First award of the Ratzinger Prize

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Paderborn-Rome 07/02/2011

Last Thursday, June 30th, Pope Benedict XVI. the newly created "Ratzinger Prize" was awarded for the first time. In addition to Professors Manlio Simonetti and Olegario Gonzales de Cardedal, the prize initiated by the "Fondazione Vaticana Joseph Ratzinger-Benedetto XVI" was also awarded to Prof. P. Dr. Maximilian Heim.
He is a member of the New Student Circle Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI. and recently abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Heiligenkreuz Abbey in the Austrian Wienerwald.

At the award ceremony in the Sala Clementina of the Vatican, Cardinal Camillo Ruini emphasized that Heim's dissertation "Joseph Ratzinger - Ecclesiastical Existence and Existential Theology of the deepest and most significant contributions to the theology of the Pope. He wanted to distinguish the representatives of a new generation of theologians who let their work be inspired by his work and his thinking.

Pope Benedict himself recalled that Father Maximilian Heim had recently been elected abbot of the traditional Heiligenkreuz Abbey near Vienna and had thus taken on the task of leading a great story into the future. He expressed the hope that the work on his theology would be useful to him and that in our time the Abbey of Heiligenkreuz could further develop monastic theology, which has always accompanied university theology and together with it the whole of Western theology theology forms.

For the new student group, their spokesman, Dr. habil. Michaela C. Hastetter and Prof. Dr. Christoph Ohly congratulated the award winner on behalf of their colleagues. Also from the circle were Dr. Bruno Gautier and Fr. Justinus Pech attended the celebration, from the circle of students Fr. Stephan Horn and Prelate Dr. Michael Hofman.

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Photos: Michael Hofmann