Julien Ries (19 April 1920 – 23 February 2013) was a Belgian religious historian, titular archbishop and cardinal of the Catholic Church.

After the university split in 1968, he taught at the French-speaking Université catholique de Louvain, where he founded the Centre d'Histoire des Religions (which has recently been named after him).

His conclusion was the same as that of the French paleontologist and co-discoverer of the fossil "Lucy" (Australopithecus afarensis), Yves Coppens, with whom he collaborated, i.e. that human beings have been religious right from the beginning.

[7] In 2009, Ries donated his library, all his manuscripts, notes and documents relating to courses, and the correspondences he had with religious historians across the globe, to the Catholic University of Milan.

[4] Ries was created Cardinal-Deacon of Sant'Antonio di Padova a Circonvallazione Appia by Pope Benedict XVI in the consistory at St. Peter's Basilica on 18 February 2012.