The Josef Pieper Foundation admits a mistake, but rejects political intentions and offers a new conference.
More than a year after the debate over the awarding of its prize to the US bishop Robert Barron, the Josef Pieper Foundation in Münster has admitted mistakes in dealing with the event at the time.
At the same time, it rejects the impression that the award of prizes is to be understood as a political statement or as closeness to the New Right.
In a letter to the Münster diocesan newspaper "Kirche+Leben", the foundation board of the Catholic Academy Franz-Hitze-Haus in Münster also offers a joint conference on Barron and his theology.
The foundation wants to preserve and make accessible the work of the philosopher Josef Pieper (1904–1997).
In July 2025, she awarded the Josef Pieper Prize to Barron and held a symposium on this occasion. There were protests against the award ceremony.
Critics accused Barron, among other things, of a proximity to the political environment of US President Donald Trump and a combination of tradition-oriented Catholicism with authoritarian-exclusive social ideas.
Criticism of a lack of culture of dispute
In a recent interview with "Kirche+Leben," the director of the Franz-Hitze-Haus, Johannes Sabel, had criticized, among other things, that the public controversy surrounding Barron had not been made the subject of the symposium.
Sabel spoke of a retreat into his own world of thought and feeling and advocated a more open culture of contention.
The foundation's board of directors now declares that it has underestimated the political dimension of the event.
The fact that parts of the press had been excluded from the symposium was a mistake in retrospect. At the same time, the foundation emphasizes that the decision for Barron as a laureate was theologically and philosophically justified and not political.
Foundation rejects political accusations
The foundation is thus opposed to a political classification of the US bishop, which is too strong from their point of view.
The awarding of the prize can and should be disputed.
Barron’s public statements and his socio-political references are also legitimate issues of critical discussion. But a proximity to new-right positions or even a co-responsibility for their political successes is not justified by the decision for the awardee.
Sabel had warned in the interview against an appropriation of Christian terms by the New Rights. This tries to use Christian ideas in order to make their own program as socially normal. He spoke of a normalization and trivialization strategy.
The Foundation is now proposing to continue the dispute publicly at a joint meeting.
According to the foundation, both sides could each appoint speakers for this purpose.
In particular, it should be clarified whether the accusation of a capture of Josef Pieper and an intellectual undercutting of his thinking in connection with the award ceremony rightly exists.