On the evening of Wednesday October 30th 2024, representatives of the Centre were honored to attend the Austrian National Day Celebration hosted by the Austrian Embassy in Cairo.
Austrian Ambassador Mr. Georg Pöstinger gave remarks highlighting the historic relations between the two nations, Austria’s commitment to peace, as well as expressing his hopes that hostilities and violence in the region be resolved. Ambassador Pöstinger is deeply committed to interfaith peace and dialogue.
Representatives of the Centre including Bishop Dr. Mouneer Anis, Centre Director; Rev. Dr. Matthew Anderson, Director of Academic Studies; and Mr. Kareem Gerges, Director of International Partnerships & Communications, and Ms. Alexandrya Pouliot (intern) were privileged to attend and have the chance to speak with the Ambassador on the topic and about the work of the Centre.
It is worth noting that in 1994, Cardinal Franz König, of the Catholic Church in Austria, took part in a historic meeting organized by the late Dr. Aly Elsamman, at the Sorbonne University in Paris, in which Dr. Elsamman also invited Dr. Hamdi Zagzoug, then Dean of the Theology Department at Al-Azhar Al-Shareef, and Rav. René Samuel Sirat, former Chief Rabbi of France.
To our knowledge, such a meeting is unprecedented, as it gathered for the first time representatives of the three abrahamic faiths, in which they pledged to work together for peace, inclusion and tolerance for the public good, which is reflected in the famous quote they agreed on “Never Again Separate the Children of Abraham”, also reflective of Dr. Elsamman’s pioneering and inspiring efforts for the promotion of interfaith peace and cooperation.
