His Eminence the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ash-Sharif, Prof. Ahmad At-Tayyeb, received a delegation of the Council of Bishops and representatives of the Eastern Apostolic churches in Australia and New Zealand, during their visit to Cairo. The Grand Imam averred that Al-Azhar Ash-Sharif appreciates the delegation’s visit to the Headquarters of Al-Azhar to offer condolences on the terrorist incident that wounded and aggrieved all Egyptians. He thanked them and all peace-loving people for such humanitarian visit and their standing by the brotherly and tolerant Egyptian people under the umbrella of one nation. He then added that Islam, as a religion of mercy, and Christianity, as a religion of love, cooperate and embrace for a world of tolerance, peace and dialogue. Therefore, the Grand Imam stressed, what is happening is terrorism that equally targets both Muslims and Christians alike. 

For their part, the ecumenical delegation stated that their visit to Al-Azhar Ash-Sharif is to offer sincere condolences for the enormous loss that befell the members of the one homeland, and to express solidarity and commiseration with the Egyptians, who are aggrieved by the terrorist incident. The delegation commended the efforts of the Grand Imam in supporting world peace and the rounds of dialogue he held with religious leaders around the world. They also applauded Al-Azhar conferences that confront extremist and terrorist ideology, promote a culture of peace and tolerance, and call for replacement of the term minorities with citizenship. The delegation also praised the bill proposed by Al-Azhar to criminalize incitement to hatred and violence in the name of religion. They stressed that the measures taken by the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar are important on the path to establishing peace in Egypt and the world. They finally addressed the Grand Imam, “We join the voices pronouncing that the Grand Imam has become an icon of peace.”