Fr Hans Küng
Fr Hans Küng, who was one of the most influential and prophetic voices of 20th century Christianity, has died aged 93.
The Swiss theologian helped lay the groundwork for the Second Vatican Council. He challenged the doctrine of papal infallibility which led to his licence to teach Catholic theology being revoked. He was a pioneer in the field of ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue. Küng was a contemporary of Joseph Ratzinger, later Benedict XVI, and it was Küng, who was dean of the theology faculty at the University of Tübingen, who offered the future Pope a theology professorship at the university. Despite similar upbringings and a comparable theological formation, their paths would soon diverge. While Küng critiqued teachings such as papal infallibility, mandatory celibacy for priests and the direction of John Paul II’s pontificate, Ratzinger moved out of academia and rose up the ranks of the hierarchy becoming Archbishop of Munich and then prefect of the Holy See’s doctrine office in 1981.


