Hans Küng, the rebellious theologian, is dead | It was a figurine …

Last Tuesday, at the age of 93, passed away the Swiss theologian Hans, one of the most important intellectual figures of contemporary Catholicism, also a professor and colleague of several of Latin America’s best-known liberation theologians. As reported by the Weltethos Foundation (Ethos universal), which he himself chaired since 1995, Küng died “in peace at his home in Tübingen” (Germany) where he resided. The Swiss theologian gained notoriety beyond the Catholic Church because at one point questioned Catholic dogma on the infallibility of the Pope. However, his most remarkable career has to do with his active participation in Vatican Council II (1962-65), a task for which he was appointed “official adviser” by Pope John XXIII, and with his abundant theological output based on a critically.

In statements now offered to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera Cardinal Walter Kasper, one of Jorge Bergoglio’s most direct advisers, confided that after learning of Küng’s delicate state of health, “I called the Pope and, immediately, Francis, through my intermediary, sent him his blessing. Hans was very happy. It was important. to him, ”he added. Knowing of the death of the Swiss theologian Kasper added that Bergoglio and Ratzinger “knew of his condition and prayed for him”.

The 88-year-old German cardinal, who had a very close relationship with Kung, said the theologian felt “at peace with the Church and with Francis, in a kind of reconciliation”.

Küng was born in 1928 in Sursee (Lucerne, Switzerland), was ordained a priest in 1954 and received a degree in theology from the Gregorian University of Rome (1953).

His first works were “The Council and the Unity of the Church”, “The Structures of the Church” in 1964 and “Liberty Today” in 1966.

In 1967, the theologian published “The Church”, a text which aroused controversy in the Catholic institution, among other things because he proposed to suppress the “imprimatur” (prior censorship) for theological works and questioned compulsory celibacy for priests. In 1976, in another book, he questioned the infallibility of the pontiffs. The theologian also expressed differences with Catholic ecclesiastical regulations on issues such as the female priesthood, contraception and euthanasia.

In 1979, the CDF withdrew his teaching license and declared that “he could no longer be considered a Catholic theologian”. In this way Küng became the first theologian to be sanctioned during the pontificate of John Paul II and, in 1980, he ceased to belong to the Faculty of Theology of the University of Tübingen. The process was in charge of Joseph Ratzinger, then prefect (highest authority) of this Vatican ministry and later elected as Benedict XVI.

Later, and after several dialogues with the theologian, Küng regained the possibility of officially teaching in Catholic institutions and in 2005, with Ratzinger as pope, a meeting between the two took place. On this occasion, Benedict XVI issued an official declaration recognizing “Professor Küng’s effort to contribute to a renewed recognition of the essential moral values ​​of humanity through dialogue between religions and in meeting secular reason”, and underlining in turn that an objective of his own pontificate is “the commitment to a renewed awareness of the values ​​which sustain human life”.