Vatican City: Ratzinger Prize awarded to two theologians
Vatican City - Two German theologians, Lutheran Theodor Dieter and Catholic Karl-Heinz Menke, and the Estonian Orthodox composer Arvo Pärt win the 2017 Ratzinger Prize. The award, this year in its 7th edition, will be bestowed at the Vatican on November 18 at a ceremony, which it is hoped will be attended by Pope Francis.The winners were announced by Father Federico Lombardi during a press conference held in the Vatican on the subject of the initiatives of the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation. "I would like to emphasize two characteristics of this years choices", said Father Lombardi. As evidence of the ecumenical scope of the Prize, our recipients include a Catholic (Menke), a Lutheran (Dieter, in the 500th anniversary of the Reformation), and an Orthodox (Pärt). We have also extended the spectrum of the winners scope of action to include the arts as well, and specifically deeply spiritual music. The appreciation of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI for the art of music and the highly religious inspiration of Pärts art justified the award of the Prize beyond the strictly theological field".The initiatives of the Foundation include the first edition of the new "Open Reason" Prize and the VII International Congress, this year focused on the Encyclical "Laudato Si," which will be held from November 29 to December 1 in Costa Rica, in collaboration with the local Catholic University.