At 11:00am today, in the Clementine Hall at the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father, Pope Francis conferred the Ratzinger Prize to two people. This award has been given since 2011, when it was introduced by the Vatican's Joseph Ratzinger - Benedict XVI Foundation.
The award winners this year are:
Your Eminences,
Your Excellencies,
Dear award winners,
Dear brothers and sisters,
I am happy to meet with you on such an important occasion in the context of the conclusion of the activities organized by the Joseph Ratzinger - Benedict XVI Foundation. This is also a way for me to express once more, together with you, our great affection and our gratitude to Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, who continues even now to accompany us with his prayer.
I congratulate you on the successful outcome of the International Symposium on the topic of escatology - Analysis and Perspectives, which took place in the past few days at the University of the Holy Cross and which concluded this morning at the Augustinianum with the lecture by Cardinal Ravasi. We know that the theme of escatology occupied a very important place in the theological work of Professor Joseph Ratzinger, in his work as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and finally also in his teachings during his Pontificate. We cannot forget his profound considerations concerning eternal life and hope in the encyclical Spe salvi. The subject of escatology is fundamental when we reflect on the meaning of our lives and our history without remaining closed in a material or otherwise purely worldly approach. The Jubilee of Mercy, only just concluded, reminded us many times that mercy is at the heart of the protocol according to which Jesus says we will be judged: I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink ... (Mt 25:35). The depth of Joseph Ratzinger's thought, solidly founded on Scripture and the Patristics, constantly nourished by faith and prayer, helps us to remain open to the horizon of eternity, making sense in this way also of our hopes and our human commitments. His is a thoughtful and a fruitful magisterium, which has been able to focus on the fundamental references of our Christian life, the person of Jesus Christ, charity, hope and faith. And the whole Church will forever be grateful to him.
But since the occasion of this annual gathering is the awarding of the 2016 Ratzinger Prize, I must also congratulate the illustrious persons to whom it has been awarded by the Foundation's Scientific Committee. My congratulations are therefore offered to Monsignor Inos Biffi who, as we heard in the introduction, is receiving this prize in recognition of the merits of a life entirely dedicated to theological studies in the Church and in his service: a prize that recognizes the career of a great theologian; and to the younger Professor Ioannis Kourempeles, who receives the prize in recognition of the quality of his theological work done so far, in appreciation for the interest he has dedicated to the thought of Joseph Ratzinger, and as encouragement to continue probing the fruitfulness of the encounter between Ratzinger's thought and Orthodox theology.
Congratulations and best wishes to the winners for their theological work, and to the Foundation for carrying out its work. May the Lord bless you and your work for his Kingdom ... and I bless all of you here present, as well as those who are dear to you. Thank you.
The award winners this year are:
- Monsignor Inos Biffi, Ordinary Emeritus of Systematic Theology and of the History of Medieval history in the Faculty of Theology of Northern Italy, teacher of the same material in the Faculty of theology of Lugano, member of the Pontifical Academy of Theology, president of the Institute for History and Medieval history in Milan and director of the Institute of the History of Theology in the Faculty of Theology in Lugano; and
- Professor Ionnis Kourempeles, born in Athens in 1965, who studied Theology in the Faculty of Theology at Salamanca, Erlangen and Heidelberg. He teaches the History of Dogma as well as Dogmatic and Symbolic Theology in the Faculty of Theology at the Aristotle University in Salamanca. Professor Kourempeles is the first Othodox to be granted the Ratzinger Prize;
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
addressed to the 2016 winners of the Ratzinger Prize
Your Eminences,
Your Excellencies,
Dear award winners,
Dear brothers and sisters,
I am happy to meet with you on such an important occasion in the context of the conclusion of the activities organized by the Joseph Ratzinger - Benedict XVI Foundation. This is also a way for me to express once more, together with you, our great affection and our gratitude to Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, who continues even now to accompany us with his prayer.
I congratulate you on the successful outcome of the International Symposium on the topic of escatology - Analysis and Perspectives, which took place in the past few days at the University of the Holy Cross and which concluded this morning at the Augustinianum with the lecture by Cardinal Ravasi. We know that the theme of escatology occupied a very important place in the theological work of Professor Joseph Ratzinger, in his work as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and finally also in his teachings during his Pontificate. We cannot forget his profound considerations concerning eternal life and hope in the encyclical Spe salvi. The subject of escatology is fundamental when we reflect on the meaning of our lives and our history without remaining closed in a material or otherwise purely worldly approach. The Jubilee of Mercy, only just concluded, reminded us many times that mercy is at the heart of the protocol according to which Jesus says we will be judged: I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink ... (Mt 25:35). The depth of Joseph Ratzinger's thought, solidly founded on Scripture and the Patristics, constantly nourished by faith and prayer, helps us to remain open to the horizon of eternity, making sense in this way also of our hopes and our human commitments. His is a thoughtful and a fruitful magisterium, which has been able to focus on the fundamental references of our Christian life, the person of Jesus Christ, charity, hope and faith. And the whole Church will forever be grateful to him.
But since the occasion of this annual gathering is the awarding of the 2016 Ratzinger Prize, I must also congratulate the illustrious persons to whom it has been awarded by the Foundation's Scientific Committee. My congratulations are therefore offered to Monsignor Inos Biffi who, as we heard in the introduction, is receiving this prize in recognition of the merits of a life entirely dedicated to theological studies in the Church and in his service: a prize that recognizes the career of a great theologian; and to the younger Professor Ioannis Kourempeles, who receives the prize in recognition of the quality of his theological work done so far, in appreciation for the interest he has dedicated to the thought of Joseph Ratzinger, and as encouragement to continue probing the fruitfulness of the encounter between Ratzinger's thought and Orthodox theology.
Congratulations and best wishes to the winners for their theological work, and to the Foundation for carrying out its work. May the Lord bless you and your work for his Kingdom ... and I bless all of you here present, as well as those who are dear to you. Thank you.
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