“Expanded Reason” Awards 2023: 7 academics to be honored at Vatican

By Sr. Nina Benedikta Krapić, VMZ

The 2023 "Expanded Reason" Awards ceremony will be held on 17 October in the Vatican.

Recipients of the awards include university professors and researchers, from any area of knowledge, who have achieved results in the field of research or teaching with scientific papers or academic programs exemplifying an expanded reason, as proposed by Pope Benedict XVI.

The initiative is the result of a collaboration between Francisco de Vitoria University in Madrid and the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation.

It is inspired by the late Pope’s desire to support a broad and open vision of reason in the search for truth and answers to fundamental questions about humanity and its destiny.

International jury

Seven academics will be honored this year. The International Jury, composed of Fr. Federico Lombardi, president of the Ratzinger Foundation, Professor Daniel Sada, rector of the Francisco de Vitoria University, and Professors Stefano Zamagni, Marta Bertolaso, Rafael Vicuña, and Javier Mª Prades reviewed the papers submitted by academics belonging to 63 university institutions, from 15 countries, in 4 languages, from which they elected this year's awardees.

The ceremony will be presided over by Cardinal Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, prefect emeritus of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Research awards

The award for the Research section will go to Professor Anna Rowlands, of Durham University, for her paper "Towards a Politics of Communion Catholic Social Teaching in Dark Times."

Awarded in the same category is Simon Maria Kopf, professor of Fundamental Theology at ITI Catholic University and research fellow at Blackfriars Hall in Oxford. He will be awarded for his paper "Reframing Providence: New Perspectives from Aquinas on the Divine Action Debate."

Excellence in teaching

In the Teaching section, awards will be presented to Professors Juan Serrano and Carola Díaz de Lope-Díaz from the University of Francisco de Vitoria, European Scholarships and the UFV School of University Leadership for "Escuela de Liderazgo Universitario."

Also honored in the same section are Professors Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti and Stefano Oliva, respectively director and coordinator of DISF Educational digital platform, active at the "Interdisciplinary Documentation Center for Science and Faith” of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross.

An honorable mention will go to Elizabeth Newman, professor of theology at Union Presbyterian Seminary Baptist House of Studies and Duke Divinity School for "Divine Abundance."