Mary L. Hirschfeld’s book “Aquinas and the Market. Toward a humane Economy” (Harvard University Press, 2018) won the 4th edition of the International “Economy and Society” Award, sponsored by the Centesimus Annus – Pro Pontifice Foundation, for the section “Social Doctrine Publications”. The €30,000 prize is awarded every other year to a work that stands out for its original contribution to in-depth study and implementation of the Social Doctrine of the Church, is of proven doctrinal soundness and exceptional quality and accessible to the general public.
This year the Prize will be awarded on Wednesday, 29 May in the presence of the Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Cardinal Parolin and of the Chairman of the jury Reinhard Cardinal Marx, Archbishop of Munich and Freising.
Mary L. Hirschfeld teaches Economics and Theology at Villanova University (USA). Her book offers a fascinating dialogue between the world of economics and the world of faith. Without contesting the value of some intuitions of contemporary economists, she incorporates them into a larger vision of human life drawing in particular from the anthropology of Tomas Aquinas. Economics should not govern our society but pursue man’s happiness. Material wellbeing is, in fact, an instrumental good that acquires meaning through its potential of contributing to the flowering of the human spirit.
Having awarded prizes in the past to a Spanish book (J.L. Martinez, Ciudadania, migraciones y religion), an Italian one (S. Zamagni, L’economia del bene commune) a French one (P. De Lauzun, Finance, un regard chrétien) and a German one (M. Vogt, Prinzip Nachhaltigkeit) this time the Foundation is pleased to award its prize to an English publication. Work is underway on Portuguese and Italian translations of Hirschfeld’s text.
This year the prize “Journalism and social media” will not be awarded.
