Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria hailed the role played by the Engineering Authority of the Armed Forces (EAAF) in overhauling churches.

In statements late Tuesday on the fringe of his visit to Kuwait, the pope deemed the new churches construction law as a "great achievement."

Concerning means of confronting extremist thought, the pope said he contributed to drawing up a curriculum being prepared by the Education Ministry to disseminate the principles of citizenship, love and forgiveness.

The pope added that Al Azhar's Beit el Eila (House of the Family) - which is an entity that includes Muslim and Christian religious leaders and aims to promote cooperation between Al Azhar and Egypt's churches - seeks to spread moderate curricula to protect youths from extremist thought.

As for the prospective visit of Vatican Pope Francis to Egypt, he said the visit is under the slogan of "Pope of peace in Egypt of peace”, highlighting the sublime international position of the pope.

He said the pope seeks always to disseminate peace.

He added that the pope is keen to visit Egypt despite the recent terror attacks to underline that these incidents are meant to harm Egypt's unity, not the Copts.

Pope Tawadros hailed the hospitality of the Kuwaiti emir and officials, voicing hope that Egypt and Kuwait would enhance cultural cooperation.

Source: MENA