Vatican:

The Ratzinger Prize for 2023 will be shared by theologian Francesc Torralba Roselló and philosopher Pablo Blanco Sarto. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's Secretary of State, will present them with the prize on November 30th at the Apostolic Palace's Sala Regia.

According to the statutes, scholars who have made important contributions through their writing or research are rewarded with the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Award. In recent years, the Vatican Foundation, led by Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI, has made a point of awarding the prize to artists whose work is inspired by Christian themes.

The award ceremony will begin at 5 p.m. Rome time and will focus on Benedict XVI's legacy. A memorial liturgy for the Pope Emeritus, who died on December 31, 2022, will be celebrated in the Vatican Grottoes at 8:15 a.m.

Pablo Blanco Sarto, 59, was born in the Spanish city of Zaragoza. After studying Hispanic philology at the University of Navarra, he earned his PhD in theology from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. He earned a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Navarra, where he concentrated on dogmatic theology and wrote his dissertation on Joseph Ratzinger's Fundamental Theology and Religions.

He was ordained a priest on September 21, 1997. He is now a full professor at the University of Navarre, where he teaches ecumenism, sacramental theology, and ministry. Sarto has written extensively on Benedict XVI's life, thoughts, and activities.

Francesc Torralba Roselló was born in 1967 and is a well-known French philosopher and theologian. He holds doctorates in philosophy (1992), theology (1997; Faculty of Theology of Catalonia), education (2018), history (archaeology and Christian arts) (2022; Ateneu Universitari Sant Pacià, Faculty Antoni Gaud), and philosophy again (2022).

His professorship at Ramon Llull University is only one of several academic positions he has in Spain and the United States. He is also an excellent writer, having published over 1,800 articles and more than 100 books.