Rome, Italy, Oct 22, 2012 / 12:17 pm
An American priest and scholar who was awarded the annual Ratzinger Prize for Theology by Pope Benedict XVI on Oct. 20 was both thrilled and surprised to receive the honor.
"It was a total surprise for me, but I'm really touched that they would think of me for this and that it would bear the name of our present Holy Father, whom I have always admired a lot," said Father Brian Daley, a Jesuit professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame.
The 72-year-old shared the honor with French Catholic lay philosopher, Remi Brague.
"Fr. Daley and Professor Brague are exemplary for the transmission of knowledge that unites science and wisdom, scientific rigor and passion for man, so that man might discover the true 'art of living,'" the Pope said at the Vatican ceremony.