CAIRO: Pope Francis urged tolerance and denounced “demagogic” populism and violence committed in God’s name on Friday as he visited Egypt to promote dialogue with Muslims and support its embattled Christian minority. He visited an Egyptian church bombed by the militant Islamic State group in December.

Pope Francis joined a procession from the nearby headquarters of Coptic Pope Tawadros II to the Saint Peter and Saint Paul church, where a suicide bomber killed 29 people in the December 11 attack.

The 80-year-old pontiff landed in Cairo earlier on Friday before meeting President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and then Al-Azhar’s Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayeb, one of the Muslim world’s leading authorities.

Sisi, a former army chief criticised for rights abuses, welcomed Francis at his palace with a military brass band and priests lining up to greet the head of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics. Pope Francis then headed to Tayeb’s headquarters, sealing a recent improvement in relations between Catholicism and the Sunni branch of Islam.

The pope, who was shuttled from one engagement to another in a closed car on the first day of the tightly scheduled 27-hour visit, then gave a speech to a Muslim-Christian conference. “Peace alone... is holy and no act of violence can be perpetrated in the name of God, for it would profane his name,” he said.

The pope also took aim at what he called “demagogic forms of populism... on the rise,” saying they were unhelpful to peace. The pope was joined at the conference by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople, the spiritual leader of the Orthodox world and a close ally. In another speech with Sisi in the audience, Pope Francis expressed support for Egypt’s military campaign against jihadists, who had bombed the churches and killed hundreds of troops.

But he also insisted on “unconditional respect for inalienable human rights such as equality among all citizens, religious freedom and freedom of expression.” Sisi has faced heavy criticism from rights groups for abuses since he led the military ouster of his Islamist predecessor Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

Before disembarking from his plane in Cairo, Pope Francis had told reporters that his visit was a “journey of unity and fraternity. Less than two days but very intense.” His meeting with Tayeb, he said, would “be an example and a model for peace precisely because it will be a meeting of dialogue.”

Security was extremely tight for the visit with Egypt under a state of emergency following the church bombings.

Police and soldiers stood guard outside the Vatican residence in Cairo on Friday and armoured cars were stationed outside the Coptic Orthodox Saint Mark’s Cathedral, where Tawadros II’s headquarters are located.

All of the country’s churches have been placed under additional protection because of the risk of another assault timed to coincide with Pope Francis being in the country.

Despite the dangers, he is expected to be taken to most of his engagements in a normal vehicle and electric golf carts. “Please pray for my journey tomorrow as a pilgrim of peace to Egypt,” he said on his Twitter account on the eve of his departure.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2017