Etsuro Sotoo becomes 1st Japanese, sculptor to win famed Vatican prize

Sculptor Etsuro Sotoo on Friday became the first Japanese to be awarded the Ratzinger Prize by a Vatican City foundation for his work on the Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona, Spain.Sotoo, 71, is also the first sculptor to win the prize usually awarded to scholars that have stood out for their scientific research in theology. He has been involved for over 40 years in work on the Sagrada Familia, which is still under construction.A native of Fukuoka in southwestern Japan, Sotoo visited Barcelona in 1978, where he was impressed by the church and asked to work there as a sculptor, following …READ FULL ARTICLE