wfn.org | ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY WELCOMES MUSLIM LEADER

[a.whitefield@quest.org.uk]

May 30, 1997
ANGLICAN COMMUNION NEWS SERVICE
Canon Jim Rosenthal, Director of Communications
Anglican Communion Office
London, England

[95.5.4.6]

ENGLAND: ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY WELCOMES MUSLIM LEADER

(CT, Lambeth Palace) The relationship between Christians and Muslims
should now take precedence over dialogues with other faiths, says the
Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Archbishop made this statement when he was welcoming the Grand
Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Dr Muhammed Sayyid Tantawi, a senior Sunni Muslim to
Lambeth Palace on 19 May. The Archbishop said:"There is clearly a need
in the long term to establish a number of dialogues involving our
different communities; but nationally and internationally, I believe
that Christian-Muslim relationships are of such significance at the
moment that they should take priority at present."

The Archbishop said he wished to acknowledge "publicly and with profound
gratitude" the Sheikh's condemnation of violence against Christians
perpetrated by Muslim extremists in Egypt; he felt that he and Dr
Tantawi could meet together "as equals, as friends".

There were aspects of their two faiths over which they differed,
sometimes passionately, Dr Carey said: but "no dialogue can be nurtured
through disrespect, aggression or misrepresentation".

Dr Tantawi was in England for a six day visit at the invitation of the
Archbishop of Canterbury. The Archbishop met the Sheikh at Lambeth
Palace for a private meeting and hosted a dinner in his honour.

During his stay Dr Tantawi met HRH the Prince of Wales and a Government
Minister in a programme set up by the British Foreign Office. The
Archbishop has met the Sheikh on two previous occasions, when Dr Tantawi
was the Grand Mufti of Egypt.  In 1995 the Archbishop addressed Muslims
at the Al Azhar University, and challenged the leaders of major faiths
to build relationships, "through friendship, not hostility;
understanding, not ignorance; reciprocity, not exclusivism, and
cooperation, not confrontation."

(see full text of speech below in FEATURES SERVICE)

-