3 theologians chosen for first 'Ratzinger Prize' awards

The Vatican has announced the winners of the first “Ratzinger Prizes,” given to scholars for outstanding work in promoting the truths of Christianity in the context of contemporary culture.

The prizes were established last year by the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation, which is supported by the royalties received from the Pope’s books. The winners will receive their prizes from Pope Benedict on June 30.

The winners are:

•Manlio Simonetti, an Italian patristics scholar who, now retired, who worked at La Sapienza University and at the Augustinianum in Rome,
•Olegario Gonzalez de Cardedal, a professor of dogmatic theology at the Pontifical University of Salamanca in Spain, and
•Father Maximilian Heim, a Cistercian professor of theology at the University of Heiligenkreusz, Austria.