Pope Francis is to discuss inter-faith dialogue and peace during a planned two-day visit to Egypt in April.

The pope’s itinerary includes speaking at an international peace conference at Cairo’s Al-Azhar University, according to the programme released by the Vatican, on Monday.

After arriving in Cairo on April 28, Francis is first scheduled to meet with President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi, and then with Ahmed Muhammad Ahmed el-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of al-Azhar.

Prope Francis is also set to meet Pope Tawadros II, the leader of the Coptic Orthodox church.

The pope is scheduled to celebrate Mass on Saturday, April 29, and then have lunch with Egyptian bishops, before returning to Rome.

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In May 2016, al-Tayeb made an unprecedented visit to the Vatican and met Francis, a visit that marked an end to years of strained relations between the two institutions.

Al-Azhar broke off an interfaith dialogue with the Vatican in 2011 in protest at a call by Francis’ predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, for Middle Eastern governments to take “effective measures for the protection of religious minorities.”

Al-Sissi, who ousted Islamist leader Mohammed Morsi in 2013, has courted the country’s Christian minority to an extent unseen for decades, visiting the main Orthodox cathedral during Christmas Mass for three straight years.

Islam is the state religion of Egypt.

Around 10 per cent of Egypt’s population of roughly 90 million are Coptic Christians, whose leader is Tawadros II, based in Alexandria. (NAN)