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The Ratzinger Prize 2024 has been awarded to Irish theologian Cyril O’Regan, who teaches in the USA, and Japanese sculptor Etsurō Sotoo, who converted to Christianity after working on the the construction of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. In a statement issued on September 18, the Ratzinger Foundation said that Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See, would present the prize on November 22. The winners will be received by Pope Francis on the same day.
An Irishman in America
Professor Cyril O’Regan, born in Ireland in 1952, has been Professor of Systematic Theology at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana since 1999, after teaching at Yale, where he obtained doctorates in philosophy and theology.
He is an expert on the history of Christianity and has published works on the thought of theologians Hans Urs von Balthasar, John Henry Newman, and Joseph Ratzinger, to whom he has devoted numerous articles.
Japanese, but living in Spain
Japanese sculptor Etsurō Sotoo, born in Fukuoka in 1953, will be the first Asian to receive the Ratzinger Prize. A graduate in fine arts from Kyoto University, he was deeply moved by a visit to the Sagrada Familia construction site in Barcelona in 1978, an encounter that led to his baptism into the Catholic faith.
He contributed to the construction of this basilica as a chief sculptor, following the indications left by Antoni Gaudí, whose cause for beatification he actively supports. Benedict XVI paid tribute to Gaudí’s work by consecrating the Sagrada Familia in 2010. In addition to this basilica, where he contributed to the Nativity façade, Etsurō Sotoo’s works can also be found in other parts of Spain, as well as in Japan and Italy, where he created the ambo for the cathedral of Florence. According to his website, he still lives in Spain.
30 winners since 2011
The Vatican’s Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Foundation has awarded the Ratzinger Prize annually since 2011, to two or three people, normally academics, who have distinguished themselves through particular merits in publication or scientific research, particularly in the fields of theology and philosophy. In recent years, the list of laureates has been extended to include artists inspired by the Christian faith.
Each year, the names of the laureates are submitted to the pope for approval by the Foundation’s Scientific Committee, currently made up of Cardinals Kurt Koch (prefect of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Christian Unity), Luis Ladaria Ferrer (prefect emeritus of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith), Gianfranco Ravasi (president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Culture), Archbishop Rino Fisichella (pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization), and Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer (bishop of Regensburg and president of the Pope Benedict XVI Institute, in Germany).
From 2011 to 2024, 30 personalities have been honored in total, representing many countries across the world.
