Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, MCCJ (born 17 June 1952) is a Spanish prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and an historian of Islam. He has been an official of the Roman Curia since 2012 and an archbishop since 2016. Pope Francis raised him to the rank of cardinal on 5 October 2019.

Biography

Miguel Ayuso was born in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

, Spain, on 17 June 1952. On 2 May 1980, he made his perpetual vows as a member of the

Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus Bold text The Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus ( la, Missionarii Comboniani Cordis Iesu), abbreviated MCCJ, also known as the Comboni Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, or the Verona Fathers, and originally called the Sons of the Sacred ...

. He was ordained as a priest on 20 September 1982. He earned a licentiate in Arabic and Islamic studies at Rome's Pontifical Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies (PISAI) in 1982. He was a missionary in Egypt and Sudan from 1982 to 2002. Beginning in 1989, he was professor of Islamic studies first in Khartoum, then in Cairo, and then President of PISAI from 2005 to 2012. He led interreligious discussions in Egypt, Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Mozambique. He obtained a doctorate in dogmatic theology from the University of Granada in 2000. On 20 November 2007,

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...

appointed him a consultant to the

Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue The Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, previously named Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID), is a dicastery of the Roman Curia, erected by Pope Paul VI on 19 May 1964 as the Secretariat for Non-Christians, and renamed by Pope ...

, and on 30 June 2012, Benedict named him Secretary of that Council. Benedict named him a special auditor at the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East in 2010. On 29 January 2016,

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

appointed him

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox ...

Luperciana Henchir-Tebel is a town and archaeological site in Al Qayrawān, Tunisia, near Kairouan Henchir-Tebel is 118 metres above sea level. The town is in the tribal area of the ''Oulad Emmbarek el Achour'', ''Oulad Haj en Nsir'', and the ''Jehinat''. an ...

. He was ordained on 19 March by the pope himself. He served as the Vatican's principal representative in restoring dialogue with Grand Imam Ahmed el-Tayeb of Cairo's Al-Azhar mosque, which were curtailed in 2011. He reported that the parties were focused on "joint initiatives to promote peace", the right to religious education, and the issue of religious freedom, looking to an agreement that establishes "the sacrosanct right to citizenship" for all, no matter their religion. His work culminated in the joint statement, the Declaration on Human Fraternity, issued by the Grand Imam and Pope Francis in February 2019 in Abu Dhabi. Ayuso Guixot has represented the Holy See as a member of the board of directors of the King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID), a joint initiative of Saudi Arabia, Austria and Spain, since its founding in Vienna in 2012. On 25 May 2019, Pope Francis appointed him President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. Pope Francis named him a member of the

Congregation for the Oriental Churches The Dicastery for the Eastern Churches (also called Dicastery for the Oriental Churches), previously named Congregation for the Oriental Churches or Congregation for the Eastern Churches ( la, Congregatio pro Ecclesiis Orientalibus), is a dicaste ...

on 6 August 2019. On 5 October 2019, Pope Francis made him

Cardinal Deacon A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Co ...

of San Girolamo della Carità. He was made a member of the

on 21 February 2020.

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at Catholic Hierarchy {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayuso Guixot, Miguel Angel 1952 births Living people Bishops appointed by Pope Francis Cardinals created by Pope Francis People from Seville 21st-century Roman Catholic titular archbishops Historians of Islam 21st-century Spanish historians 21st-century Spanish cardinals 20th-century Spanish Roman Catholic theologians Roman Catholic missionaries in Egypt Roman Catholic missionaries in Sudan Christian scholars of Islam Spanish academics 21st-century Spanish Roman Catholic theologians Spanish expatriates in Egypt Spanish expatriates in Sudan University of Granada alumni Pontifical Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies alumni Academic staff of the Pontifical Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies Spanish historians of religion 20th-century Spanish historians

Biography

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