The head of al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, has postponed a scheduled meeting with Pope Benedict XVI.
According to an article at Total Catholic:
Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, the Vatican nuncio to Egypt said Sheik Tantawi was unable to keep the appointment, but he declined to speculate on the reason.
“We possibly will start looking for a new date” for the visit, perhaps in May, the archbishop said.
The Vatican had announced in late February that Sheik Tantawi accepted a papal invitation for a meeting at the Vatican after Cardinal Paul Poupard, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, visited the sheik in Cairo.
The visit would have been the Pope’s highest-profile encounter with an Islamic leader since his September speech in Regensburg, Germany, that sparked controversy and criticism throughout the Muslim world.
Meantime, AllahPundit at Hot Air reminds us of an imprisoned blogger:
Abdelkareem Nabil Suleiman is sitting in an Egyptian jail thanks to the good people of Al-Azhar. Exit question: Will Benedict mention it to Tantawi when they meet?
Technorati tags: Catholicism, Islam, Religion in the Public Square.
