Last Thursday Professor Tracey Rowland was awarded the the Officers Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland. It was conferred by the Polish Ambassador to Australia on behalf of the President of Poland.
The decoration is the highest distinction the Polish government gives to foreign nationals. It is a diplomatic order awarded for enhancing Poland’s standing abroad and contributing to cooperation between Poland and other countries. As such, it is typically awarded to diplomats. As the Ambassador remarked, “It is not often that theologians are recognised by this distinction.”
Prof Rowland is one of the Anglosphere’s foremost experts on the theology of Pope Benedict, and shares with him an interest in theological anthropology and the theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar. There’s no better introduction to these subjects, I think, than Rowland’s Ratzinger’s Faith. (Her Guide for the Perplexed is a more demanding title for advanced students of theology.)
This Polish award demonstrates that Prof Rowland is also no slouch when it comes to the scholarship of Pope John Paul II. I notice that earlier this year, Rowland presented a paper in Poland on the Civilization of Love in the thought of John Paul II.
Speeches and photos from the conferral are available online. They’re worth a look.
Well Fr. John Euro 2012 has started and Poland and Greece played and drew last night. Ireland are in it too. You neeed a special channel – Sentiain. I have heard SBS will only have the finals? I think it played in Poland this year I could be wrong.
Well the Royal Ascot, Tour de France, Tennis and Olympics are coming up and we can’t forget the AFL is still on. And Golf with the US Open and British Open and rugby: State of Origin and unio. It would be good if all of these are free to air. I know most of them are!
I better mention the Sheepvention in Hamilton the first week of August.
I’ll let you know any big events coming up. I hope Ireland and Greece do well. Both countries are in turmoil at the moment.
Too right Simon. Amazing what world sporting success can do for a nation.
It is good that these events are free to air. I’ll never forget July 2005 where on the one evening we had Wimbledon, an Ashes Test, the British Open and Tour de France all on at once. I think SBS had the Ashes series that year and were doing live crosses to the Tour.
I’d be careful Simon – Father could get a little antsy if you keep writing comments that are more interesting than the post!
Tracey Rowland gave a lecture I attended about 6 years ago in which she said that modernists had control of all the (Catholic) switchpoints and that we had to work to get them back in the hands of orthodoxies (sp?).
I remember Tracey Rowland’s lecture as well because of the comment about the switchpoints. I think it was in the school hall at St Aloysius though I cannot remember the occasion, possibly it was about the Holy Father.
Incidentally Tracey was one of my tutors when I was studying for an MA at Monash.
Anthony Bidgood