22 to 25 February 2010

Patriarch Gregorios III has been pleased to accept an invitation to attend the 22nd Conference of the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, on the theme of "The objectives of Islamic Sharia and the great questions of our time." More than eighty countries have so far sent representatives to participate in the work of the conference meeting in Cairo which has received a message of encouragement from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who himself expects to attend the conference.

On the fringes of the conference, talks between Muslim and non-Muslim thinkers from East and West will be held on the relationship of Islam with other religions, in an attempt to rebuild trust and to draw together perspectives between different civilizations, with a view to reaching a common basis for that positive co-existence, which is in the interest of all humanity.

It should be noted that from 22 to 26 February 2010, there will be held the annual talks between the Vatican and Al Azhar University, presided over by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran and Grand Sheikh Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi.