In response to Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II's visit to the Vatican, Vatican Pope Francis I asked for a resumption of dialogue with the Azhar which has stalled for more that seven years in a protest against statements made by former Vatican Pope Benedict XVI in 2006 linking Islam with violence. The Azhar then announced a freezing of religious dialogue between the Vatican and Azhar following another statement in 2011 from Pope Benedict calling from Christians to be protected in Egypt, which the Azhar saw as unacceptable inference in Egypt affairs. The Vatican declared in a statement that the initiative of Dr. Ahmad al-Tayyīb, Grand Shaykh of the Azhar, in congratulating Pope Francis on his inauguration is preparation for a peace initiative from the Azhar.

The statement highlighted that a resumption of dialogue would be mutually beneficial; a dialogue focusing on shared values in Catholicism and Islam not ideology (Sarah Hāmid, al-Misrīyūn, May 21, p. 2). Read original text in Arabic.