The FENIKS Award Committee of the Association of Catholic Publishers has awarded the Learned Society of KUL prizes and distinctions in the following categories:
1) The History category for the publication of Atlas klasztorów w Polsce w X–XXI wieku i na ziemiach z Polską historycznie związanych (Atlas of Monasteries in Poland in the 10th–21st Centuries and in Lands Historically Associated with Poland), edited by Prof. Dr. Habil. Henryk Gapski.
The atlas is an entirely original work and the first of its kind in the field of historical and geographical research on the monastic movement in Poland. It’s chronological and territorial scope is impressive, considering that it covers monasteries from their beginnings to the present day (year 2020) over the territory stretching from the Oder to the Dnieper and from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea.
2) The Album category for the publication of Polish Cathedrals – polskie dziedzictwo religijne, kulturowe, społeczne i materialne w Stanach Zjednoczonych. Leksykon, t. 1-2 (Polish Cathedrals: Polish religious, cultural, social, and material heritage in the United States. Lexicon, vols. 1-2), edited by Prof. Dr. Habil. Jacek Gołębiowski and Dr. Maria Furtak.
The lexicon presents the work of Polish researchers who spent several years documenting the history of Polish parishes in the United States. The primary goal was to preserve the heritage of Polish emigrants, who brought a rich Polish culture to North America. Considering multinational emigration processes, our compatriots left there numerous material traces of their spiritual and cultural life, reflecting their national pride. Regardless of historical circumstances, Poles settling in America established approximately one thousand pastoral centers, erecting new churches and leaving many traces of Polishness in existing parishes. They set up schools and centers of Polish culture in parishes, which would become important centers of Polish ethnicity.
3) The Translator category for the publication of The Aeneid, translated by Prof. Dr. Habil. Robert Roman Chodkowski. The translation is a grand, meticulous, and beautiful work. The story of Aeneas, presented in the language of today, gives us a new understanding of the message carried by Virgil’s epic and contributes to the exploration of European literary heritage.
4) A distinction in the History category for the publication Infirmeria Szpitala Świętego Ducha w Rzymie w XVII-XVIII wieku (The Infirmary of the Holy Spirit Hospital in Rome in the 17th and 18th Centuries) by Prof. Dr. Habil. Marian Surdacki.
The work is, first and foremost, a monograph, a synthesis of the hospital’s history. It provides a wealth of facts on ancient medicine and the history of modern Rome, the popes, and the Papal States. The book is extensive because of the multitude of topics covered relative to the Infirmary of the Hospital of the Holy Spirit – fortunately for the reader, as the author does not leave individual threads unfinished, analyzing the subject at depth.
