Father Maximilian Heim one of three winners of the first Joseph Ratzinger Prize

From a Catholic News Service report that I missed when it came out on June 30th:

The pope gave three European theologians the Ratzinger Prize for their excellence in theological studies: Manlio Simonetti, an 85-year-old Italian professor and expert in ancient Christian studies and patristic biblical interpretation; Father Olegario Gonzalez de Cardedal, a 76-year-old Spanish priest and professor of dogmatic and fundamental theology; and Cistercian Father Maximilian Heim, a 50-year-old German theologian and abbot of the Heiligenkreuz monastery in Austria.

The pope used the occasion to talk about the significance and the challenges surrounding theology.

He noted the important contributions theology has made, but warned that theology must not only be concerned with the past as that would "leave the faith today in darkness." ...

During the ceremony, the pope greeted each of the prize recipients, handing them each a large award certificate and a small envelope.

The prizes included a check for $87,000.

The Ratzinger Prize will be awarded each year in sacred Scripture, patristics and fundamental theology.

This was the first time the prizes were awarded since the establishment last year of the Joseph Ratzinger (Benedict XVI) Vatican Foundation, which promotes theological studies on the pope's writings and to reward promising scholars.

(By the way, the money used by the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation comes from the royalties from the books written by Joseph Ratzinger.) Cistercian Father Maximilian Heim, is a 50-year-old professor of fundamental and dogmatic theology as well as Abbot of Heiligenkreuz [Holy Cross] Monastery in Bavaria. He is the author of Joseph Ratzinger—Kirchliche Existenz und existentielle Theologie (2005), translated into English by Michael J. Miller and published by Ignatius Press as Joseph Ratzinger: Life in the Church and Living Theology—Fundamentals of Ecclesiology with Reference to Lumen Gentium (2007). The book was awarded the Cardinal Innitzer Prize in Vienna, and the Johann-Kaspar Zeuss Prize in Kronach, Germany.

It is an outstanding work of theology and it can be purchased, as of this writing, for just $7.00 (originally $39.95!!), from Ignatius Press. Highly recommended!

The Introduction to the book can be read on Ignatius Insight: