to freeze dialogue between al-Azhar and the Vatican for an indefinite period." The biannual inter-religious dialogue discusses Islamic-Christian affairs. Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said on Thursday that al-Azhar's move would not change the Vatican's "policy of openness and desire for dialogue" with Islam.