Pope addresses 2016 Ratzinger Prize winners
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday morning addressed
the winners of the 2016
Ratzinger Prize, Msgr Inos Biffi and Ioannis Kourempeles, in the Vatican’s
Clementine Hall.
Awarded by the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican
Foundation, the Ratzinger Prize is given as a sign of the Church’s gratitude to
scholars and professors who have stood out for their scientific research in the
theological field.
Msgr Biffi, a professor, and internationally renowned
theologian and liturgist, was awarded the prize for his Opera Omnia, a
collection of his writings, most of which are on theology and medieval
philosophy.
The other winner, Prof Kourempeles is a member of the
Orthodox Church, is associate professor in the Department of Theology at the
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
In his address to the winners, Pope Francis began by
expressing “great affection” and “gratitude” for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, as
he “continues to accompany us even now in his prayer.”
“The depth of Joseph Ratzinger’s thought, firmly founded
upon Scripture and the [Church] Fathers, and always nourished by faith and
prayer, helps us to remain open to the horizons of eternity, thus giving
meaning even to our hopes and our human responsibilities,” the Holy Father
said.
The Pope spoke of Benedict XVI’s richness in “thought and
magisterium, which knew how to center on the essential reference points
of our Christian life, the person of Jesus Christ, charity, hope, faith.
And the whole Church will be forever grateful.”
Pope Francis went on to congratulate the winners of the 2016
Ratzinger Prize; Msgr Biffi who received the award in recognition of his career
as a “great theologian”, and Prof Kourempeles for his work in exploring the
“richness of the encounter between Ratzinger’s thought and Orthodox theology”.
He concluded by praying that the Lord might always bless
them and their “service to his kingdom.”
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