A US law professor will become the first Jewish recipient of the Ratzinger Prize, the Vatican has announced.

On 1 December, Pope Francis will present Joseph H. H. Weiler - Professor of Law in Universities and International Institutes at New York University - with the 2022 Ratzinger Prize, nicknamed the 'Nobel Prize in Theology'.

Weiler will become the first Jew to be in receipt of the prestigious award which recognises "scholars that stood out for their publications and/or scientific research", alongside Jesuit theologian Michel Fédou.

Weiler was born in South Africa in 1951, and holds dual American and Italian citizenship. He gained his BA at Sussex University before completing his LLB and LMA at Cambridge. He also earned a PhD in European Law at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.

He is particularly known as the author of a number of important works on constitutional, international, and European law, as well as human rights.

In Italy, he is a very well-known figure for his pro-bono intervention in the 2010 Lautsi v. Italy case in front of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights to defend Italy's right to require that the crucifix be displayed in state school classrooms.

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Professor Weiler arguing before the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in the 2010 Lautsi v. Italy case (Screengrab via YouTube)

The lower Chamber had unanimously ruled against Italy, but following Weiler's intervention, the Grand Chamber ruled by a huge majority of 15-2 that the displaying of crucifixes in Italian classrooms does not contravene the European Convention on Human Rights.

In an interview following the case, Weiler said that he was not defending Christianity, but defending pluralism: "People have asked me a million times how a practicing Jew can defend a reference to Christian roots in the European constitution, and I've said that I'm not a practicing Jew in this context. I'm a practicing constitutionalist. I'm a practicing pluralist."

He is currently the European Union Jean Monnet Chair at New York University School of Law, Director of the Hauser Global Law School Program, and Professor at the College of Europe. He also holds teaching and consulting positions in a number of European countries and in Macao.

This is the 11th year that the prize will be awarded, having been launched in 2011 to recognise scholars whose work demonstrated authentic and meaningful contributions to theology.

Candidates are proposed to the Pope by the Scientific Committee of the Foundation, which is composed of five members, nominated by the Pope. 26 scholars from 16 different countries have been awarded the prize since its inception. It has recognised Catholics, a Lutheran, an Anglican, two Orthodox Christians, and as of this year, a Jew.

The prize is also being awarded to Jesuit theologian Michel Fédou. Born in Lyon in 1952, he has been teaching Dogmatic Theology and Patristics at the Centre Sèvres of Paris since 1987, where he also served as Dean of the Theological Faculty from 1996-2002, and then as President until 2009.