Medellin – Colombia (Friday, 10/24/2014, Gaudium Press) – “Respect for Life, the Way to Peace”, is the theme of the Fourth Conference of the Joseph Ratzinger Foundation, which is held 23-24 October 2014, at the Pontifical University Bolivariana in Medellín, Colombia. Scholars from 16 Latin American countries and representatives from Belgium, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and India are in attendance, totalising one thousand participants.
In a message signed by the Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, addressed to the President of the Ratzinger Foundation, Monsignor Giuseppe Antonio Scotti, Pope Francis greets the organizers and participating of the conference, wishing that “in the light of the Magisterium of the Church, reflecting on the inseparable bond that unites peace and the respect for human life, so that the yearning for peace, shared by all people of good will, be every day more rooted in people’s hearts.”
Benedict XVI in his greeting to the participants of the Conference states that the theme of the Conference is “A matter of great relevance.” “In fact, the commitment to peace – so crucial in a world torn apart by violence – begins with the unconditional respect of human life, created in the image of God and thus endowed with an absolute dignity – said Benedict XVI -. Faith in God the Creator is the fundamental foundation of human dignity and an essential part of any state of law.”
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. “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 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. (JSG)
With information from Vatican Radio and The Ratzinger Foundation
