In a rare move, Egypt's interim president Adly Mansour visited the head of the country's Coptic Orthodox Church.
Pope Tawadros II and Mansour met Sunday at St. Mark's Cathedral, the papal seat in central Cairo.
The visit is considered highly symbolic and comes ahead of the Coptic Christmas, which is celebrated Tuesday.
About 10 percent of Egypt's 90 million people are Christian. Most are a part of the Orthodox church, a group that often complains of discrimination by the nation's Muslim majority.
Pope Tawadros was vocal about criticizing the ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and rejecting an Islamist-tilted constitution adopted in 2012 that, in his view, was discriminatory and compromised the human rights of Egyptians.
Mansour was installed by the military this summer, replacing Morsi after just a year in power. During his time in office relations between the government and the country's Christians were fraught with tension and distrust.
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