Vatican ‘open' to ties to Al-Azhar
Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, has said the Vatican remains open to restoring normal ties to Al-Azhar, the highest seat of Sunni Muslim learning, but the Cairo-based university must first respond to Rome's offer.
"I have made several attempts to contact them but they never worked," the French-born cardinal told AFP. "We're not the problem - it was our Muslim friends who suspended relations."
Al-Azhar suspended its regular exchanges with the Vatican in January 2011, accusing then-Pope Benedict of insulting Islam after he called for better protection for Coptic Christians following several violent attacks on them.