Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi met on Monday with Gregorios III Laham, patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, and stressed that Islam has nothing to do with extremist groups committing terrorism in the name of religion.

The Catholic patriarch, along other church officials, met the Egyptian president on the occasion of Christmas holidays.

El-Sisi welcomed the delegation in El-Ittihadeya Palace to extend his felicitations for the upcoming holidays.

Spokesperson to the Egyptian presidency Alaa Youssef said that Gregorios III conveyed the greetings of Pope Francis of the Roman Catholic Church and his praise of Egypt's leading role in the region.

The Egyptian president told the delegation that the religion of Islam is keen to uphold love and affection, tolerance and cooperation with different religions.

He also said that the teachings of Islam recommend righteousness and piety away from sin and aggression, stressing that acts of murder and terrorism practiced by extremist groups on behalf of the religion are a blatant violation of the teachings of Islam.

According to estimates, Egypt's Christians make up about 10 percent of the country's 90 million people, with Catholics estimated at around 500,000.

The patriarch led prayers in El-Daher district in central Cairo.

Unlike Western denominations who celebrate Christmas on 25 December, Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Christians celebrate on 7 January due to the use of the Julian calendar.