The Higher Committee of Human Fraternity

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About the Higher Committee for Human Fraternity
The Higher Committee is a diverse set of religious leaders, educational scholars, and cultural
leaders from across the world who were inspired by the Document of Human Fraternity and are
dedicated to spreading its message of mutual understanding and peace.

They are tasked with promoting the aspirations outlined in the Document of Human Fraternity
and will be meeting with religious leaders, heads of international organizations, and others
across the world to support and spread the values of mutual respect and peaceful coexistence.

The committee will provide counsel on a variety of initiatives which aim to deliver on the
document including the Abrahamic Family House, an interfaith center to be built in Abu Dhabi.

As the Higher Committee carries their message across the world, the committee will expand to
include leaders of other faiths, denominations, and beliefs. The committee is at an early but
exciting moment in its journey and is beginning to lay the foundation for how it will work together
to achieve its goals.

For the committee’s first year, the following roles have been appointed so far:
• Committee meetings Chairman - His Eminence Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, President
of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue;
• Committee General-Secretary - Judge Mohamed Mahmoud Abdel Salam, former
Advisor to the Grand Imam.

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Full biographies of Higher Committee members
1. Cardinal MIGUEL ÀNGEL AYUSO GUIXOT, PRESIDENT OF THE PONTIFICAL
COUNCIL FOR INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE OF THE HOLY SEE

His Eminence Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot was born in Seville, Spain in
1952. He is a member of the Congregation of the Comboni Missionaries
of the Heart of Jesus, (M.C.C.J.). He was ordained a priest in 1980 and
until 2002 was missioned in service to the Church in Egypt and Sudan.
In addition to Spanish, he also speaks Arabic, English, French and
Italian.

He received a License in Arabic and Islamic Studies at the Pontifical

Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies e then went on to a doctorate in
dogmatic theology at Granada. He taught Islamic studies in Khartoum and in Cairo. Since 2012
he has been the Secretary for the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue by Pope Benedict.

On 19 March 2016 he was ordained a bishop by Pope Francis in the Vatican Basilica. He was
named a Cardinal by Pope Francis on 1 September 2019. He has served at the Vatican’s principal
representative in the continuing dialogue with the Grand Imam Ahmad At-Tayyeb of Al-Azhar
mosque in Cairo which was significant in the development of the Document on Human Fraternity
for World Peace and Living Together, signed by Pope Francis and Grand Imam At-Tayyeb in Abu
Dhabi in February 2019. He was appointed to the Higher Committee for the Document on Human
Fraternity working with other religious leaders to promote and apply the Document around the
globe.

2. JUDGE MOHAMED MAHMOUD ABDEL SALAM, FORMER ADVISOR TO THE

GRAND IMAM OF AL-AZHAR, HIS EMINENCE SHEIKH AHMAD AT-TAYYEB,
Secretary-General of the committee
Judge Mohamed Mahmoud Abdel Salam is the former advisor to the
Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo, Egypt. Serving as a judge in
the State Council in Egypt, Abdel has built his career towards promoting
initiatives that build understanding and dialogue across society. He has
also aided in drafting laws combating hatred and violence in the name of
religion.
Abdel Salam was appointed the Advisor for the Muslim Council of Elders
created to find solutions to religious tensions, promoting tolerance and coexistence, protecting
young Muslims and clarifying the foundational teachings of Islam. He has also held the position
as the General Supervisor of the Youth Peacemakers Forum held under the auspices of Al Azhar,
the Canterbury Cathedral of Britain and the Muslim Council of Elders.

In 2019, he was awarded the Order of Pope Pius IX, Knight Commander with star by his holiness
Pope Francis for his services towards spreading tolerance and interfaith dialogue. He therefore
became the first Arab and Muslim to be awarded with this accolade from the head of the Catholic
Church.

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 3. IRINA BOKOVA FORMER DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF UNESCO
Bokova served as UNESCO’s director-general from 2009-2017. She is the
first woman to have held this position. Prior to her service at UNESCO, she
served two terms in Bulgaria’s parliament, as well as interim deputy minister
for foreign affairs. She also served as her country’s ambassador to France
and Monaco.

Ms. Bokova has successfully pushed forward a strong UN agenda for better
preservation of humanity's cultural heritage. In particular, Ms. Bokova and
UNESCO have proven successful in criminalizing the illegal trade in cultural
artifacts and in persecuting those that willfully destroy parts of cultural history.

4. PROFESSOR MOHAMED HUSSEIN MAHRASAWI, PRESIDENT OF AL-AZHAR

UNIVERSITY
Professor Mahrasawi is the acting President of the Al-Azhar
University in Cairo, Egypt’s oldest university founded in 970 by the
Fatimids and renowned as “Sunni Islam’s most prestigious
university”.
Having graduated from the Faculty of Arabic Languages from Al-
Azhar University in 1985, and attainting his Masters and PHD with
distinction, Mahrasawi became a professor in the linguistic
department and later appointed the Dean of the faculty for men in 2013. He has contributed in
promoting the mission of Al-Azhar by participating in several international conferences and
organizing training session of the Arabic language with organizations such as the National Centre
for Judicial Studies, and the Islamic Cultural Center in Al Giza.

Professor Mahrasawi is a published author and has been responsible for contributing to the
evolution of the Arabic language curriculum at Al Azhar University, King Khalid University in Abha,
The University of Tabuk, and King Saud University in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

5. RABBI M. BRUCE LUSTIG, SENIOR RABBI AT WASHINGTON HEBREW

CONGREGATION
Ordained at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of
Religion, Rabbi M. Bruce Lustig is a Senior Rabbi at Washington
Hebrew Congregation- Washington, D.C.'s largest and oldest
synagogue. There he has served the community for more than 30
years leading a more than 2,800 family congregation and has held
leadership roles in both local and national Jewish communities.

Rabbi M. Bruce Lustig’s upbringing in Nashville, Tennessee instilled

in him a lifelong commitment towards interfaith work, including his efforts to open dialogue and
strengthened relationships amongst members of all faiths. He is a proactive leader of the city’s

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interfaith community and has organized the nation’s first Abrahamic Summit, bringing together
Christians, Jews, and Muslims for open dialogue.

Rabbi M. Bruce Lustig has served on the Washington, D.C. Mayor’s Faith Advisory Board and as
the National Liaison for National Day of Prayer. He has received a medal of honour from
King Mohammed VI for his leadership on inter-religious cooperation. He serves on the steering
committee of The Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Society. Newsweek has recognized him
as one of “America’s most influential Rabbis”.

He earned a bachelor's degree with honors from the University of Tennessee and holds a
Doctor of Divinity and a master's degree in Hebrew letters.

6. MONSIGNOR YOANNIS LAHZI GAID, PERSONAL SECRETARY OF THE HOLY

FATHER
Monsignor Yoannis Lahzi Gaid, a Coptic Catholic priest. Born in
Cairo, he attained his PHD at the Coptic Catholic seminary in Cairo
and ordained priest for the Coptic Catholic Patriarchate of Alexandria,
Egypt.

Yoannis Lahzi Gaid travelled to Rome where he studied at the

Pontificial Oriental Institute earning a doctorate in the canon law of
the Eastern Churches and graduated from the Ecclesiastical
Pontifical Academy. Fluent in Arabic, English, French, and Italian. Monsignor Gaid is the Founder
of the St. Peter’s Software & Publishing House of the Coptic Catholic Church in Egypt and Editor
in Chief Alexandria Coptic Catholic website. He has served in various functions for the Vatican
Apostolic Nunciatures in Congo, Gabon, Jordan and Iraq and Secretariat of State. Currently he is
the Second Personal Secretary of the Holy Father, Pope Francis.

7. H.E MOHAMED KHALIFA AL MUBARAK, CHAIRMAN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF

CULTURE AND TOURISM – ABU DHABI
His Excellency Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak is a member of the
Executive Council of Abu Dhabi, and Chairman of the Department of
Culture and Tourism, Abu Dhabi presiding over the development and
growth of the tourism and cultural sectors in Abu Dhabi.
Al Mubarak is also the Chairman for twofour54, the media zone
company which ensures the growth and sustainability of the region’s
media industry. In addition, he holds Chairman positions for Louvre
Abu Dhabi and of Aldar Academies, the largest modern education provider in Abu Dhabi.
Additionally, Al Mubarak chairs Miral Asset Management and Aldar Properties. He is a graduate
of Northeastern University (USA), with a double major in Economics and Political Science.

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 8. DR. SULTAN FAISAL AL REMEITHI, SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE MUSLIM
COUNCIL OF ELDERS
Dr. Sultan Faisal Al Remeithi, the Secretary General of the Muslim
Council of Elders boasts a glittering background as a university professor,
novelist, and academic interpreter who has held various managerial
positions during his nearly 20 year career.
He holds a PhD in Business Administration from the United Arab Emirates
University with his research titled ‘Governmental Marketing of Zakah using
Social Media Platforms’. He currently holds the position of General
Manager of the Publishing Department at Abu Dhabi Media. He previously worked as an
Executive Director at the Executive Council in the Government of Ajman for a period of ten years.
During that period, he helped formulate and implement various administrative policies aimed at
upgrading business performance and improving the efficiency and quality of government work.

9. YASSER HAREB, AN EMIRATI WRITER AND TV PRESENTER

Yasser Hareb is a prominent Emirati author, columnist, and television
presenter celebrated for his best-selling books and is considered as one of
the strongest voices among the young Gulf Arab youth.
Hareb is a member of the Higher Council of Muslims and a member of the
Higher National Council for the Year of Tolerance in the UAE. He is also the
co-founder of the internationally recognized Forum for Promoting Peace in
Muslim Societies and has been awarded for his work in tolerance and
positivity at the Arab Social Media Influencers Summit.
Before becoming a prominent TV presenter, Hareb has worked as journalist
in several leading newspapers and is a creator of numerous social impact programs, among them
Tarjim, the largest translation initiative in the Arab world and Uktub, a program created to
encourage young talent to advance their writing skills.
He has published numerous books, including Towards a New Way of Thinking in 2006, and
Picasso and Starbucks in 2011, The New Slaves in 2013, and Take off Your Shoes in 2015. He
has earned his Bachelor Degree in Management Information Systems from United Arab Emirates
University and has graduated from Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Future Leaders Program.

10. Leymah Gbowee, a Liberian peace activist, was awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace
Prize
Leymah Gbowee is a Liberian peace activist responsible for leading a
women's nonviolent peace movement, Women of Liberia Mass Action for
Peace that helped bring an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003.
Her efforts to end the war, along with her collaborator Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf, helped usher in a period of peace and enabled a free election in
2005 that Sirleaf won. She, along with Ellen Johnson, were awarded the
2011 Nobel Peace Prize "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of
women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work.
Gbowee is the founder and president of Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa, founded in 2012 and

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based in Monrovia, which provides educational and leadership opportunities to girls, women and
the youth in Liberia.
In addition, Gbowee is the former executive director of the Women Peace and Security Network
Africa, based in Accra, Ghana, which builds relationships across the West African sub-region in
support of women's capacity to prevent, avert, and end conflicts. She is a founding member and
former coordinator of the Women in Peacebuilding Program/West African Network for
Peacebuilding (WIPNET/WANEP).
Joined the committee on 4 February 2020.

11. Dr. Ioan Sauca:

Sauca, a priest of the Orthodox Church in Romania,

has served as Professor of Missiology and
Ecumenical Theology at Bossey since 1998 and as
its director since 2001. He has served as a WCC
deputy general secretary since 2014 in the areas of
unity, mission, ecumenical relations, youth,
interreligious dialogue and cooperation, worship and
spirituality, as well as ecumenical formation.
Sauca first joined the WCC in 1994 as executive
secretary for Orthodox Studies and Relationship in
Mission. Prior to joining the WCC, he taught mission
and ecumenism at the faculty of theology in Sibiu,
Romania, and later served his patriarchate as head
of the newly established Department of Press and
Communication, with additional responsibility for the
Department for External and Ecumenical Church
Relations and of religious education in public
schools.
Sauca studied in the Theological Faculties in Sibiu
and Bucharest, Romania, and earned his Ph.D. in
Theology at the University of Birmingham, UK, with a
dissertation on “The Missionary Implications of Eastern Orthodox Ecclesiology.” He is also
an alumnus of the Graduate School at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey.
While his publications in five languages range across the theological loci, from mission to
Christology, ecclesiology and its inner relation to eschatology, they centre on what he has
called “the ecumenical vocation of Orthodoxy” and Orthodox contributions to ecumenism. An
early publication, Orthodoxy and Cultures, probed the relationship of the gospel to cultures
(1996), while a later one, edited with Tim Grass, explored prospects for Building Bridges:
Between the Orthodox and Evangelical Traditions (2012).

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As director of the institute, Fr Sauca has overseen a closer partnership with the University of
Geneva by reshaping the faculty and study plans in light of academic standards, which led
to the academic accreditation of its postgraduate courses. To equip students with biblical,
theological, and spiritual knowledge to live out and witness to the Christian faith in the multi-
faith and multicultural societies of our times, he has also initiated the revision of the
institute’s curriculum, expanding it with interreligious offerings, and has encouraged
students to engage in the “dialogue of identities” and cooperation among Christians and
people of other faiths.
While his own identity is strongly rooted in Orthodox Christianity, Fr Sauca has unflaggingly
championed the institute as the premier ecumenical laboratory, in which students undergo
life-changing experiences of ecumenical community, encountering the gifts of other
Christian traditions and spiritual practices in an atmosphere of respect and openness.
“The ecumenical formation in Bossey is a formation in the ecumenism of life,” he has said.
Students come with strong particular identities, he says, but “experience has shown that,
living with others does not mean a dilution of one’s identity. After the experience of Bossey’s
‘ecumenism of life,’ they return home strengthened in and with a better understanding their
own identities but also with openness toward the others, eager to dialogue with and learn
from the others, to be enriched by the spirituality and the way of life of the others.”
Welcoming students to the Global Ecumenical Theological Institute in Arusha, Tanzania, in
2018, Fr. Sauca reminded them of the importance of ecumenical formation and their own
mission. ”In proclaiming, translating and incarnating the Word in the very context [that] the
people of our time live in, we prepare and become partners of God’s mission in transforming
the world,” he said.
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