The Pontifical foundation, Centesimus annus-Pro Pontifice, on Wednesday, February 15, 2017, in the Holy See Press Office, announced the third “Economy and Society” International Award, to promote knowledge of the social doctrine of the Catholic Church, and the International Congress “Constructive Alternatives in an Era of Global Turmoil”.

The winners are: for the International Award, the German Professor Markus Vogt, for his work Prinzip Nachhaltigkeit. Ein Entwurf aus theologisch-ethischer Perspektive, Monaco 2013; and for the prizes for journalists, instituted this year, the French Assumptionist Fr. Dominique Greiner, whose prize-winning blog “La doctrine social sur le fil”, is published on the website of the daily “La Croix”, and the German Burkhard Schäfers, for his radio show “Oswald von Nell-Breuning - Was von der katholischen Soziallehre geblieben ist”, a Jesuit who was one of the pioneers in promoting the principle of subsidiarity.

The award will be presented on 18 May in Rome’s Palazzo della Cancelleria, in the context of the annual international congress of the Centesimus Annus – Pro Pontifice (CAPP) Foundation, “Constructive Alternatives in an Era of Global Turmoil. Job creation and human integrity in the digital space – incentives for solidarity and civic virtue”, to take place in the New Synod Hall in the Vatican and in Palazzo della Cancelleria from 18 to 20 May.

The speakers were Cardinal Reinhard Marx, archbishop of Munich und Freising, and president of the CAPP Foundation, Domingo Sugranyes Bickel.

Cardinal Marx, president of the jury of the “Society and Economy” International Award of the CAPP Foundation, outlined the reasons for the award, selected this time from among more than 57 works from 12 countries and five continents, and explained that with the institution of the award for journalists, the Foundation wishes to acknowledge the importance of the profession in disseminating the Church’s social doctrine.

“Markus Vogt has worked for some years as an ecology expert for the German government, and from 1998 to 2007 as professor of Christian Social Ethics at the Salesian philosophical-theological University in Benediktbeuern”, he said. “He is currently professor of the same subject at the University of Munich. For more than twenty years, as Cardinal Marx explained, he has been studying sustainability and can be considered one of the leading experts on this subject, which is also the focus of Pope Francis’s recent Encyclical Laudato Si’.

“The principle of sustainability is no stranger to traditional economics”, remarked Cardinal Marx. “Throughout the centuries there have been principles that take into account the consequences of human action on the environment, for example by regulating the use of woods and forests. Modern technologies however have increased our possibilities and therefore the consequences of our actions on the world with the result that today’s problems have a much broader range requiring a global rethink”.

In his book, Markus Vogt suggests we “reconsider the connections between the three essential interdependent facets of human life: the economy, ecology and the social dimension. In the long run, the economy will not flourish without a healthy environment and without resolving the problem of poverty. But this is equally true for the two other dimensions: it will be impossible to safeguard the environment without a functioning economy and without offering everyone the opportunity to develop their gifts while the problem of poverty cannot be tackled with a weak economy and without proper care of the environment”.

With regard to the winning journalists, the Assumptionist Fr. Dominique Greiner teaches moral, social and political theology at the Theological Faculties of the Catholic Institute of Lille and Paris and is editor-in-chief of the “La Croix” newspaper. His blog “La doctrine sociale sur le fil” was started in 2013 and focuses on the Church’s social doctrine. It includes more than one hundred articles published in “La Croix” in recent years, which can be subdivided into six main areas: 1) Ecology and ways of life; 2) The poor and migrants; 3) Economics, market, enterprise and employment; 4) Politics and the common good; 5) War, peace, terrorism and 6) Miscellaneous. The blog uses the resources provided by the internet to offer those wishing to widen their interest in the Church’s social doctrine, a rich and invaluable tool vis-à-vis “a more just, more fraternal and more supportive society”.

The second award-winning journalist is Burkhard Schäfers who works in Munich as a journalist for public radio (Deutschlandfunk and DeutschlandradioKultur), for various newspapers and some online media, and is director of the Institutzur Förderung publizistischen Nachwuchses (Institute for the advancement of new generations of publicists). He receives the award for the 15-minute radio show showing the qualities of Oswald von Nell-Breuning (1890-1991), one of the major protagonists of the Church’s twentieth century social doctrine. .

The president of the Managing Board, Domingo Sugranyes Bickel, stated that the annual International Congress of the CAPP Foundation will take place in the Vatican from 18 to 20 May 2017, on the theme: “Constructive Alternatives in an Era of Global Turmoil. Job creation and human integrity in the digital space – incentives for solidarity and civic virtue”.

“The conference will attract around 250 professionals, business persons, workers’ representatives, politicians, academics and specialists in Catholic social teaching”, he affirmed.

More information:

http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2017/02/15/170215e.html