Timo Güzelmansur
Born in 1977 in Turkey, Timo Güzelmansur is director (Geschäftsführer) of CIBEDO (Christlich-Islamische Begegnungs- und Dokumentationsstelle), the German Bishops’ Conference’s centre for Christian-Muslim encounter and documentation, in Frankfurt am Main. Since January 2024, he has also headed the Round Table of Religions in Germany (Runder Tisch der Religionen in Deutschland).
He studied from 2000 to 2005 at the Faculty of Catholic Theology of the University of Augsburg (Germany) and at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He then served as personal advisor to the Bishop of Anatolia until the summer of 2006, in Turkey. Following doctoral studies from 2006 to 2011 at the Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology in Frankfurt am Main, he obtained his doctorate in dogmatics with a thesis entitled “God and Man in the Teaching of the Anatolian Alevis: A Systematic-Theological Reflection from a Christian Perspective”.
Alongside his doctoral studies, he has worked since October 2006 at CIBEDO, first as a consultant for Islam in its Turkish form, before being appointed its director by the German Bishops’ Conference in 2012. Since February 2020, he has been, among other roles, a member of the subcommission for the religious relations of the Catholic Church with Muslims, which is part of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue (Vatican).
Resources of this researcher
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article
Kenneth Cragg and the Event of the Qur’an
- Timo Güzelmansur
Article by Timo Güzelmansur published under the title Kenneth Cragg und das Ereignis des Koran on the theological portal feinschwarz.net (12 June 2026, open access). Timo Güzelmansur presents the A...
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article
Bells and Muezzin in Harmony: Dialogue with Islam as a Spiritual Responsibility
- Timo Güzelmansur
Article by Timo Güzelmansur published under the title Glocken und Muezzin im Einklang. Der Dialog mit dem Islam als geistliche Verantwortung in Herder Korrespondenz (special issue devoted to Pope L...
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publication
The Event of the Qur’an: Islam in its Scripture
- Timo Güzelmansur
Published as Das Ereignis des Koran. Der Islam in seiner Schrift (Regensburg: Verlag Friedrich Pustet, 2026), this volume is the first German translation of the classic work by the Anglican Islamic...
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publication
Is God a Lawgiver? Christian and Muslim Perspectives on Ius divinum
- Timo Güzelmansur
- Tobias Specker
Law that invokes divine appointment or other religious justifications is repeatedly the focus of general attention in Germany. Beyond the concrete religious legal provisions, there is a reflection ...
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publication
Is God a lawgiver? Christian and Muslim perspectives on Ius divinum
- Timo Güzelmansur
- Tobias Specker
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publication
The Qur’anic motif of the falsification of the Scriptures by the Jews and Christians
- Timo Güzelmansur
Publisher’s Introduction Recognition of the writings of divine revelation to Jews and Christians is one of the six principles of the Islamic faith. Before the revelation of the Qur’an, ...
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publication
God and man in the teachings of the anatolian alevis
- Timo Güzelmansur
Volume 2 of the CIBEDO publication series With a preface by Karl Cardinal Lehmann The Alevis of Anatolia are considered another important group in Islam, alongside the Sunnis and Shiites. Neverthel...
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publication
Did Jesus announce the coming of Muhammad?
- Timo Güzelmansur
Publisher’s Introduction In their dialogue with Muslims, Christians are repeatedly confronted with the claim that Jesus announced the coming of Muhammad as the last prophet. This is evidenced...
Resources related to
Muslim-Christian Dialogue
article
Kenneth Cragg and the Event of the Qur’an
- Timo Güzelmansur
Article by Timo Güzelmansur published under the title Kenneth Cragg und das Ereignis des Koran on the theological portal feinschwarz.net (12 June 2026, open access). Timo Güzelmansur presents the A...
article
Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas and the Pluriel working group on AI-assisted interreligious dialogue
- Wael Saleh
Text by Wael Saleh, researcher at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and member of the Pluriel coordination committee. The simultaneous appearance of Leo XIV's encyclical Magnifica Human...
publication
The Recognition of a Hummingbird. Essays on Interreligious Dialogue and Missionary Work (2007-2025)
- Rémi Caucanas
Published in May 2026 by PISAI (Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies, Rome), this collection brings together the essays of Rémi Caucanas on interreligious dialogue and missionary wor...
videos
From Lavigerie to PISAI: The Institutional History of the Missionaries of Africa’s Engagement with Islam
Delivered on 21 May 2026 at the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI) in Rome, this lecture opens the series of conferences marking the institute's centenary (1926-2026). Fr. ...
videos
Interreligious Dialogue and Ethnic Nationalisms in the Balkans
At the invitation of PISAI (Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies, Rome) and Georgetown University, Ahmet Alibašić, professor of Islamic civilization at the Faculty of Islamic Studies...
publication
For a Christian Theology of Religions
- Michel Younès
Faced with contemporary religious diversity, how can Christian theology make sense of the place that other religions occupy in God’s design? Michel Younès examines the three traditional ̶...
publication
Intercultural Theology
- Jean Patrick Nkolo Fanga
Because every theology is culturally situated, Christian theology is inevitably multicultural. Yet one step remains to be taken: to become intercultural. Crossing languages, contexts, origins, ages...
article
Bells and Muezzin in Harmony: Dialogue with Islam as a Spiritual Responsibility
- Timo Güzelmansur
Article by Timo Güzelmansur published under the title Glocken und Muezzin im Einklang. Der Dialog mit dem Islam als geistliche Verantwortung in Herder Korrespondenz (special issue devoted to Pope L...