Aachen, Germany - Andrea Riccardi, the Catholic layman who founded the Sant'Egidio Community in Rome, was awarded the prestigious Charlemagne Prize at a ceremony in Germany on Thursday. The civic prize, handed over in the western city of Aachen, honoured Riccardi for demonstrating Europe's humane convictions and spirit of solidarity as well as his promotion of world peace.
Riccardi, 58, founded the lay community with other school-age friends in Rome's Trastevere district 40 years ago. The organization of Catholics based at the parish church of Sant'Egidio now has 50,000 members worldwide.
The 5,000-euro (6,300-dollar) prize is named after Emperor Charlemagne (768-814). It is managed by the city of Aachen, once the capital of Charlemagne's European medieval empire.
Aachen Mayor Juergen Lindner praised Riccardi as an "ambassador and representative of European values." Sant' Egidio was an example of the basic ethical principles the world needed, he said.
Riccardi was being honoured "because he has shown competence in an area where politics has ofted failed," the mayor added.
The prize has been awarded every year since 1950 for services to European unity and values. Last year the award went to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Other winners include former US president Bill Clinton (2000) and EU foreign policy supremo Javier Solana (2007).