The grand sheik at the highest theological college in the Muslim Sunni world has agreed to meet with Pope Benedict XVI in Rome, the Vatican said Tuesday.Cardinal Paul Poupard, who leads the Vatican's commission on relations with Muslims, extended greetings from the pontiff as well as the invitation during a meeting with Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, grand sheik at the Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo. The invitation "was accepted with satisfaction," the Vatican said. No date was announced for the visit.
Benedict's predecessor, the late Pope John Paul II, visited the Cairo institute in 2000.