(From Cairo) – “The Jerusalem question is very sensitive in the Arab world, that’s why we think it should be addressed through dialogue”. This was said earlier today by the Orthodox Coptic Patriarch, Tawadros II, during a meeting at Cairo with some Italian journalists, to coincide with the pilgrimage of a delegation of Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi in the footsteps of the Holy Family. In his opinion, US president Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel “does not consider the feelings of Muslim and Christian people in the Middle East”. Hence the decision not to meet the US deputy president, Pence, who will be in Egypt in the next few days “to express solidarity with all Egyptians” and “to say that we do not accept such decision”. In addition, Tawadros explained that Pence’s visit “has been brought forward” and “announced a few days earlier”. Lastly, a comment on the relationships between East and West, “different in their traditions and history”. “The West is the brain of the world, while the East is its heart. What we want is the brain of the world to conceive the heart – he concluded. Until it does, the results might be dangerous”. Then, he called the West to “understand the way we think, to understand what our prospects and our history are. If it manages to do this, a lot of fights would come to an end”.