Heiligenkreuz : an ancient Cistercian Abbey

On Thursday June 30th Pope Benedict XVI presented three European theologians with the Ratzinger Prize for their excellence in theological studies .

The winners were an Italian expert in ancient Christian studies and patristic biblical interpretation , Manlio Simonetti and a Spaniard Father Olegario Gonzalez de Cardedal, professor of dogmatic and fundamental theology.


But also a German Cistercian, Father Maximilian Heim, a theologian who was appointed Abbot of the Heiligenkreuz monastery near Vienna this year.

This ancient Austrian monastery is a place familiar to Benedict XVI. He visited there as Pope during his three day visit to Austria back in September 2007 and also raised the Hochschule there to the status of Pontifical Athanaeum. A significant gesture meaning the institution may now grant degrees according to Roman university privileges, instead of in the name of other Austrian universities.

At the time of Pope Benedict's visit there Veronica Scarisbrick filed a report to mark the occasion. One in which you can hear the Holy Father's words , as well as discover something both of the Abbey's past history and of its present appeal for those drawn to the monastic life today .


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