“I Want You to Be Honored With Me”: A Theology Professor’s Moving Act of Humility

Dr. John Cavadini, a theology professor at the University of Notre Dame, will receive the Ratzinger Prize from Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Dec. 19. The award, often described as the Nobel Prize in Theology, recognizes his decades of scholarship and teaching, specifically his work on St. Augustine, the Fathers of the Church, and his efforts to strengthen the Catholic identity of the university.

During a recent class, student Carmela Christi asked Dr. Cavadini for a photo to celebrate the award. In response, Dr. Cavadini told his students that he wanted them to be honored with him, stating that the achievement somehow attaches to them.