MESSAGE TO THE PLENARY ASSEMBLY OF THE CCEE

Vatican City,  (VIS) - The plenary assembly of the Council of European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE) is meeting in Sankt-Gallen, Switzerland, from 27 to 30 September, in an event which coincides with the 1400th anniversary of the arrival there of St. Gallus, a disciple and compatriot of St. Columbanus. For the occasion Cardinal Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. has, in the Holy Father's name, sent a message to Cardinal Peter Erdo, president of the CCEE, in which he notes that this anniversary "invites us to reflect on the perennial task of evangelisation, and on its current and renewed importance".

"The experience of St. Gallus, like that of so many other protagonists of the evangelisation of Europe and the entire world, teaches us that the Christian message is sowed and takes root where it is put into authentic and eloquent effect by a community, in such a way that preaching is supported by the witness of fraternal charity and animated by joint prayer", the cardinal writes.

"Thus the memory of St. Gallus and his work, on the eve of the Synod on the New Evangelisation, will be a stimulus to the plenary of the CCEE to look with faith and hope - with the gaze of Christ the Lord - to the 'great harvest' of the European peoples, following the path of Vatican Council II and the teachings of the Supreme Pontiffs who have put it into effect. In particular, we should recall the magisterial lesson of Servant of God Paul VI in his 'Evangelii nuntiandi', and the bequest of Blessed John Paul II in 'Novo millennio ineunte', naturally in the light of Magisterium of the Holy Father Benedict XVI and with a view to the forthcoming Year of Faith".

RATZINGER PRIZE PRIZE 2012 TO GO TO PHILOSOPHER REMI BRAGUE AND HISTORIAN BRIAN DALEY

Vatican City,  (VIS) - At midday today in the Holy See Press Office, a press conference was held to present the "Ratzinger Prize", which was established by the "Vatican Foundation: Joseph Ratzinger - Benedict XVI" and is due to be conferred on 20 October.

At the press conference Cardinal Camillo Ruini, president of the Foundation's academic committee, announced the names of the prize winners: the French historian Remi Brague and the American scholar of patrology and theology Fr. Brian Edward Daley S.J.

From 1990 to 2010 Remi Brague was professor at La Sorbonne University in Paris, France. He currently holds the "Romano Guardini" chair at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany, while continuing to work as visiting professor at a number of American, Spanish and Italian universities. He is a member of the "Institut de France, Academie des sciences morales et politiques", and holds the "Grand Prix de Philosophie de l'Academie Francaise". His many works include: "Europe, la voie romaine", "La sagesse du monde. Histoire de l'experience humaine de l'univers", "Du Dieu des chretiens et d’un ou deux autres" and "Les Ancres dans le Ciel".

Cardinal Ruini described Professor Brague as "a true philosopher and, at the same time, a great historian of cultural thought who unites a profound and unequivocal Christian and Catholic faith to his speculative ability and historical vision".

From 1978 to 1996 Fr. Brian Edward Daley taught theology and the history of theology at the Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Currently he is a professor at the University of Notre Dame. He is active in the field of ecumenism, particularly as regards relations between Catholics and Orthodox, and is the Catholic secretary of the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation. Among other works, he is author of "The Hope of the Early Church: A Handbook of Patristic Eschatology". He has also edited an anthology of texts of Jesuit spirituality entitled "Companions in the Mission of Jesus", and contributed to the "Handbuch der Dogmengeschichte".

Fr. Daley, said Cardinal Ruini, "is a great historian of patristic theology, but also a man entirely committed to the life and mission of the Church, an exemplary model of the fusion of academic rigour with passion for the Gospel".

Benedict XVI ordered the creation of the "Vatican Foundation: Joseph Ratzinger - Benedict XVI" on 1 March 2010, in order to respond to a desire expressed by many scholars over the course of the years. One of the tasks of the academic committee is to establish criteria of excellence for the creation and conferral of prizes to scholars who have distinguished themselves in academic publications and/or research.

"The aim of the Foundation", explained Msgr. Giuseppe Scotti, president of that institution who was also present at today's press conference, "is to place the issue of God at the core of philosophical reflection. ... The conferral of the Ratzinger Prize, which seeks to place the question of God before the eyes of the public, is just one of the Foundation's three regular activities. The other two, perhaps less well know but equally important, ... are the granting of bursaries to doctorate students of theology, and organising high-level academic conferences".

AUDIENCES

Vatican City,  (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in audience:

- Zion Evrony, the new Israeli ambassador to the Holy See, for the presentation of his Letters of Credence.

- Cardinal Antonio Maria Veglio, president of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerant Peoples.

- Cardinal Zygmunt Zimowski, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care.

SPORTSMEN AND WOMEN ARE MORE THAN MERE COMPETITORS

Vatican City,  (VIS) - The International Federation of Sports Medicine (FIMS) is, for the first time in its history, holding its world congress in Rome. For the occasion participants were received in audience by the Pope this morning, at the Apostolic Palace in Castelgandolfo.

This, the thirty-second FIMS world congress, is being attended by people from 117 countries on the five continents, "a significant indication", the Holy Father said, "of the capacity for sports and athletic endeavours to unite persons and peoples in the common pursuit of peaceful competitive excellence".

"Just as sport is more than just competition, each sportsman and woman is more than a mere competitor: they are possessed of a moral and spiritual capacity which ought to be enriched and deepened by sports and sports medicine. Sometimes, however, success, fame, medals and the pursuit of money become the primary, or even sole, motive for those involved. It has even happened from time to time that winning at all costs has replaced the true spirit of sport and has led to the abuse and misuse of the means at the disposal of modern medicine".

This, the Holy Father noted continuing his English-language address, is one of the questions being discussed at the congress. "This", he said, "is surely because you too appreciate that those whom you care for are unique and gifted individuals, regardless of athletic capabilities, and that they are called to moral and spiritual perfection prior to the call to any physical achievement. Indeed, St. Paul notes in his First Letter to the Corinthians that spiritual and athletic excellence are closely related, and he exhorts believers to train themselves in the spiritual life".

"As the Lord Himself took human flesh and became man, so each human person is called to reflect perfectly the image and likeness of God. I therefore pray for you and for those whom your work benefits, that your efforts will lead to an ever more profound appreciation of the beauty, the mystery and the potential of each human person, athletic or otherwise, able-bodied or physically challenged".

THE PERENNIAL IMPORTANCE OF ST. AUGUSTINE

Vatican City,  (VIS) - Yesterday evening at the Apostolic Palace in Castelgandolfo, the German diocese of Wurzburg offered a concert in honour of the Holy Father. The performance - entitled "Augustinus, a mosaic of sound" - was intended as part of an international symposium on St. Augustine which is currently taking place at the "Augustiniaum" in Rome. The piece was composed by Winfried Bohm and Wilfried Hiller, and performed by the choir of the cathedral of Wurzburg.

"The modernity of this Great Father of the Latin Church is unchanged, as is evident in the music we have just heard", said the Holy Father referring to St. Augustine in his remarks at the end of the concert. "Augustine is present and 'timeless'. Man's struggle, his search for the most intimate part of himself, for truth, for God, remains valid for all times. It does not concern only a master of rhetoric and grammar who lived in the disturbed times of late antiquity, but all human beings of all times".

"May your symposium on the relationship between cultures in Augustine's 'City of God' be a fruitful contribution to deepening your reflections on the bishop of Hippo, and to reconsigning his validity for the questions and challenges we are facing today".