Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyeb said relations with the Vatican will remain frozen until Pope Benedict XVI apologizes for statements he made about Muslims.
At a press conference after receiving the Vatican's ambassador to Egypt, Michael Fitzgerald, al-Tayyeb emphasized good relations with Catholic Christians and said meetings with them will continue.
However, he said Fitzgerald visited him in a personal and not an official capacity. Al-Tayyeb added that 1.3 billion Muslims await an apology from the Catholic Pope.
He said that the Pope's predecessor, John Paul II, loved Muslims and sought to engage in dialogue with them.
Al-Azhar University indefinitely suspended its interfaith dialogue with the Vatican in January in response to Pope Benedict XVI's remarks on the status of Christians in the Middle East.
Pope Benedict XVI had called for the protection of Christians in Egypt and Iraq and called on governments in the Middle East to protect their Christian minorities after two recent attacks that targeted Christians.
Twenty-three Copts were killed and scores injured in an attack on the Church of St. Mark and St. Peter in Alexandria on New Year's Eve.
