A Liberal View of the RC Church: Theologian Hans Küng on the Pope's Challenges
BBC: On the day of the inauguration of Pope Francis, the Catholic theologian, Professor Hans Ku[e]ng tells Today presenter John Humphrys about the challenges facing the new pontiff.

Prof Ku[e]ng explained that recent and historical sex abuse scandals have severely damaged the church, which also faces the challenge of evangelical churches in South America, which many former Catholics are now joining.

"We need a Pope who is not for riches, pomp and splendour. We need a church of transparent financial policies. A modest church."

He added that many people have left the Catholic Church because [:] "the liturgy is boring and the clergy are dominating." BBC audio » | Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Resignation Is Not an Option for the Pope
TIMES ONLINE: It is Benedict XVI’s duty to implement worldwide the reforms already made by Catholic leaders in Britain

The paedophile abuse cases have become a big crisis for the Roman Catholic Church. A crisis for the laity, a crisis for the clergy, a crisis for the bishops and, increasingly, a crisis for the Pope himself.

It has caused great damage to the victims, who need to be considered first. In some cases the psychological damage will last a lifetime. The crisis has damaged the image that the Church has of itself; it has damaged the authority of the Pope.

Priests see themselves as men of spiritual values, disciplined in their personal lives and requiring considerable personal sacrifices, including the sacrifice involved in a life of celibacy. They usually have the respect of their own communities.

It is still the case that congregations usually trust their own priests; that is true of the Catholic Church and of the Church of England, but it is easy for the Catholic clergy to feel they may be suspected of criminal conduct with children, which they find as outrageous as does everyone else. Like MPs who have never abused their expenses, many priests must feel that they are suffering guilt by association.

Most clergy live relatively austere religious lives. The proportion who have ever had sexual allegations made against them is about one in 200. That proportion has been high enough to cast some degree of suspicion on the priesthood as a whole. The clergy are able to do their work because they are trusted, and that trust has been damaged.

The Catholic Church of previous eras had a policy that sexual offences should be hidden. This policy of “cover-up” has done the greatest possible harm, both to the victims, who were not believed, and to the spread of abuse. Until about ten years ago, most Catholic bishops thought it was their duty to protect the Church from scandal; they mistakenly believed that secrecy would act in the interest of the Church.

They protected paedophile priests from the police; they persuaded the unfortunate victims to sign secrecy agreements; they kept the stories out of the press; they moved the peccant priests from one parish or diocese to another. Families were persuaded that their children, who had suffered abuse, were fantasists or liars. The victims were made to feel that it was they who were guilty. >>> William Rees-Mogg | Monday, March 29, 2010

Father Hans Kung [sic] Blames Catholic Views on Sex for Clerical Child Abuse
TIMES ONLINE: A leading Roman Catholic theologian has linked clerical sex abuse with priestly celibacy, blaming the Church’s “uptight” views on sex for child abuse scandals in Germany, Ireland and the US.

Father Hans Kung [sic], President of the Global Ethic Foundation and professor emeritus at the University of Tübingen in Germany, said that the Church’s attitude was also revealed in its opposition to birth control.

The German church rejected any suggestion that abuse was linked to celibacy, homosexuality or church teaching.

Last week the Regensburg Diocese in Germany revealed that a former chorister claimed he was abused while a member of its choir, which was led for three decades by Father Georg Ratzinger, brother of Pope Benedict XVI. The Holy See said that it backed the diocese’s attempts to investigate the scandal by analysing “the painful question in a decisive and open way”. Also last week, in the Holy See, an adult chorister was sacked for allegedly procuring male prostitutes for a Papal usher.

Robert Zollitsch, Archbishop of Freiburg and head of the German bishops’ conference, branded clerical abuse “outrageous” and begged forgiveness from the victims but denied any link between abuse and celibacy.

Writing in The Tablet, Father Kung, who in 1979 was stripped of his licence to teach Catholic theology after he rejected the doctrine of Papal infallibility, welcomed the apology but described the denials of any link between abuse, celibacy and other teaching as “erroneous”. >>> Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent | Monday, March 08, 2010

"L'Eglise risque de devenir une secte"
LE MONDE: Longue silhouette au visage glabre et à la mèche rebelle, Hans Küng, considéré comme le plus grand théologien contestataire catholique vivant, reçoit chez lui, en Allemagne, à Tübingen, dans sa propriété élégante aux murs tapissés d'ouvrages. Les siens, innombrables et traduits dans toutes les langues, trônent en bonne place dans son bureau personnel. Il revient ici sur la tempête déclenchée par la main tendue du pape Benoît XVI aux intégristes catholiques.

Comment analysez-vous la décision de Benoît XVI de lever l'excommunication de quatre évêques du courant intégriste de Mgr Lefebvre, dont l'un, Richard Williamson, est un négationniste affirmé?

Je n'ai pas été surpris. Dès 1977, dans un entretien à un journal italien, Mgr Lefebvre indique que "des cardinaux soutiennent (son) courant" et que "le nouveau cardinal Ratzinger a promis d'intervenir auprès du pape pour (leur) trouver une solution". Cela montre que cette affaire n'est ni un problème nouveau ni une surprise. Benoît XVI a toujours beaucoup parlé avec ces personnes. Aujourd'hui, il lève leur excommunication, car il juge que le temps est venu. Il a pensé qu'il pourrait trouver une formule pour réintégrer les schismatiques, qui, tout en conservant leurs convictions, pourraient donner l'apparence qu'ils sont en accord avec le concile Vatican II. Il s'est bien trompé.

Comment expliquez-vous que le pape n'ait pas mesuré le tollé que sa décision allait susciter, au-delà même des propos négationnistes de Richard Williamson?

La levée des excommunications n'a pas été un défaut de communication ou de tactique, mais elle a constitué une erreur de gouvernement du Vatican. Même si le pape n'avait pas connaissance des propos négationnistes de Mgr Williamson et même s'il n'est pas lui-même antisémite, chacun sait que les quatre évêques en question sont antisémites. Dans cette affaire, le problème fondamental, c'est l'opposition à Vatican II, et notamment le refus d'une relation nouvelle au judaïsme. Un pape allemand aurait dû considérer cela comme un point central et se montrer sans ambiguïté sur l'Holocauste. Il n'a pas mesuré le danger. Contrairement à la chancelière Angela Merkel, qui a vivement réagi.

Benoît XVI a toujours vécu dans un milieu ecclésiastique. Il a très peu voyagé. Il est resté enfermé au Vatican - qui est comme le Kremlin d'autrefois -, où il est préservé des critiques. Du coup, il n'a pas été capable de réaliser l'impact d'une telle décision dans le monde. Le secrétaire d'Etat, Tarcisio Bertone, qui pourrait être un contre-pouvoir, était son subordonné à la Congrégation pour la doctrine de la foi ; c'est un homme de doctrine, absolument soumis à Benoît XVI. On est face à un problème de structure. Il n'y aucun élément démocratique dans ce système, aucune correction. Le pape a été élu par des conservateurs, et aujourd'hui c'est lui qui nomme les conservateurs. >>> TÜBINGEN (BADE-WURTEMBERG) ENVOYÉS SPÉCIAUX | Mardi 24 Février 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Broché) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Relié) >>>

Islam Stuck in the Middle Ages, Says Hans Küng
With all due respect Professor Hans Küng, to say that “Islam’s problems with the modern world are because it has never undergone ‘a serious religious reformation’” is to state the glaringly obvious. - ©Mark

TIMESONLINE: Islam's problems with the modern world are because it has never undergone "a serious religious reformation" claims German theologian

Islam is stuck in its own version of the “Middle Ages” which is contributing to a global crisis, one of the leading experts on Islam, Judaism and Christianity argues today.

Professor Hans Kung [sic], a leading Roman Catholic and theologian from Germany, warns in a lecture of a “deadly threat” to all humankind unless new efforts are made to build bridges with Islam. He says in London that Islam has “special problems” with modernity because, unike [sic] Christianity and Judaism, it has never undergone a “serious religious reformation”. He questions whether Islam is even capable of adapting to a post-modern world in the way that Christianity and Judaism have done. But he also outlines why he is hopeful that the present problems around radicalisation within Islam can be resolved, and how the other two Abrahamic faiths are subject to some of the same problems on their extremist edges. Violence has been practicised in the sign of the crescent, but also in the sign of the cross, he warns. In his lecture, seen by The Times, Professor Kung [sic] says: “The options have become clear: either rivalry of the religions, clash of civilizations, war of the nations - or dialogue of civilizations and peace between the nations as a presupposition for peace between the nations. Islam Is Stuck in the Middle Ages, Says Leading Interfaith Expert >>> By Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent | June 16, 2008

Hat tip: Dhimmi Watch

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)

Hans Küng: The Dreamer
Hans Küng is the Catholic who wants to unite all religions
THE SUNDAY TIMES: Tony Blair will “declare himself Roman Catholic” once he leaves Downing Street. That’s the reported view of Father Michael Seed, who is without peer in luring high-profile figures into the church. But another Catholic priest, hundred of miles away in the German town of Tübingen, may yet have a far more influential role in Blair’s future.

Professor Hans Küng is widely regarded as the most influential living Christian theologian. Although, where the Vatican is concerned, for influential read dangerous: after his 1971 book questioning the doctrine of papal infallibility Küng was stripped of his licence to teach as a Roman Catholic theologian. The turbulent high priest who has Blair’s ear (more) By Martin Wroe

Mark Alexander