Addressing religious leaders, including Pope Francis, on Friday, one of the world’s leading Islamic cleric called for dialogue between the two mainstreams of the faith to resolve sectarian differences.

Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Cairo’s renowned Al-Azhar Mosque, a center of Sunni learning, hosted the rare call to promote religious harmony at the Bahrain Dialogue Forum.

The main division in Islam is between Sunni and Shia, and Tayeb’s call came as sectarian divisions in the Middle East have exacerbated regional conflicts, including in Yemen and Syria.

“I … call on my brothers, Muslim scholars from all sects, sects and schools of thought around the world to engage in Islamic dialogue,” al-Tayeb said.

“Let us together banish all talk of hate, provocation and excommunication, leaving aside conflicts, ancient and modern, in all their forms,” ??he added.

Al-Tayeb told the forum organized by the UAE-based Muslim Council of Elders that his words were a “special appeal to our Shia Muslim brothers.”

He said the senior scholars of Al-Azhar and the Muslim Council of Elders are ready to host a meeting “so that we can sit down at a round table to resolve our differences and strengthen our Islamic unity.”

The differences have been exacerbated by a years-long row between Shia-dominated Iran and the Sunni kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which have held talks to improve ties.

Al-Tayeb’s comments came a day after Pope Francis, the leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics, arrived on an interfaith dialogue mission in the Gulf Kingdom of Bahrain.

In 2019, during the first papal visit to the Gulf region, where Islam was born, the Pope signed a Muslim-Christian Manifesto for Peace in the United Arab Emirates.