FORMER PRESIDENT MARY McAleese has been selected as the winner of the prestigious Alfons Auer Ethics Prize.

The award will be presented to Dr McAleese at a ceremony at the University of Tübingen in Germany on 30 October.

Leading US moral theologian Professor Hille Haker of Loyola University in Chicago will deliver the commendation in honour of the former president at the ceremony.

The award honours people who have distinguished themselves through a special ethical commitment in the religious, scientific or social field. It is endowed with €25,000 prize money.

Auer was one of the most influential Catholic theologians of the 20th century.  The award was established in 2015 to mark the centenary of his birth and the tenth anniversary of his death.

McAleese will become the third ever recipient of the award, which is handed out every two years.

The 68-year old canon lawyer was barred from taking part in an International Women’s Day conference in the Vatican last year.

She has frequently spoken publicly about frustrations with the Catholic Church over its stringent views on women and members of the LGBT+ community.