Notre Dame theologian John Cavadini to receive 2026 Ratzinger Prize

John Cavadini, a professor of patristic theology at the University of Notre Dame, will receive the 2026 Ratzinger Prize.

The Vatican Foundation Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI announced Cavadini as the winner of the prestigious award at a press briefing in Rome on Sept. 22. The foundation also said Pope Leo XIV will present the award to Cavadini on Dec. 19 at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.

Present to announce the winner on Sept. 22 at the Holy See Press Office were Father Roberto Regoli, president of the Vatican Foundation Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI, and Pierluca Azzaro, secretary of the foundation.

Cavadini will also be the third faculty member from the University of Notre Dame to receive the award, following Cyril O’Regan (2024) and Jesuit Father Brian E. Daley (2012). Since the award was established in 2011, the university has had the most winners of any institution.

In a press release from the foundation, Cavadini expressed gratitude for the award, saying he sought to conduct his theology “as a man of the Church and, at the same time, as a man of academia.”

The unique contributions of American theologians Cavadini has been affiliated with the University of…