Cardinal Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, who served as prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue since 2019, passed away November 25, after a long illness. He was 72. A former missionary in Egypt and Sudan, he was one of the Vatican’s prominent figures in fostering interreligious dialogue, particularly with Islam. This dialogue became a priority for the Holy See after Pope Francis’s election in 2013, especially in regions where Catholics are a minority.
Ayuso Guixot began leading the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue in 2016, the year of his episcopal ordination, as his predecessor, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, faced declining health. He officially assumed the role after Cardinal Tauran’s death in 2018. Just a year later, on February 4, 2019, Pope Francis and Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, signed the landmark Document on Human Fraternity in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. This historic event was followed by several similar symbolic and diplomatic gestures, most recently in Jakarta, Indonesia, where Pope Francis met with the Imam of Asia’s largest mosque in September.
Missionary in Africa
Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot was born in Seville, southern Spain, on June 17, 1952. At 21, while studying law, he was inspired by a magazine published by the Comboni Missionaries. Their spirituality centered on the Sacred Heart of Jesus—the theme of Pope Francis’s recent encyclical Dilexit nos—and their intercultural dialogue and presence in East Africa drew the young Sevillian to join the Italian-founded congregation in September 1973. He took perpetual vows and was ordained a priest in 1980. Soon after, he left Spain to study at the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI).
After earning his degree in 1982, he moved to Cairo, Egypt, where he became the parish priest for the Latin-rite community at Sacred Heart Church in Abbasiyya. Located near the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral and Al-Azhar University — both of which would later play significant roles in his Vatican career — the young priest focused on welcoming migrants and political refugees from neighboring Sudan. He was soon sent to Sudan to continue his mission.
Further reading: Interreligious talks taken to next level
At the time, Sudan was embroiled in a civil war following the imposition of Sharia law by Gaafar Mohammed Nimeiry’s government and the division of the country’s south. From the late 1980s until 2002, Ayuso Guixot directed the catechetical center in the Diocese of El-Obeid, which included Darfur. He also taught Islamic studies in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, beginning in 1989.
“A better world”
In 2000, Ayuso Guixot earned a doctorate in dogmatic theology from the University of Granada, Spain. He continued teaching in Cairo and later at PISAI in Rome, becoming its rector in 2006. In 2007, he was appointed as a consultor to the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, led by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran at the time.
In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI promoted Ayuso Guixot to secretary of the council. Relations between the Holy See and Al-Azhar had significantly deteriorated following deadly attacks on Copts in Egypt, and the Vatican relied on the former missionary’s interpersonal connections to rebuild ties with Cairo. Ayuso Guixot fulfilled this task and engaged in worldwide dialogue with Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Shintoists, and Confucianists.
Condolences from the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar
Messages of condolences have been coming in following the death of the cardinal. Among the first is that of, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, who conveyed “his deepest sympathies to Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic Church, on the loss of the President of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue.”
In a statement, the Grand Imam prayed that “Almighty God grants patience and comfort to the family, loved ones, and close friends of the departed.” He described Cardinal Ayuso as “a remarkable example of devoted service to humanity” and praised “his significant contributions to strengthening relationships with Muslims, particularly with Al-Azhar and the Muslim Council of Elders (MCE).”
The statement also acknowledged Cardinal Ayuso’s pivotal role in “promoting the Document on Human Fraternity during his time in the Vatican and his invaluable contributions to the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity.”
Interreligious Dialogue:
Pope Francis signed a document in Abu Dhabi on “Human Brotherhood for World Peace and Common Coexistence” with Ahmed al Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al Azhar, considered the highest institution in Sunni Islam.
This is an important milestone in the field of interreligious dialogue, which is being promoted among political leaders throughout the world.
On the pontifical front, this mission is handled by the president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.
After presenting the document on Dec. 4 before Antonio Guterres, UN secretary-general, Cardinal Miguel Ayuso Guixot attended the European People’s Party’s annual meeting — “Intercultural Dialogue with Churches and Religious Institutions” — on Dec. 12.
Killing in the name of God
At the meeting, held at the Maronite monastery of St. Charbel, 30 km from Brussels, the president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue explained how the document will heal the evils that plague the world.
The cardinal mentioned the contemporary emergencies that lead to “geopolitics of chaos”, “communitarian isolation” and “extremist and individual solitudes”.
The document, the Spanish cardinal explained, called for “legitimizing cultural and religious pluralism” and wants to put an end to “using God’s name to justify murder”.
These two essential points, with fraternal and peaceful dimensions, must lead to equal dignity and equal civil rights among citizens, he said.
However, Cardinal Ayuso points out that this interreligious approach does not aim to dilute the Church’s mission of living together.
On the contrary, the interreligious journey must promote the culture of dialogue as a “path”, common collaboration as a “conduct”, mutual knowledge as a “method”.
“Fear is the greatest enemy of any dialogue,” Cardinal Ayuso told members of the European Parliament.
“I would therefore ask you to overcome fear, be more welcoming and promote inclusive projects that help us overcome this culture of waste that is harming our social environment,” he said.
“The absolutism of a religious institution is not defensible,” he said.
Cardinal Ayuso warned against the frequent confusion between “the absolute of God” and “the absolute of certain religious institutions”.
“The pope and the great imam have avoided this confusion because the absolutism of a religious institution is not reasonably defensible,” he stressed.
