Prof. Giovanni Patriarca, recipient of the Acton Institute’s 2012 Novak Award given recently in Rome at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, was interviewed by RomeReports Television News Agency in a video released Friday.
Read more on Video: Novak Award Winner Says Religion Inspires Hope, Creativity in Crisis…
Rome contributor to ZENIT, Stefanie DeAngelo, recently interviewed the Acton Institute’s 2012 Novak Award winner, Professor Giovanni Patriarca. During the interview Prof. Patriarca speaks candidly about some of his academic influences, including Michael Novak and Benedict XVI. He also offers his reasons for hope in overcoming the prolonged global economic crisis.
by Stefanie DeAngelo
2012 Novak Award Winner Prof. Giovanni Patriarca
ZENIT: You have recently received the Novak Award. What are some of the major contributions of the American philosopher and theologian to our thinking about the current state of the world?
Patriarca: The work of Dr. Michael Novak is so rich that it is not easy to summarize it in a few thoughts. In addition to his famous works on economics, a number of his articles published in the last few years, especially in the journal First Things, explores some of modernity’s contradictions regarding individual and social responsibility and the demise of traditional values that were held by previous generations. As Alexis de Tocqueville also warned, the loss of a metaphysical perspective, leads to materialism and the absurdity of nihilism. Read more on Novak Award Winner reflects on influences of Benedict, Michael Novak…
Acton President Rev. Robert Sirico presents the 2012 Novak Award to Prof. Giovanni Patriarca
An overflow crowd, which included two current and one former rector of Rome’s pontifical universities, enthusiastically turned out on November 29 to support the winner of the Acton Institute’s Novak Award. Students, professors, journalists, entrepreneurs and politicians alike packed the Aula delle Tesi auditorium at the Pontifical University of Thomas Aquinas to hear Prof. Giovanni Patriarca deliver his lecture “Against Apathy: Reconstruction of a Cultural Identity”.
The Novak Award, a $10,000 prize named after the American theologian and social philosopher Michael Novak, is given annually to a young international professor whose distinguished research advances a deeper understanding of theology’s connection to human dignity, the importance of limited government, religious liberty, and economic freedom. The recipient delivers a formal presentation at the award ceremony known as the Calihan Lecture. Read more on Novak Award Winner Assesses Spiritual, Vocational Crisis of Economy…
