Ligita Ryliškytė, SJE, a visiting assistant professor of systematic theology in the BC Theology Department, was awarded Theological Book of the Year by the European Society for Catholic Theology. She was honored for her book, Why the Cross? Divine Friendship and the Power of Justice (Cambridge University Press, 2023). In Why the Cross?, Sister Ryliškytė addresses what is arguably the most important and profound question in systematic theology: What does it mean for humankind to be saved by the cross? Offering a constructive account of the atonement that avoids pitting God’s saving love against divine justice, she provides a biblically grounded and philosophically disciplined theology of the cross that responds to the exigencies of postmodern secular culture. Her book reveals a Christology of fundamental significance for contemporary systematic theology, as well as for the fields of theological ethics and Christian spirituality. Sister Ryliškytė is a native of Lithuania and a member of an Ignatian community, the Sisters of the Eucharistic Jesus.