The relationship between Christians and Muslims should now take precedence over dialogues with other faiths, says the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Archbishop made this statement when he was welcoming the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Dr Muhammed Sayyid Tantawi, a senior Sunni Muslim to Lambeth Palace on 19 May. The Archbishop said:"There is clearly a need in the long term to establish a number of dialogues involving our different communities; but nationally and internationally, I believe that Christian-Muslim relationships are of such significance at the moment that they should take priority at present."

The Archbishop said he wished to acknowledge "publicly and with profound gratitude" the Sheikh's condemnation of violence against Christians perpetrated by Muslim extremists in Egypt; he felt that he and Dr Tantawi could meet together "as equals, as friends".

There were aspects of their two faiths over which they differed, sometimes passionately, Dr Carey said: but "no dialogue can be nurtured through disrespect, aggression or misrepresentation".

Dr Tantawi was in England for a six day visit at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Archbishop met the Sheikh at Lambeth Palace for a private meeting and hosted a dinner in his honour.

During his stay Dr Tantawi met HRH the Prince of Wales and a Government Minister in a programme set up by the British Foreign Office. The Archbishop has met the Sheikh on two previous occasions, when Dr Tantawi was the Grand Mufti of Egypt. In 1995 the Archbishop addressed Muslims at the Al Azhar University, and challenged the leaders of major faiths to build relationships, "through friendship, not hostility; understanding, not ignorance; reciprocity, not exclusivism, and cooperation, not confrontation."

Speech by the Archbishop of Canterbury at a Dinner in Honour of His Grace Sheikh Muhamed Sayyid Tantawi, the Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Monday 19 May 1997

Your Grace, it is with great pleasure that I welcome you to Lambeth Palace this evening. Of course, this is not your first visit here. You came a few years ago when you were the Grand Mufti of Egypt. I have known you for many years as a man of great faith and wisdom and I have enjoyed our time together. My subsequent visit to your land in 1995 when I met with you and your illustrious predecessor, Dr Gad al Haqq Ali gad al Haqq, gave us both fresh insights into the degree in which both of us, as leaders in different faith communities which are in some sense 'established' in law, share similar problems and opportunities. They are heavy; yet I know that you are as determined as I am not to shirk them. We have established a positive relationship of friendship and respect and I thank God for that.

Let us notice the differences which are part of the dialogue between the faiths. We come from different backgrounds, cultural and religious. I have grown up a Christian, you have grown up a Muslim. The assumptions and beliefs which are at the heart of our respective faiths we hold dear, and neither you nor I wish to compromise those beliefs. Yet that does not prevent us from meeting together as equals, as friends. It does not prevent us from creating a relationship of trust and mutual respect in which we can share what we have in common and talk frankly about what separates us.

I know from my meetings with you, including our time together earlier this evening that we are at one in deploring the violence of religious extremists which is aimed at those of a different faith, or indeed at those of their own faith with whom they disagree. In this context, I wish to acknowledge publicly and with profound gratitude your condemnation of the attacks that have been carried out against Christians in Egypt and elsewhere in the world by groups of Muslim extremists. I know they do not represent the true face of Islam. I know that my colleague, Bishop Ghais Abdel Malik, would echo these words, as would the representatives of the Coptic Orthodox Church present tonight.

The complex web of relationships which nurture and sustain the world in which we live is a tender and sensitive one. All too easily the strands stretch and snap, and the resultant eruptions of physical and psychological violence fatally would individuals, communities, even nations. History is often a powerful force in such situations; more often it is ignorance and misunderstanding, which lead on to fear, jealously, suspicion and over-zealous competition. Such emotional responses are poison to a human world which thrives upon trust, respect and love.

Many societies still look to religious communities to enunciate and bear witness to their core values. Although we are all aware of the apparently inexorable advance of secularism, and the fact that many individuals reject active involvement in worshipping communities, still there remains an expectation that leaders of religious bodies will speak out on issues of justice, and hold firmly to ideals of human dignity and worth. More than that, we and our fellow witnesses must live these values; and when we do not, we are quickly brought to task by critical observers - the media, politicians, even those who are simply anti-religion.

Let me say then, equally clearly, that I also condemn any aggression against Muslims or the Islamic Faith from whatever source that might come; and I should add that I recognise well that such attacks may come not only through physical violence, but through speech and the written word. Clearly this does not preclude honest debate of those aspects of our two faiths over which we differ, sometimes passionately; but whatever differences there may be between our faith communities, no dialogue can be nurtured through disrespect, aggression or misrepresentation. I am profoundly committed to the construction of dialogue and appropriate collaboration in which we meet as, for example, Muslims, Christians, Hindus or Jews certainly, but primarily where we meet as friends. Friendship is a wonderful and challenging gift which we must nurture carefully, for the sake of the world in which we live.

Of course, Your Grace, in our conversations you have rightly raised some of the concerns Muslim have as they seek to live as full members of British society, and I would like to turn to this for a few moments, remembering some of the things that I tried to say when you predecessor gave me the enormous privilege of speaking at the Al-Azhar University in 1995.

It has long been my opinion that, for the sake of the health of this country in the next century and beyond, we need to find ways in which members of our two communities can meet regularly together in a more structured way than has been possible up to now.

The recent report on Islamophobia by the Runnymede Trust has highlighted a number of the problems we face in tackling some of the issues and difficulties that can so easily poison community relationships. Yet there is another tale to be told - and one that needs to be heard more widely.

I think, for instance, of the way in which Muslims, Christians and others have, in a number of cases, combined their efforts to send aid to Bosnia. Or again I think of the work that has gone on in Bradford to produce an agreed Religious Education Syllabus which, I was told, when I visited there last year, has been an important factor in preventing the withdrawal of Muslims pupils from RE Classes as has happened elsewhere in the country. Or yet again I think of the lead taken by the Bishop of Bradford and other Muslim and Christian leaders in seeking to rebuild community relationships after the riots in Manningham two years ago; and they were joined by Christians and Muslims from Manchester in protesting at the violence committed against Christians in Pakistan.

I think also of the Inter-Faith Network in which a number of British Muslims work together with colleagues from other faith communities, including Christians, and I pay tribute tonight to their faithful pioneering work over the last ten years. And, again, there is the Centre for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations at Selly Oak, which has established such a strong relationship with Al-Azhar University; and of the more recent developments academically at Oxford with the establishment of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, and the new department in the University of Cambridge. I am glad to see representatives from all these initiatives here tonight.

But there are still fears to be addressed. I do not fear Islam. I understand and respect its strength and those who faithfully worship according to the tenets of Islam and the Prophet Mohammed. Others, however, do retain such fears. The international strength of Islam does create fear among some other religious communities. Equally, I recognise that Muslims can often feel threatened by a culture like ours in Britain which appears so alien, and sometimes, even for the Christian communities, so anti-religion, and religious values. You and I represent what are numerically the two strongest faiths on this globe. For the sake of the entire human family - for its peace and prosperity we must continue to build trust between our peoples. To achieve this there must be mutual respect and deeper tolerance combined with a commitment to ensure freedom of worship and the rejection of discrimination, especially in those countries where Muslims or Christians find themselves to be in a minority, whilst the other faith predominates.

It is because the issues facing us are so pressing that I am convinced of the need to establish a fuller bilateral dialogue between the Christians and Muslims around the country. Over 50 years ago my predecessor, William Temple, saw the need to develop Christian Jewish relationships and, with others, established the Council for Christians and Jews which, I am glad to report, still flourishes and, in its own right, has a vital role to continue to play in the future. Where I am uncertain is to know how best to structure the development of Christian-Muslim Dialogue given the nature and history of our different communities.

And here, if I may Your Excellency, I would like to enlist your support and that of those gathered here tonight. Between us we represent a wide cross-section of leadership within our communities. I would value the views of all my guests and your views in particular how this might best be done.

May I also reassure these representing other faith communities that I would not want any of them to feel excluded or threatened by such a development. There is clearly a need in the long term to establish a number of dialogues involving our different communities but, nationally and internationally, I believe that Christian-Muslim relationship are of such significance at the moment that they should take priority at present. Such dialogues must not avoid the points of tension and difficulty - but one which, whilst recognising these, it must not become submerged by them. We must succeed in focusing on, and sharing, those ideas where co-operation is possible in a bond of friendship and where there are already many good stories to tell.