Pope Francis to visit Cairo

Vatican City April 3 (IANS) Pope Francis will pay an official visit to Egypt this month as he will take part in an international conference on peace in Cairo the Vatican s press office announced on Monday.

The pontiff will be in Cairo from April 28 to 29 where he will also meet with the head of the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox church Pope Tawadros II and President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Efe news reported.

The Pope will then hold a meeting with Al-Azhar Mosque s leader Ahmed al-Tayeb and take part in the conference but the location of these meetings has not yet been confirmed for security reasons.

The pontiff will also deliver a speech on the 70th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral relations between the two states and will close the day with a meeting with Tawadros II.

Pope Francis will also meet Egyptian bishops and deliver a speech before the members of the Catholic Church in the Arab country.

The first and last Roman Catholic pope to visit Egypt was John Paul II in 2000.

--IANS
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