Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Catholic News

Home

Home
Catholic
Religion News
Ratzinger Prize honorees show intellectual vitality, cardinal says

Ratzinger Prize honorees show intellectual vitality, cardinal says

Last updated on: June 20, 2014 at 10:00 am by CNA Daily News

Ratzinger Prize honorees show intellectual vitality, cardinal says 2014-06-20T10:00:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Vatican City, Jun 20, 2014 / 04:00 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Cardinal Camillo Ruini praised Tuesday the two winners of the 2014 Ratzinger Prize for their academic accomplishments and their commitment to the faith.

At a June 17 press conference announcing the prizes, the vicar general emeritus of the Diocese of Rome, said scripture professor Anne-Marie Pelletier is a person of “great importance” in French Catholicism today, saying she “brings together an earned scientific prestige with a great and versatile cultural vitality and a genuine dedication to causes very important for Christian witness in society.”

He praised Monsignor Waldemar Chrostowski, a Polish biblical scholar, for combining “academic rigor with passion for the Word of God, in service to the Church and with care for interreligious dialogue.”

Cardinal Ruini is president of the scientific committee of the Joseph Ratzinger Vatican Foundation, which awards the Ratzinger Prize.

The prize was begun in 2011 to recognize scholars whose work demonstrates a meaningful contribution to theology in the spirit of Cardinal Ratzinger, the theologian who became Benedict XVI.

Cardinal Ruini told CNA June 17 that Pelletier, who teaches at Paris’ Notre Dame Seminary, “stood out,” praising her competence as a biblical scholar and as a student of comparative literature, as well as her “sharp intellectual capacity” and her strong commitment to “very important causes” such as women’s relationship with the Church.

Pelletier has taught biblical studies at the European Institute of Religious Sciences and served as vice-president of the Jewish-Christian Documentation Information Service in Paris. She has participated in several Vatican-sponsored conferences and was an auditor at the 2001 synod of bishops. She is the first woman to win the prize.

Msgr. Chrostowski has headed the Polish Association of Biblical Scholars since 2005. He is the general editor of the journal Collectanea Theologica, and was an expert at the 2008 bishops’ synod.

He is a specialist in the prophetic books of the Old Testament, expert in rabbinical Judaism and its relationship with Christianity. He has worked to advance Christian-Jewish relations.

Cardinal Ruini said the monsignor has a “very large” record of scientific production and has “done a lot to spread the Word of God, in the biblical apostolate and in the apostolate in general.”

“He is truly an apostle.”

Cardinal Ruini said that the prize committee consciously sought out an honoree from Poland and a woman, as the prize had never gone to such winners previously.

The cardinal said the committee has invited Benedict XVI to the awards ceremony.

“We hope that he comes, but this depends on him.”

While some have compared the Ratzinger Prize to the Nobel Prize in theology, the cardinal said the honor does not yet have this “prestige.”

“We hope that by making good choices, it will achieve greater authority,” he said of the prize.

Past Ratzinger Prize honorees include Notre Dame University theology professor Father Brian Edward Daley, S.J., French lay philosopher Remi Brague, Italian patristics scholar Manlio Simonetti, Anglican professor Richard Burridge of King’s College London, and German theology professor Christian Schaller.

The June 17 press conference also spoke about preparations for the Ratzinger Foundation’s fourth conference, to be held Oct. 23-24 at the Pontifical University Bolivariana in Medellin, Colombia. Its theme will be “respect for life, the way to peace.”

The Ratzinger Foundation was founded with Benedict XVI’s approval in 2010 to promote, distribute, and study his writings.

Vatican

Previous Post

June 20, 2014

Archbishop hopes Colombian president will work for peace

Next Post

June 20, 2014 Bosnian school seeks to strengthen interethnic relations

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

I am a day when the high priest enters the Most Holy Place once a year to make atonement. What day am I?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Passover The Sabbath The Day of Atonement The Day of Trumpets