A MESSAGE of peace and hope was delivered to Bolton by Pope Francis through his representative in Britain.

His Excellency Archbishop Antonio Mennini, personally delivered the message of harmony between faiths at an event hosted by the Centre for Islamic Finance (CIF) at the University of Bolton.

Archbishop Mennini, the Apostolic Nuncio to Britain, was speaking on "The Catholic Church and Islam: a message of peace and love from Pope Francis".

The Director of the Centre for Islamic Finance, Professor Mohammed Abdel-Haq, told of his pride that centre had been chosen for the Pope’s message given "inclusivity and understanding between culture and faith were central to CIF’s mission".

Said Archbishop Mennini said: "Love and peace between Muslims and Christians is more important than ever. We must respect the Muslims coming to our country in the way we would wish to be treated in their country."

He added: "God will always win and men of goodwill will be supported by his grace."

Vice Chancellor, Professor George Holmes said the University of Bolton was the most socially inclusive university in Britain with 35 per cent of students from ethnic minority backgrounds, of which 30 per cent were of Islamic faith.

He said: "We have a very rich and diverse culture where, if we don’t bare authentic witness to respect and recognise each others’ ideals, we would not survive, never mind thrive in the way we do in this region. We play our part and that is a great privilege for this university."

The Centre for Islamic Finance works in collaboration with other financial and academic institutions to encourage high quality research and to promote the understanding of Islamic finance through lectures, conferences and short courses. It has welcomed a number of high profile speakers including Dr Ahmed Ali, President of the Islamic Development Bank; former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Norman Lamont; Chief Executive of HS2, Simon Kirby and one of the world’s leading security, cybercrime and fraud experts, Don Randall MBE.