Pope Francis dedicated an emotional speech to Pope Benedict XVI at the presentation ceremony for the Ratzinger award, given each year to notable theologians.
Federico Lombardi, the president of the Ratzinger Foundation, recognized Professors Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz, Ludger Schwienhorst-Schönberger, Jean-Luc Marion and Tracey Rowland for their valuable work.
FEDERICO LOMBARDI
President of the Ratzinger Foundation
'This award is not just a recognition of a single work, but of the thorough and profound efforts that these academics have demonstrated in their publications and collection of works.'
Pope Francis praised the achievements of the award winners and referred to significant scholars throughout the history of theology, among them, Joseph Ratzinger.
POPE FRANCIS
“A theologian who knew how to open and nourish his own reflections and cultural dialogue jointly in many directions, because faith and the Church live in our world and are allies towards the search for the truth. I am talking about Joseph Ratzinger.”
The Pope addressed his remarks to the new awardees as well as last year's, since the awards were not held in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Afterwards, they all met with Benedict XVI for one hour, exchanged ideas, and showed him their work directly.
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TR: SS/JM
