Pope Francis to hold historic meeting with top Sunni leaderMay 19, 2016 - 18:02 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Pope Francis will meet the spiritual leader of the world's Sunni Muslims in an unprecedented encounter at the Vatican on Monday, May 23, the pontiff's spokesman said Thursday, according to AFP. Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Cairo's Al-Azhar, the most prestigious institution in Sunni Islam, will have an audience with the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics at St Peter's, Father Federico Lombardi told AFP. "This audience is being prepared and has been scheduled for Monday," he said. "It will be a first." The visit marks the restoration of cordial relations between the two faiths. Ties were soured under Pope Benedict XVI after Francis's now-retired predecessor made a September 2006 speech in which he was perceived to have described Islam as a violent religion, AFP says. Dialogue resumed in 2009 but was suspended again by Al-Azhar in 2011 when Benedict called for the protection of Christian minorities after a bomb attack on a church in Alexandria, an intervention that was perceived as meddling in Egypt's internal affairs. Relations have steadily improved since Francis became pope in 2013 with inter-faith dialogue near the top of his agenda, something he underlined with a personal message to the Muslim world to mark the end of the first month of Ramadan of his pontificate. Related links: Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. Aram I supports Karekin II’s “patriotic position” Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I has expressed support for the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. |