His Eminence the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Prof. Ahmed Al-Tayyeb held a video conference with Dr. Justin Welby, Archbishop of the Canterbury Church, during which they both discussed further development and promotion of the dialogue between Al-Azhar and the Canterbury Church and tackled issues of mutual concern, especially the current global issues that the religious leaders play a prominent and influential role in.
Both sides confirmed that the current COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the need of humanity for joint action more than ever, and highlighted the importance of the role of religious leaders and cooperation between them amid such crises. Al-Tayyeb lauded the stance of Welby towards supporting the initiative of the UN Secretary-General to cease fire in conflict areas and aid refugees and the neediest groups, noting that Al-Azhar welcomes and supports such hope-inspiring initiatives, confirming that the Security Council can play an effective role in conflict resolution.
For his part, the Archbishop of Canterbury praised the strategic relations between Al-Azhar and the Church of Canterbury, noting that they should serve as a basis for further benefits, and recalled the forum of Peace-making Youths that the two institutions co-organized two years ago as a fruitful experience that showed the extent of convergence and influence that the two institutions can make, especially between the young people, and noted that the young people who participated in the event are still in touch until now, and that there have been many joint activities that were successful in the course of the dialogue between the East and the West. Welby also pointed out to the Anglican Church’s keenness to cooperation and dialogue with Al-Azhar and the Muslim Council of Elders.