Pope Francis has conferred the 2016 Ratzinger Prizes for distinction in theology on Msgr. Inos Biffi and Ioannis Kourempeles.Msgr. Biffi, ordained to the priesthood in 1957, has written prolifically on theology and the sacred liturgy; Kourempeles, an Orthodox layman born in 1965, is a professor of theology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
Recalling “our great affection and our gratitude” to his predecessor, Pope Francis said on November 26 that “the depth of Joseph Ratzinger’s thought, firmly founded upon Scripture and the Fathers, and always nourished by faith and prayer, helps us to remain open to the horizons of eternity, thus giving meaning even to our hopes and our human responsibilities.”
Pope Francis went on to praise the Pope Emeritus’s “fruitful Magisterium, which knew how to center on the essential reference points of our Christian life, the person of Jesus Christ, charity, hope, faith. And the whole Church will be forever grateful.”