Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, MCCJ (17 June 1952 – 25 November 2024) was a Spanish prelate of the Catholic Church and a historian of Islam. He was 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, an office he held until his death in 2024.
Biography
Miguel Ayuso was born in Seville, 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. He was ordained as a priest on 20 September 1980. 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.[1]
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.[1]
He served as the Vatican's principal representative in restoring dialogue with Grand ImamAhmed 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.[7][8] 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.[9]
On 25 May 2019, Pope Francis appointed him President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.[11] Pope Francis named him a member of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches on 6 August 2019.[12]
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