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                               VIS-Press releases

VATICAN FOUNDATION: JOSEPH RATZINGER - BENEDICT XVI

VATICAN CITY, 26 NOV 2010 (VIS) - In the Holy See Press Office at midday today
a press conference was held to present the "Vatican Foundation: Joseph
Ratzinger - Benedict XVI". The conference was presented by Cardinal Camillo
Ruini, president of the foundation's academic committee; Msgr. Giuseppe Antonio
Scotti, president of the foundation, and Fr. Stephan Otto Horn S.D.S, president
of the "Ratzinger Schulerkreis" and of the "Joseph Ratzinger
Papst Benedict XVI
- Siftung".

Msgr. Scotti explained how on 1 March this year the Holy Father had ordered the
creation of a new foundation, with the name of "Vatican Foundation: Joseph
Ratzinger - Benedict XVI", in order "to respond to a desire
expressed by many
scholars over the course of the years". As regards the financing of the new
body, he explained, "a first ample contribution will come from the Pontiff
himself, who has chosen to devolve a large part of the proceeds from his author
rights".

For his part Cardinal Ruini explained how, apart from himself, the academic
committee will be composed of Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone
S.D.B.; Cardinal Angelo Amato S.D.B. prefect of the Congregation for the Causes
of Saints; Archbishop Jean-Louis Brugues O.P., secretary of the Congregation
for Catholic Education, and Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer S.J.,
prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The committee will have three tasks, he said, "firstly, drawing up criteria and
objectives for the annual and long-term programme of the foundation's
activities; secondly, establishing criteria of excellence for the creation and
conferral of prizes to scholars who have distinguished themselves in academic
publications and/or research; and finally, organising cultural and academic
initiatives".

"The theology of Joseph Ratzinger moves forward, looking to the present and the
future on the basis of an extraordinary knowledge of the origins and history of
the Christian faith. His capacity, what I would call his tastefulness, in
keeping these two aspects united ... likens Joseph Ratzinger to great teachers
of other periods of Christian history. It is no coincidence that the foundation
which bears his name will focus particular attention, on the one hand on
biblical and patristic studies, and on the other on fundamental theology. The
aim is to bring out the truth, significance and beauty of Christianity in its
relationship with contemporary culture and society".

Fr. Horn then spoke to explain that, even before Cardinal Ratzinger's election
to the papacy, his students had thought of creating a Joseph Ratzinger
Foundation. "Not only did they feel profound gratitude towards their
teacher",
he said, "but they were also deeply convinced of the importance of his theology
for the Church. ... In the meeting of the 'Schulerkreis' with the Holy Father
at Castelgandolfo in 2007 we received his approval to create an autonomous
foundation".

This foundation, Fr. Horn went on, "has a clear direction and broad ranging
projects. Its goal is to promote the study of Joseph Ratzinger's theology and
spirituality, propagating his ideas in the Church and society, and ensuring
they are absorbed. Thus will his memory be conserved for the future".

One of the foundation's projects concerns the University of Regensburg "with
the creation of chair for a visiting professor in the faculty of theology
during the summer term". In September this year a
"Benediktakdemie" (Benedict
Academy) for young students was held at Salzburg in Austria, while in Rome (in
collaboration with the "Casa Balthasar", an institution for discerning
vocations in young Catholic men) there is a plan to crate a study centre for
theology and spirituality. "And we have also", Fr. Horn
concluded, "collected
the recollections of more than forty of Joseph Ratzinger's former students in
order to establish an archive".
OP/VIS 20101126 (620)

SUMMARY

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