Theologian · Contemporary
Hans Küng
1928–2021 · Liberal Catholic theology (Tübingen)
Swiss priest; peritus at Vatican II; his permission to teach as a Catholic theologian was withdrawn by the CDF (15 December 1979) for denying papal infallibility; he remained a priest and died in the Church.
A brilliant young theologian whose “Justification” (1957) argued that Barth and Trent agree, and who then turned his energy against the Church's structures: “The Church” (1967), “Infallible? An Inquiry” (1970), “On Being a Christian” (1974), and in later years a “global ethic” and a defense of assisted dying. He wanted a Church without infallibility, celibacy, or a male priesthood, governed by the consensus of believers.
Why he matters: The clearest voice of the progressive “hermeneutic of rupture” and the mirror image of Lefebvre: both took the Council as a break, one to deplore and one to extend. His questions about infallibility drew the Church's best modern answers (Mysterium Ecclesiae, 1973).
Where to be careful
Denial of papal infallibility contradicts Pastor Aeternus; his Christology “from below” sits lightly to Chalcedon; his positions on women's ordination, sexual ethics and euthanasia are each contrary to definitive teaching. Read him to understand the questions, and the Magisterium for the answers.
Reading
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On Being a ChristianHans Küng · His most read book; the Christology is where to be alert.
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Infallible? An InquiryHans Küng · The book that cost him his license.
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Mysterium EcclesiaeCongregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 1973 · The Church's reply on infallibility and the historicity of dogma.
Documented positions
Where this thinker stands on each dispute the test covers.