The Holy Father has nominated Comboni Father Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, as Titular Bishop of Luperciana.
Father Ayuso Guixot was born in Seville, Spain, on June 17th 1952. He took his final vows in the Institute of the Comboni Missionaries on May 2nd, 1980, and was ordained a priest on September 20th of the same year. He worked as a missionary in Egypt and Sudan until 2002.
He earned a licentiate in Arabic and Islamic studies from the Pontifical Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI) in Rome in 1982, and a doctorate in dogmatic theology from the University of Granada, Spain, in 2000.
From 1989 he was professor of Islamic Studies first in Khartoum, Sudan, and then in Cairo, Egypt. He subsequently joined the PISAI, of which he was eventually appointed rector, remaining there until 2012.
Father Guixot has presided over several meetings on interreligious dialogue in Africa, specifically in Egypt, Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Mozambique. He has also authored various books and has been published in international journals. On June 30, 2012, Pope Benedict appointed him Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.
