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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)   
      
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