The Islamic Research Council of the University of al-Azhar, the highest authority of Sunni Islam, is freezing dialogue with the Vatican in protest of Benedict XVI’s defense of Christians in Egypt.

This is the latest development in relations between Egypt and the Vatican that have become strained in the wake of a Jan. 1 attack on a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria, which caused the death of more than 20 people leaving the Divine Liturgy.

Last week, Egypt recalled its ambassador to the Holy See, Lamia Aly Hamada Mekhemar. This came after the Pope on Jan. 9 and 10 referred to the Alexandria attack.

His first comment came in the context of his greeting to a group of Italian Parliamentarians who had attended the midday Angelus address as a show of solidarity with the Egyptian Copts. His statement the following day noted the persecution of Christians in Iraq, after which he added: “In Egypt too, in Alexandria, terrorism brutally struck Christians as they prayed in church. This succession of attacks is yet another sign of the urgent need for the governments of the region to adopt, in spite of difficulties and dangers, effective measures for the protection of religious minorities.”

Thursday’s announcement of a dialogue-freeze from Al-Azhar follows a protest from the great imam there, Ahmad al-Tayyeb, who took the Holy Father’s references as an “unacceptable intervention in Egypt’s affairs.”

The Permanent Committee of al-Azhar for Dialogue among the Monotheistic Religions has teamed with the Joint Committee for Dialogue of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue since 1998. They meet annually, alternatively in Cairo and Rome, and their next meeting was scheduled for February.

Vatican spokesman Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi said in response to the Al-Azhar announcement that the Vatican’s dialogue council is “gathering the necessary information for an adequate understanding of the situation.” He added that “the line of openness and desire for dialogue of the pontifical council remains unchanged.”

ROME, JAN. 21, 2011 (Zenit.org)