Ratzinger Foundation

The Ratzinger Foundation, also known as The Pope Benedict XVI Foundation, is a charitable organization whose aim is "the promotion of theology in the spirit of Joseph Ratzinger." which it achieves by funding scholarships and bursaries for poorer students across the world.^[1][2] The foundation was launched on the initiative of former students (including 16 professors) of Joseph Ratzinger in December 2007.

The foundation makes much of its money from the selling of Pope Benedict XVI's writings. In 2007, £1.6 million was raised for the charity by the selling of Pope Benedict's biography on Christ, Jesus of Nazareth.^[1]

The charity also receives private donations and has close links with the Ratzinger Circle of Alumni (Ratzinger Schülerkreis), a group of theology students who, at doctoral and post-doctoral level, studied under the tutorship of then Professor Ratzinger. The Circle was formed after Ratzinger was elevated to the position of Archbishop of Munich.^[2]

The Ratzinger Prize

At the 2010 meeting, it was announced that Pope Benedict XVI. had decided to donate a sizable sum of money for the establishment of a sort of 'Nobel Prize in Theology' (as Camillo Ruini called it) in recognition of those who perform promising scholarly research relating to or expounding upon his work; it was named the Ratzinger Prize, and each winner will receive a check for $87,000. The Prize is awarded in three areas: Sacred Scripture study, patristics and fundamental theology.

On Thursday, June 30, 2011 Benedict XVI. presented the three inaugural prizes to the winners in a ceremony at the papal residence, the Apostolic Palace, in the Vatican. The three winners were: Professor Dr. Manlio Simonetti, an Italian Professor and expert in Ancient Christian Studies and Patristic Biblical Interpretation (relating to the Church Fathers), who used to teach at Rome's La Sapienza University; the Reverend Father Professor Dr. Olegario González de Cardedal, a Spanish priest and Professor specializing in Dogmatic and Fundamental Theology at the Pontifical University of Salamanca in Salamanca, Spain; and the Reverend Cistercian Father Professor Dr. Maximilian Heim, a German Cistercian Abbot (of Heiligenkreuz Monastery in Austria), who teaches dogmatic and fundamental theology at the University of Heiligenkreuz near the abbey (Heim has a special interest in Pope Benedict XVI's theology).

• Laureate Manlio Simonetti was born in Rome on 2 May 1926. In June 1947 he completed his classical studies at the Sapienza University of Rome – where he became professor for Christian history in 1969. He is a member of the Accademia dei Lincei.

• Laureate Maximilian Heim was born as Heinrich Josef Heim in Kronach on the 14th of April 1961. He earned his master in theology at the University of Vienna in 1987 and was ordained a priest at Heiligenkreuz in 1988. In 2003 Heim earned his PhD concentrating on the ecclesiology of cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. He went on to teach fundamental theology. The awarded work is called Joseph Ratzinger: Life in the Church and Living Theology: Fundamentals of Ecclesiology.

Notes

v d e Pope Benedict XVI Biography Family Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith 2005 Conclave Theology Works Dominus Iesus Deus Caritas Est Sacramentum Caritatis Summorum Pontificum Spe Salvi Caritas in Veritate Ratzinger Foundation Coat of Arms Travels Visit to Britain Islam Book:Pope Benedict XVI