2014-06-17 12:59:00

French, Polish theologians to be awarded next two Ratzinger Prizes


(Vatican Radio) The two latest winners of the Ratzinger prize were announced on Tuesday at the Holy See Press Office. Both winners are biblical scholars who have been active in Catholic-Jewish dialogue.  

Anne-Marie Pelletier of France teaches Sacred Scripture and Hermeneutics on the faculty of Notre Dame Seminary in Paris. She has also taught Biblical Studies at the European Institute of Religious Sciences. She has served as Vice-President of the Jewish-Christian Documentation Information Service in Paris. She has participated in several conferences sponsored by the Holy See, and was an auditor at the 2001 Synod of Bishops on the role of the Bishop as servant of the Gospel.

“Professor Pelletier is therefore a personality of great importance in contemporary French Catholicism,” said Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the President of the Scientific Committee of the Ratzinger Foundation.  “She brings together an earned scientific prestige  with  a great and versatile cultural vitality and a genuine dedication to causes very important for Christian witness in society.”

Msgr. Waldemar Chrostowski is the general editor of the Polish journal Collectanea Theologica, and has served as the President of the Polish Association of Biblical Scholars since 2005.  He participated in the 2008 Synod of Bishops on the Word of God and the Mission of the Church as an expert.  He has written numerous scholarly articles, with his preferred field of work being the Old Testament, especially the Prophets; but he is also an expert in the Jewish inter-testament literature, as well as rabbinical Judaism and its relationship with Christianity.

Msgr. Chrostowski served on the Theological Faculty of the Warsaw Academy since 1987. He is also a long-time member of the  Commission of the Polish Bishops’ Conference for Dialogue with Judaism and the Polish Council of Christians and Jews. He is the first Pole to win the Ratzinger Prize.

“He combines academic rigor with passion for the Word of God, in service to the Church and with care for interreligious dialogue,” said Cardinal Ruini.

The press conference also gave an update on the preparations for the Fourth Conference of the Ratzinger Foundation, which will take place 23-24 October 2014, at the Pontifical University  Bolivariana in Medellín, Colombia. It will have as its theme “Respect for life, the way to peace.”

“Today, we unfortunately experience in various facets and dramatic dimensions, multiple threats to human life, especially to the most vulnerable populations,” said  Germán Cardona Gutiérrez, Ambassador of Colombia to the Holy See. “For this reason it is very important to constantly promote a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence as a set of values, attitudes and behaviors that reflect the respect for life and the dignity of persons, which will contribute to building a world that is more just, more caring, more dignified, and more prosperous for all.”








All the contents on this site are copyrighted ©.