Grand Master Fra’ John Dunlap, visiting Egypt, today attended the opening ceremony of the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, in the presence of the President of Egypt Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Egyptian authorities and various heads of state and government. 

An important moment of the Grand Master’s visit to Cairo was his meeting with the Grand Imam of al-Azhar, Ahmed al Tayeb. The promotion of interreligious dialogue and prayer as a privileged way to foster paths for peace and the defence of human dignity was the subject of the conversation with the highest religious authority in Sunni Islam, with whom concern was shared for the ongoing conflicts and the situation in the Middle East, with particular reference to Gaza. The meeting was an opportunity to present to the Grand Imam the Order of Malta’s projects in the healthcare and social agricultural sectors in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon.  

Bilateral collaboration was focus of the meeting between the Order of Malta’s Grand Chancellor, Riccardo Paternò di Montecupo, and the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Badr Abdelatty. There was a stated desire to reinforce the Order’s activities in Egypt, for which the minister expressed great appreciation. Also discussed were possibilities for collaboration to meet the urgent healthcare needs of the population in the Gaza Strip. 

In Egypt, the Order of Malta supports two centres for the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes in Nazlet Ghattas and in Shoubra (Cairo) and a school for Eritrean refugees in Zamalek, where it also provides medical examinations for refugees. On the morning of Sunday 2nd November, the Grand Master will visit the Zamalek clinic, dedicated to refugees from Eritrea and Sudan. 

During the visit, Fra’ John Dunlap also had meetings with the Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State, Msgr. Edgar Peña Parra, and with the Apostolic Nuncio to Egypt, Msgr. Nicolas Henry Marie Denis Thevenin.