(ZENIT News / Vatican City, 10.09.2022).- On December 1, in the Sala Clementina of the Apostolic Palace, Pope Francis will present the 2022 Ratzinger Prize to professors P. Michel Fédou and Joseph Halevi Horowitz Weiler.
Michel Fédou was born in Lyon, France, in 1952. He is a Jesuit. Since 1987 he has been a professor of Dogmatic and Patristic Theology at the Jesuit Center of Sèvres, in Paris; then dean of the Faculty of Theology and president of the same Center. He is a member of the boards of various theological associations and commissions for ecumenical dialogue with Lutherans and Orthodox. He is the author of numerous works, especially in the field of patristics and Christology.
Joseph H. Weiler was born in 1951 and is a professor of law at numerous universities and institutes of legal studies in the United States (New York, Harvard), but also in Great Britain and in various parts of the world. He was president of the European University Institute in Florence. He is the author of numerous works on constitutional, international, European and human rights law. Of Jewish religion, he is known for having defended Italy before the European Court of Justice in the case of crucifixes in schools. He received an honorary degree from the Catholic University of America.
The Ratzinger Prize
The Ratzinger Prize is the flagship initiative of the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation. According to the statutes, it is awarded to “academicians who have distinguished themselves by particular merit in publication and/or scientific research.” In recent years, the scope of the honorees has also broadened to include Christian-inspired arts.
Nominations for the Prize are proposed to the Holy Father for approval by the Foundation’s Scientific Committee, made up of five members appointed by the Pope. In recent years, Cardinals Angelo Amato (prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints), Kurt Koch (president of the Council for Christian Unity), Luis Ladaria (prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of la Fe), Gianfranco Ravasi (president of the Council for Culture) and Msgr. Rudolf Voderholzer (Bishop of Regensburg and President of the Papst Benedikt XVI Institute). Recently Mons. Salvatore Fisichella (until recently prefect of the Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization) replaced Card. love.
The Prize has been awarded annually since 2011, each time to two or three fellows. With the 2022 edition, there will be a total of 26 winners.
The distinguished personalities so far have been mainly scholars of Dogmatic or Fundamental Theology, Sacred Scripture, Patrology, Philosophy and eminent artists of music and architecture.
Confirming a global cultural horizon, the award-winning personalities come from no fewer than 16 different countries: Germany (7), France (4), Italy (2), Australia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Canada, Estonia, Greece, England, Lebanon, Poland, Spain, United States, South Africa and Switzerland.
The winners are not only Catholics, but also belong to other Christian denominations: an Anglican, a Lutheran, two Orthodox and now a Jew.
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Pope Francis Will Award the “Nobel Prize in Theology” to a Jew and a Jesuit in the Vatican – ZENIT – English