In partnership with
In partnership and collaboration with our members in Egypt, the NCCMR will invite members of the Network as well as distinguished experts in the field of CMR to speak on issues related to the future perspectives of CMR in the context of international relations, interfaith solidarity, and peacebuilding.
NCCMR’s Symposium in Cairo Marks a Major Milestone for Christian–Muslim Relations
The Network of Centers for Christian–Muslim Relations (NCCMR) successfully concluded its inaugural symposium, “The Future of Christian–Muslim Relations: Prospects and Challenges,” held in Cairo, Egypt, on July 6–7, 2026.
Organized in partnership with the Centre of Christian-Muslim Understanding and Partnership (CCMUP), l’Institut dominicain d’études orientales (IDEO), and the Center for Middle Eastern Christianity (CMEC), the symposium brought together more than 100 participants from over twenty countries. Scholars, religious leaders, directors of centers for Christian–Muslim relations, academic leaders, and interfaith practitioners gathered for two days of substantive dialogue, theological reflection, and practical collaboration.
The symposium opened with contributions from prominent representatives of Egypt’s religious, public, and academic institutions. Featured speakers included representatives of Al-Azhar, the Office of the Grand Mufti of Egypt, the Ministry of Awqaf, the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center, and the Protestant Churches of Egypt.
More than fifty speakers and contributors represented institutions from Egypt, Lebanon, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Senegal, Morocco, Jordan, Oman, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This broad participation made the symposium a genuinely international gathering while reflecting NCCMR’s particular commitment to amplifying the voices, scholarship, and lived experience of Christian and Muslim scholars and practitioners from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
At the heart of the gathering was the conviction that Christian–Muslim relations are neither a marginal concern nor merely a specialized academic field. They represent an urgent public responsibility in a world deeply in need of wisdom, trust, justice, and peace. NCCMR seeks to ensure that the future of these relations is not shaped by fear, inherited suspicion, political tension, or distortions amplified by social media, but deliberately through knowledge, friendship, intellectual integrity, and a shared commitment to the common good.
Key Themes
The symposium explored four principal areas:
A Decisive Moment for Dialogue
The symposium’s final statement emphasized that Christian–Muslim dialogue stands at a decisive moment. In a world wounded by war, polarization, hostility toward the other, displacement, inequality, the misuse of religion, and digital misinformation, dialogue must move beyond ceremonial language and isolated academic discussion. It must become a courageous practice of truthfulness, serious engagement, solidarity, and shared responsibility.
The symposium also affirmed that genuine dialogue does not require Christians or Muslims to weaken their convictions or erase their differences. NCCMR does not understand dialogue as a melting pot in which distinct traditions are reduced to the lowest common denominator. Rather, honest engagement enables Christians and Muslims to speak faithfully from within their own traditions while listening respectfully to the wisdom, concerns, and convictions of others. Dialogue becomes meaningful when each community is allowed to speak in its own voice and is understood on its own terms, without reduction or suspicion.
Building a Living Global Network
The symposium also highlighted NCCMR’s growing work across the field, including The Contextual Dictionary of Christian–Muslim Relations, the NCCMR–Domuni Universitas Diploma in Christian–Muslim Relations, the international webinar series, the Microgrants Program, Steering Committee meetings, and the Network’s trilingual website.
These initiatives demonstrate that NCCMR is not merely a forum for discussion. It is a living international network committed to scholarship, education, religious literacy, peacebuilding, institutional collaboration, and practical cooperation. Its purpose is to connect local centers, strengthen emerging leaders, support contextual research, and encourage partnerships across countries, languages, and religious traditions.
Holding the symposium in Egypt carried particular significance. With its long and living history of Christian–Muslim encounter, scholarship, and shared life, Egypt was not simply the venue for the gathering; it was an integral part of the story the symposium sought to explore.
Read the NCCMR Symposium Final Statement
Download the Symposium Program
