$1,000 – DOMINIC DOYLE

Boston College School of Theology & Ministry
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts

Theological Virtue and the Psychology of Happiness

“Effectively draws a close connection between the modern subfield of positive psychology and a Thomistic understanding of traditional Christian virtues. The argument that a Christian believer’s relationship with his or her conception of the divine mirrors a client’s relationship with the ideal therapist is well done, with solid grounding in scientific literature.”

$500 – EDWARD FOLEY, O.F.M., Cap.

Catholic Theological Union
Chicago, Illinois

What Science Could Contribute to Preaching at Worship

“The author claims a late entry into the world of technology and science, but he is a quick learner able to rethink the value of theoretical knowledge, theoria, (concerned with the ‘what’ of existence) and its complementary state of knowing, phronesis/praxis, that attends to the ‘how’ of acting in this existence. He tactfully takes note of the suspicions some harbor towards contemporary advances in sciences by illustrating how the connections between different forms of knowledge revitalize preaching by providing outlines of eight sermons informed by the sciences.”

$500 – AUGUSTUS PULEO

St. Charles Borromeo Seminary
Wynnewood, Pennsylvania

Attending to Pre-Natal Care Needs of Women with Help From Medical and Seminary Communities

“A compelling story of seeing first-hand the high rates of infant mortality among parishioners who are often undocumented Latinas, deciding to do something about that, and then organizing community members, area doctors, hospitals, and seminarians to engage. Less ‘intellectual’ and much more practical than other entries, but it seems no less responsive to the call for that.”

JOHN MOSIER

Mt. Angel Seminary
St. Benedict, Oregon

When Light Converges on Love and Vocation

“The author was a senior executive at a medical-technology firm, engaged with the cancer-treatment efforts of that company. He convincingly connects the experience of scientific and technological discoveries related to functional nano-particles as anti-tumor agents, his care of his terminally ill young wife, and his then-emerging reconnection to an earlier sense of vocation.”

RAPHAEL JOSHUA CHRISTIANSON, O.P.

Aquinas Institute of Theology
St. Louis, Missouri

Reconciling Faith and Science: The Big Bang Theory and Vocation

“A clear exposition of the idea that science is a wondrous human endeavor that successfully gives us an understanding about many physical aspects of the universe, including the universe itself and its past history. Yet there remain (and are likely to remain) aspects of a believer’s faith that are inaccessible to science – e.g., the Resurrection of Jesus. Those are, at least for the present, matters exclusively of faith, and not amenable to scientific proof, since, by definition, miracles suspend the regularity of nature. The author portrays this need for faith – in the unprovable – as essential, and trust in that which science has discovered as pointless to deny.”

ALEXANDER M. WAINAINA, S.J.

Boston College School of Theology and Ministry
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts

The Discovery and Use of Anti-retroviral Medicines Inspiring My Religious Vocation

“Discusses the difference that the discovery of anti-retroviral therapy has made for those who are HIV- positive and especially those with AIDS in Africa.  ARVs have transformed the lives of many HIV-positive inhabitants of Africa (specifically Kenya), and especially of the HIV-positive children. The author takes inspiration from this success to minister to the sick.”

SELOM GHISLAIN AKAKPO

Arrupe College
Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe

The Relationship between Science and Religion: From Creation to Evangelization

ERIC UROKU

Bigard Memorial Seminary
Enugu, Nigeria

Engaging Dehumanized Humanity with ‘Rehumanized’ Psychotherapy in Light of John 10:10