INFORMATION PORTAL OF THE MARSHAL'S OFFICE OF THE KUJAWSKO-POMORSKIE Region IN TORUŃ

Outstanding Italian jurist, legal reformer, and academic lecturer Marta Cartabia — who in the current term also serves as President of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission) — has become the third recipient in the history of the Nicolaus Copernicus Fides et Ratio Award. This prestigious distinction, granted by the Marshal of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region, honors individuals whose scholarly and creative work engages with the dialogue between faith and reason, a dialogue fundamental to our civilization. The ceremonial gala during which Professor Cartabia received the award took place on Monday in the representative interiors of the Dąmbski Palace. Video recording on the Marshal’s Office YouTube channel.

“Thank you, Professor Cartabia, for following throughout your life the path of truth and dialogue that deepens it, and for defending the Christian foundations of Europe. We thank you for your commitment to tolerance and dialogue among people, nations, states, and continents, and for your dedication to peace in the world. Today, more than ever before, the world needs genuine prophecy. It needs true authorities — courageous in the search for truth and for what enriches humanity,” said Marshal Piotr Całbecki during the award ceremony. Speech by Marshal Piotr Całbecki.

“Our understanding of Holy Scripture has matured. We do not look to the Bible for astronomy or biology, and we even approach the historical claims contained in it with discernment and critical reflection. We understand the Bible as guidance and teaching on how to live — not physics, but metaphysics. Instructions concerning ethics and the meaning of a meaningful life, in matters where science is silent or ought to remain silent. The Bible answers questions that science neither asks nor can answer. (…) In Europe we live in a post-Constantinian era. People of faith are a minority, and are often ridiculed. Once this was christophobia. Now it is worse — it is christoamnesia. At least they are no longer throwing us to the lions. (…) If my analysis of the contemporary stage of the Fides et Ratio debate has any value, I know no one more deserving of this award than Marta Cartabia. An outstanding professor (…). Respected by colleagues around the world. Loved by her students. (…) Cartabia’s religious identity is never hidden. It is part of the profile for which she is known and respected. She does not shout it from the rooftops, as some do, but neither does she conceal it. She knows where to draw the line. (…) For me, the most meaningful, moving, and profound prophetic statement in the entire Bible is found in the Book of Micah: ‘What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?’ (Walk humbly, but not secretly.) Marta Cartabia, as a scholar, judge, and human being, embodies this teaching,” said Professor Joseph Weiler in his laudation. Laudation by Professor Joseph Weiler (Eng.).

“I began my public service at the beginning of the new century, precisely when the great secularization of the old continent was becoming evident, including in rather aggressive forms. (…) At that time Professor Weiler wrote his book, recently republished, on Christian Europe, in which he denounced the widespread ‘christophobia’ and hostility toward every religious phenomenon resulting from a misunderstood secularism. (…) Being Catholic and publicly professing one’s faith was a source of embarrassment at that time. And Weiler encouraged us not to retreat into the private sphere, not to hide. (…) [It is mistaken to assume] that faith — and the social teaching of the [Catholic] Church — constitute a ‘manual of commands’ ready to be implemented, and that the task of a believing woman in politics is to enforce those commands. Such a perspective is unrealistic and undesirable. Unrealistic because one must recognize that in contemporary society we are a minority. And when one holds public responsibility, one must take into account ‘the limits of what is possible.’ (…) The perspective of imposing one’s own ready-made solutions, even if it were possible, would not even be desirable, because it would fail to respect the necessary ‘distinction between the ecclesial community and the political community’ and the necessary ‘autonomy of temporal affairs.’ (…) What allows us to accept an imperfect solution, a compromise that we know well does not correspond to our ideals? It is the awareness that it is not our task to pronounce the final word on human history, and that none of us is master of history,” Professor Cartabia replied to the laudation. Response by Professor Marta Cartabia (It.).

She graduated in law from the University of Milan, earned her doctorate at the European University Institute in Florence, and in 2004 became a professor at the University of Milano-Bicocca. She specializes in constitutional law and has served on the Italian Constitutional Court since 2011 (where she was Vice President from 2014 to 2019 and later President). She is a co-author of reforms of the Italian criminal law and civil procedure systems. Among other things, she advocates alternatives to imprisonment, including house arrest and community service. Her proposed legal solutions, rooted in Catholic social teaching, are highly regarded by the international community. Since 2021, Professor Cartabia has been a member of the Venice Commission — a Council of Europe body composed exclusively of distinguished experts and enjoying immense authority — and in December 2025 she was elected its President. Also in 2021, she became a full member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences in the Vatican.

Earlier that day, the laureate delivered the inaugural lecture at Colloquium Charitativum Novum, an international gathering of intellectuals referring to the idea of the historic Colloquium Charitativum, which took place in Toruń in 1645. See: Colloquium Charitativum Novum – a response to the problems of the contemporary world.

Previously, in the main auditorium of Nicolaus Copernicus University, Professor Cartabia — accompanied by Marshal Piotr Całbecki and President of the Regional Parliament Elżbieta Piniewska — met with this year’s scholarship recipients of the regional government: outstanding pupils from primary schools, general secondary schools, and vocational schools. The meeting was attended by 450 young people.

Beata Krzemińska
Press Spokesperson of the Marshal’s Office

1 June 2026
Last updated: 2 June 2026