The experts honored this year by the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Foundation are two German intellectuals. Firstly, Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy of Religions and Comparative Religious Studies at the University of Dresden, a leading specialist on Edith Stein and Romano Guardini, and also editor of the respective Opera Omnia. And next to her, Ludger Schwienhorst-Schönberger, today professor of Old Testament at the University of Vienna and considered one of the greatest experts on the Sapiential Books and, in particular, on the Song of Songs.
In 2020 there were also two winners, but the ceremony could not take place because of the pandemic. They were the French philosopher and theologian Jean-Luc Marion, professor of Metaphysics at the Sorbonne, academic of France and former member of the Pontifical Council for Culture, and the Australian professor Tracey Rowland, an expert on the relationship between 20th century theology and the idea of culture. Her research has made particular reference to the philosophy of Alasdair MacIntyre and the theology of Henri De Lubac and Joseph Ratzinger. In addition, from 2001 to 2017 she has been dean of the. The John Paul II Institute for Marriage and the Family in Melbourne and was appointed a member of the International Theological Commission in 2014 by Pope Francis.
Now, the four award-winning personalities will receive their award from Pope Francis, in a ceremony that will take place in the Clementine Hall on November 13, according to the official Vatican agency.
Tracey Rowland, in Omnes
It so happens that Australian Dr. Tracey Rowland, who holds a professorship at the University of Notre Dame (Australia) and is a member of the editorial board of the international journal Communiowas a speaker at a Forum organized by Omnes on April 14, 2021, led by the priest and professor at the University of Navarra, Pablo Blanco. The title of his talk was Contemporary theology and cultureand its full text can be found at www.omnesmag.com.
"We have to have the courage to explain faith."Tracey Rowland pointed out at this Forum, after explaining how the relationship and interest between theology and culture dates back to the late 19th century and, especially, to the beginning of the 20th century with the founding of the journal Hochland by Carl Muth, who sought to achieve in Germany what he had experienced in France where he "believing Catholics moved with great freedom in the intellectual elite of the country, participating in the great discussions as equal partners.".
Professor Rowland recalled that Hochland "was published between 1903 and 1971 with a five-year closure between the years 1941-1946 due to Nazi opposition to its editorial line.". Hochland differed from other Catholic journals in that it published articles from across the spectrum of the humanities, not just essays on theology and philosophy, and would be the forerunner of Communio: International Review, founded by Hans Urs von Balthasar, Henri Lubac and Joseph Ratzinger, of which one of its distinguishing features is "its attention to the relationship between faith and culture and the provision of theological analyses of contemporary cultural phenomena"added Tracey Rowland.
"Trinitarian transformation of culture."
The drivers of Communio want to dialogue with the culture, but "refuse to dialogue with the culture in non-theological terms.". In this vein, Rowland picked up on the idea of Bishop Robert Barron of Los Angeles that. "when it comes to thinking about the relationship between theology and culture, the most fundamental question is whether Christ positions culture or whether culture positions Christ.".
"Ratzinger"Dr. Rowland continued, "advocates a complete Trinitarian transformation of culture, not only a Christological transformation, but a Trinitarian transformation. One finds the fundamental principle of this transformation expressed in the document, Faith and Inculturation, published by the International Theological Commission then under Ratzinger's direction.".
Rémi Brague's background
The Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Foundation awards were instituted in 2011, which has since awarded 24 intellectuals from fifteen countries, distinguished for "particular merits" in their studies in the theological-philosophical field, but also in the artistic field. Among them are also an Anglican, a Lutheran and two Orthodox.
In the same year, 2011, one of the winners was the Spaniard Olegario González de Cardedal. And in 2012, the award was given to Brian E. Daley, and the French historian and thinker Rémi Brague, who this November will speak at the 23rd Congress of Catholics and Public Lifeorganized by the Catholic Association of Propagandists (ACdP), and the San Pablo CEU University Foundation, entitled Political correctness. Freedoms in danger.
Rémi Brague, professor emeritus of Arabic and Medieval Philosophy at the Sorbonne, and considered an intellectual reference of the platform. One of uswas invested Doctor Honoris Causa by CEU San Pablo University in early 2020. The university noted then that Professor Brague received the Ratzinger Prize in 2012, and that he has held the prestigious Guardini Chair at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, as well as visiting professor in Pennsylvania, Cologne, Lausanne and Boston.
On the other hand, Rémi Brague is the author of numerous written works, both on the history of ideas and on Arab, medieval and modern thought. The Professor of Philosophy of Law at CEU San Pablo University, Elio Alfonso Gallego, highlighted his broad cultural background and influence on current Catholic thought, and emphasized that "The object of his life has not been fame or success, but the search for truth, with capital letters. To attain a wisdom of things and put it at the service of knowledge.".
"Cooperators of the truth."
November 9, 2019 was the last time Pope Francis personally conferred the Ratzinger Awards. On that occasion, the recipients were Professor Charles Taylor and Fr. Paul Béré, S.J. The Pope expressed his joy at "to have this beautiful opportunity to express once again my esteem and affection for my predecessor, the beloved Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI".
"Pope Benedict XVI has repeated to us many times that the priority of his pontificate was to proclaim God again, the God of Jesus Christ, at a time when he seems to have reached the twilight in vast areas of humanity."After referring to the two laureates, the Pope quoted St. Paul VI.
"In his great apostolic exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, the Holy Father Paul VI affirmed: 'For the Church, evangelization means bringing the Good News to all the environments of humanity and, through its influence, transforming from within, renewing humanity itself. This is true for all cultures: access to the dimension of humanity in the pursuit of redemption must be sought in every direction, with creativity, with imagination; it must be expressed with the appropriate languages in all the environments and spaces in which humanity lives its sorrows, its joys, its hopes.".
Finally, Pope Francis pointed out that "Although the two laureates come from different continents and cultures, their message is much more similar than it seems at first glance. In the variety of cultures, in their diversity of time and space, one can and must always seek and find the way to God and to the encounter with Christ. This has been and is the commitment of Professor Taylor and Father Béré, this is the mission of all those who, following the teachings of theologian Joseph Ratzinger and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, intend to be cooperators of the truth.".
