Priest Wins $1.6-Million Prize
March 13, 2008 | Read Time: 1 minute
Michael Heller, 72, a Polish Roman Catholic priest, cosmologist, and philosopher, has been awarded the $1.6-million 2008 Templeton Prize, the largest award made to an individual by a nonprofit group, reports The New York Times.
The John Templeton Foundation, which awards grants for research in science and philosophy, commended Mr. Heller for his writings on science and religion. “I always wanted to do the most important things, and what can be more important than science and religion?” said Mr. Heller, in a telephone interview. “Science gives us knowledge, and religion gives us meaning. Both are prerequisites of the decent existence.”
Mr. Heller said he plans to use the money to establish a center for the study of science and theology at the Pontifical Academy of Theology, in Krakow, Poland, where he is a faculty member. Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, will award the prize on May 7 in a private ceremony at Buckingham Palace, in London.
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