Rev. Brian E. Daley, S.J., Awarded Ratzinger Prize for Theology

On October 20, at a ceremony in the Vatican, Pope Benedict presented Father Daley with a 2012 Ratzinger Prize for Theology. Nicknamed the "Nobel of Theology," the award is sponsored by the Joseph Ratzinger Vatican Foundation, which was founded in 2010, with the Pope's approval to promote the publication, distribution and study of significant theological and philosophical scholarship, specifically, as Father Daley puts it, "the kind of theology and philosophy that the Holy Father himself is interested in."

In remarks before the award presentation, Pope Benedict said that Father Daley Professor Brague were "exemplary for the transmission of knowledge that unites science and wisdom, scientific rigor and passion for humankind."

A member of the Notre Dame faculty since 1996, Father Daley, a Jesuit priest, is an internationally renowned scholar of the writings, sayings and lives of the earliest Christians. His teaching and research concern such first- through eighth-century Christian thinkers as Gregory of Nyssa, Augustine of Hippo and Maximus the Confessor, and the eschatology of the early church.

In addition to his academic and scholarly work, he serves as executive secretary of the Catholic-Orthodox Consultation for North America and as a priest in Notre Dame residence halls and at St. Bavo Parish in Mishawaka, Ind.