Saudi king receives top Vatican official in Riyadh

By Mohamed Fahd

RIYADH (AA) - Saudi King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz on Wednesday received Cardinal Jean-Louis Pierre Tauran, head of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, and an accompanying delegation at Riyadh’s Al-Yamamah Palace.

At the meeting, the two sides hailed “the role played by the followers of religion in renouncing violence, extremism and terrorism and achieving global peace and security”, according to Saudi Arabia’s official SPA news agency.

Tauran’s trip to Saudi Arabia, which began last Friday, is the first time for a top papal official to visit the conservative Muslim Gulf kingdom.

On March 5, Pope Tawadros II, head of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church, received Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Cairo -- a visit described at the time as “historic”.

During the meeting in Cairo, bin Salman invited Christian leaders -- for the first time in the kingdom’s history -- to visit Saudi Arabia.

And last November, King Salman received Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi -- the first-ever visit to Saudi Arabia by a Maronite Christian patriarch.

Since bin Salman was appointed crown prince last summer, Saudi Arabia has seen a number of unprecedented social, cultural and political changes.