'It will be a first': Pope Francis to meet Sunni Islamic leader

'The dialogue was never cut, it was just suspended.'

Pope Francis has decided to meet with Sunni Islam's Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb on Monday.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told AFP, "This audience is being prepared and has been scheduled for Monday. It will be a first."

The pontiff's visit with Sunni Islam's leader is expected to create a better relationship between the Catholic Church and the Muslim population amid turbulent times.

Relations between the Catholic Church and the Muslim community was fractured during the previous Pope's, Benedict XVI, time.

In 2009, al-Azhar suspended dialogue between the Sunni and Catholics and was particularly tense in 2011 when Benedict XVI called for protection for Christian Minorities in the Middle East.

With the continued persecution of the Christian minority, Pope Francis hopes the meeting will mend the old wound and smooth remaining tensions, leaving space for reasonable accommodations for both sides.

A representative of the al-Azhar mosque, Mahmoud Azab, spoke of modern slavery and human trafficking during an interfaith conference at the Vatican March of 2014.

Azab explained: "The dialogue was never cut, it was just suspended," then added the idea was not "dialogue for its own sake. There has to be a clear agenda."

Pope Francis has been clear with his view points from day one, explaining how violence in the name of religion was not to be tolerated and that true Muslims were not terrorists. With any luck, the meeting will conclude with a renewed vision for the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Sunni Islam mosque.

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