Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman made history during his ongoing visit to Egypt, becoming the first-ever Saudi royal to visit a Coptic Pope.
Arriving at St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo, MBS met with Egypt's Pope Tawadros II on Monday.
The sit-down aims to highlight the importance of tolerance and coexistence among people of different faiths in the region.
It comes at a time when the prince is transforming the ultra-conservative kingdom and shifting it to what he describes as "moderate Islam".
Bin Salman and Tawadros stressed the importance of coexistence
According to Saudi Arabia's Press Agency (SPA), the meeting saw the two figures highlight the importance of renouncing terrorism and standing united in promoting tolerance.
During their meeting, the two discussed the "brotherly relations between the kingdom and Egypt" and discussed the significance of "achieving security and peace for the peoples of the region and world".
The cathedral visit comes on the second day of MBS's trip to Egypt.
On his first day in the country, the crown prince met with Egypt's president Abdel Fatah Al Sisi. The two leaders discussed various topics including closer cooperation, regional conflicts, and bilateral deals.
The Saudi royal's trip to the country comes just weeks before Egypt's upcoming presidential elections.
MBS's visit to Pope Tawadros is being labelled historic
"A great moment captured"
"We're all brothers and sisters, you've got your religion and we've got ours."
"This is beautiful"
Under the guidance of the crown prince, the kingdom is shifting to moderate Islam
Even though bin Salman's visit to Pope Tawadros is quite unique, it isn't all too surprising given that the crown prince is serious about leading his country towards a more tolerant era.
For decades, Saudi Arabia's laws were built on a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam.
However, MBS seems adamant on changing that, stating that the kingdom will "return to a moderate Islam that is open to all religions", one that the country followed before 1979 - a year that saw more extreme ideologies take the front seat in the Gulf state.
In a statement, which was made during the 2017 Future Investment Initiative (FII) summit in Riyadh, the Saudi royal stressed the importance of coexistence, saying:
"We want to lead normal lives, lives where our religion and our traditions translate into tolerance, so that we coexist with the world and become part of the development of the world."
"We will not waste any second of our lives tolerating extremist ideologies," he added.
Recent developments and transformations in the kingdom indicate that the ambitious leader's plans have already started taking effect.