Doctor In The House

Back in early March I wrote that prominent 86-year old Catholic theologian Hans Küng had received “cordial letters” from Pope Francis including a “personal, fraternal, handwritten letter” in which he promised to read Küng’s new book.   At that time, I wondered what Küng would offer to his loyal readership, and now the Pope whom he admires and wishes well.   Provocatively titled, “Can We Save the Catholic Church?  We Can Save the Catholic Church!” his book will make for very interesting bedtime reading.  Then again, Pope Francis will not sleep well if he ventures too far into this scary 345 page-turner.

A Swiss Catholic priest and President of the Foundation for a Global Ethic, Hans Küng is never at a loss for words laying bare what most want hidden or are too timid to say.  The global ethic program stems from Küng’s 1991 text Global Responsibility and the principle: “No peace between nations without peace between religions.”  Now he tackles again, but with renewed vigor, what he calls “a debilitating and potentially terminal illness from which the Church is presently suffering.”  

Brutally honest and to the point, Küng makes no bones about what he considers ills of the Church and his prescriptions for cures.   His “medicines” will be difficult for the Pope – more likely the Roman Curia – to swallow because they are bitter pills requiring major amounts of what he calls “ecumenical therapy” such as: (1) eliminating all forms of repression in the Church, e.g., defamation of women, including nuns (recent Roman ‘visitation’ in the US) who campaign against the discrimination of women in the Church and against the ban on women’s ordination; (2) appointing competent expert staff instead of cronies; and (3) reforming the Roman Curia in accordance with the Gospel. 

His vision remains the same as the one he’s advocated for many decades.  According to Küng, a Church that will survive and flourish is: “(1) a Church oriented towards its Christian origins, while concentrating on the urgent tasks of our time; (2) a Church based on partnership, combining office and charism and accepting the participation of women in all ecclesial offices; (3) an ecumenically open Church, which not only mouths ecumenical phrases, but also practices ecumenical deeds such as recognizing ministries and removing the questionable excommunications of the past, and which goes on to give tangible expression to its ecumenical commitment by celebrating together the Lord’s Eucharist; and (4) a tolerant, universal Church that would regain the respect of Christians and non-Christians alike.”

Küng concludes by saying: “Can we save the Catholic Church?  As long as we continue to believe that it is truly the Church of Christ in which the Spirit of God continues to work despite all human failings and obstacles, there is no reason to doubt that we can and will save it and that the Church will not only survive its present mortal crisis, but that, sooner or later, we will once again become what Christ founded us to be.”

His bottom line is: “…the Medieval equation of ‘obedience to God = to the Church = to the Pope’ patently contradicts the word of Peter and the other apostles before the High Council in Jerusalem: ‘we must obey God rather than any human authority.’ (Acts 5:29)."

Love him or hate him (not very Christian), one has to admit Küng’s dogged determination never to relent, never to give up on the Church, never to forget Vatican II, and never to put God second makes him admirable.   Unlike with the previous two popes (John Paul II and Benedict), Küng won’t be a burr under Francis’s saddle.  More likely, as long as he can (and he’s running out of time), he’ll try to be the horse of ideas on which the Pope can ride.  Giddyup!

Deacon David Pierce