Hans Küng insults Benedict XVI, dreams of "Pope Obama"

It's simply impossible to spoof or satirize the inanities that come forth from Hans Küng. He is living proof that intellectual brilliance (yes, the man has a thick CV and is very learned) does not equal wisdom and certainly does not insure humble loyalty to the Church and her teachings. I dare say (okay, it's not very daring) that "humility" is not a word that hangs out, let alone associates, with Küng.

Other qualities lacking in Küng's various public utterances are originality and creativity; in direct contrast to Pope Benedict XVI, who he continually insults, he might just be the most clichéd Stuck-In-The-Mythical-Sixties-Forever "thinker" around. For example, this from a recent pronouncement by the man who would be infallible but never pope:

The Pope would have an easier job than the President of the United States in adopting a change of course. He has no Congress alongside him as a legislative body nor a Supreme Court as a judiciary. He is absolute head of government , legislator and supreme judge in the church. If he wanted to, he could authorize contraception over night. permit the marriage of priests, make possible the ordination of women and allow eucharistic fellowship with this Protestant churches. What would a Pope do who acted in the spirit of Obama?

Wow! Does he mean to say that the Pope, by virtue of his despotic powers and his access to clandestine channels, can magically transform the Catholic Church into a run-of-the-mill mainline, generic, dying Protestant denomination? Talk about turning wine into water (and bad water at that).

Whereas President Obama, with the support of the whole world, is looking forwards and is open to people and to the future, this Pope is orientating himself above all backwards, inspired by the ideal of the mediaeval church, sceptical about the Reformation, ambiguous about modern rights of freedom.

Whereas President Obama is concerned for new cooperation with partners and allies Pope Benedict XVI, like George.W Bush, is trapped in thinking in terms of friend and foe. He snubs fellow Christians in the Protestant churches by refusing to recognize these communities as churches. The dialogue with Muslims has not got beyond a lip confession of ‘dialogue’. Relations with Judaism must be said to have been deeply damaged.

Whereas President Obama radiates hope, promotes civic activities and calls for a new ‘era of responsibility’, Pope Benedict  is imprisoned in his fears and wants to limit human freedom as far as possible, in order to establish an ‘age of restoration’.

Whereas President Obama is going on the offensive by using the constitution and the great tradition of his country as the basis for bold steps in reform, Pope Benedict is interpreting the decrees of the 1962 Reform Council in a backward direction, looking towards the conservative Council of 1870.

Ah yes: massive government spending and growth—which has been going on in the U.S. for a few decades now—equals "bold steps in reform", while interpreting the Second Vatican Council in the light of established doctrine and authentic Tradition is ushering in a new Dark Age. Like I've said before, Küng really needs to write less and read more. And yet, admittedly, he does provide both a bit of levity and a reminder of how fortunate we are to have a truly great German theologian and humble son of the Church as Vicar of Christ.

On a more serious note, one has to wonder to what degree Küng is even Catholic (to put it bluntly). In a 2005 piece for Catholic World Report, "Hans Kung Has a Religion the New York Times Can Love", Donna Steichen wrote:

How far has Hans Küng moved from his Catholic roots? Far enough to relegate the Catholic Church to the odious "moralist" category in his San Jose address: he said the Church's "rigorism" on "contraception, abortion, euthanasia, and homosexuality" made it impossible for the Parliament of the World's Religions to discuss those subjects because "no consensus exists." (Marcus Berquist, a tutor at Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, California, mused, "As a matter of fact, homosexuality is one question on which the world's major religions are pretty much in agreement.")

Also at Santa Clara University, Küng spoke in favor of married priests, women priests, and intercommunion. Elsewhere, his writing reveals far more radical deviations from the essentials of the Creed, the authenticity of John's Gospel, the pre-existence of Jesus, even the doctrine of the Trinity (see, e.g. Christianity: Essence, History and Future, [Continuum, 1995], Credo: The Apostles' Creed Explained for Today [Doubleday, 1994], My Struggle for Freedom: Memoirs [Eerdmans, 2003], and Küng's foreword to Born Before All Time? The Dispute over Christ's Origin [Crossroad, 1993]). Küng's ecumenism is apparently aimed toward a synthesis of the three "prophetic" monotheistic religious systems: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Seen in that light, his Global Ethic campaign assumes more ominous proportions. He denies that he is trying to invent a new world religion. His standard presentation assures listeners that adopting his universal ethical principles will in no way compromise their present beliefs and practices. But the distinctive beliefs historically accepted by major world religions would not remain, if his grandiose plans should carry the day.

Read the entire piece.

Related IgnatiusInsight.com Articles and Book Excerpts:
• Hans Kung Has a Religion the New York Times Can Love | Donna Steichen
• Authority and Dissent in the Catholic Church | Dr. William E. May
• Curran's Attack on John Paul II Rebutted | Dr. William E. May
• "A Revolutionary of the Christian Type" | Peter Seewald | The Preface to Benedict XVI: An Intimate Portrait
• Benedict XVI's Theological Vision: An Introduction | Monsignor Joseph Murphy | From the introduction to Christ Our Joy: The Theological Vision of Pope Benedict XVI
• The Theological Genius of Joseph Ratzinger | An Interview with Fr. D. Vincent Twomey, S.V.D.
• The Courage To Be Imperfect | The Introduction to Pope Benedict XVI: The Conscience of Our Age (A Theological Portrait) | D. Vincent Twomey, S.V.D.
• Is Heresy Heretical? | Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.

Comments

[Brian]

Hence Joseph Ratzinger is now Pope Benedict XVI and Hans Kung is, well, Hans Kung.

[cranky]

The whole post is golden, but the line about turning wine into water is priceless. That really is Kung in a nutshell!1

[Evan]

I was ready to say, "now Carl, the title of your post seems to go a little bit too far...". But then I read your post. And I sighed. And I had to agree.

It's unfortunate, too- you're exactly right that Küng is a brilliant man. Some of his early work was quite good, and it's shame to see the banality of his recent work and thought.

[Randy]

Kung' generation of liberals that is growing very uncomfortable. They have been very careful. When criticizing Cardinal Ratzinger they they could be quite harsh. When talking about the pope they needed to be more careful. Now Cardinal Ratzinger is pope. They seem to have grown less a cautious. Even liberal publications are having trouble calling the Catholic.

PArt of it is frustration. They are getting old and victory on their pet issues seems to be slipping further and furhter away. Every church except the Catholic church is becoming more liberal. But they don't see God in that. They see the church as a purely human institution. So they blame a person. Pope Benedict is the obvious choice. But how can a Catholic see the pope as evil?

They don't see it by younger people do. If I want to be liberal why would I become Catholic? Why not Anglican? When it comes down to it, why not atheist? What is there that Hans Kung offers me that Richard Dawkins does not? Pope Benedict may have some hard teachings but at least he beleives in something.

[Jackson (Augustine)]

What a sad farce.

[Fitz]

" If he wanted to, he could (1)authorize contraception over night. (2)permit the marriage of priests,(3) make possible the ordination of women and allow (4)eucharistic fellowship with this Protestant churches. What would a Pope do who acted in the spirit of Obama?"

I was wondering how many of these are even "correct" by a stretch. I figure

(1)Not without trashing Humane vitae and subsequently John pails theology of the Body (and consistent Church teaching)

(2)Yes: but only while upholding the practice and superiority of Priestly chastity.

(3)No

(4) Probably not.

But- I'm not studied on each matter.. What say you good folk???

[Fitz]

I'm sorry I would not ever disparage our Late Great Pontiff even with a innocent typo

It is (properlY) Pope John Paul II

[Joe]

When I was growing up mainline Protestant, Kung's "On Being a Christian" was on the desks of all the church staff. Which might explain a bit of mainline woes.

[Dan]

Prof. Kung accurately notes that President Obama presently has the praises of "the world" while the Pope acts contrary to the demands of the world, and that the Pope is "sceptical" about the Reformation. But on what understanding of Catholicism is any of this other than as it should be? Didn't St. Paul say something about not conforming to the world? Is it even possible to accept the Reformation and continue to identify as a Catholic?

[Sandra Miesel]

Borrowing a phrase from Kathy Shaidle, if the Church is so repressive, how come Hans Kung isn't a lampshade yet?

[Tulipa]

Breathtakingly inane.

[Steven]

I think Kung has a point. If the Pope lets him remain in communion with the Catholic church, why can't the Pope open the floodgates to let all the dissenting protestants in? Seriously, I would like to be in communion with the rest of my family and their qualms with the Catholic faith are no worse than Kung's.

[Telemachus]

Randy sez: "They are getting old and victory on their pet issues seems to be slipping further and furhter away."

You know, I have been gradually coming to this conclusion also. When I look at the world of today, I can usually separate "liberals" (as a catch-all term) into one of three categories:

(1) those past their "prime" (50's and beyond), frothing at the mouth at the world's persistent resistance to their ideas;
(2) the intellectual progeny of (1), driven into a furor by the leftist ideas of the past, adding energy and enthusiasm to the mix, but having no real thought or reflection; and,
(3) clueless youth, who are too wrapped up in all the distractions of the modern world to give a crap about anything except their personal enjoyment.

(1) is older than (2) is older than (3). Ergo, radicalism is waning as the progeny of Left are becoming ever more ignorant. Combine that with the fact that the devout will easily out-breed the liberal in a few generations, and the fate of the radicals is sealed. We just have to make sure that the "Category (2)'s" are prevented from using the State against the devout. They are already getting desperate, and desperation breeds coercion.

Sandra Miesel sez: "Borrowing a phrase from Kathy Shaidle, if the Church is so repressive, how come Hans Kung isn't a lampshade yet?"

LOL!

[Rev. Denis Charles- Gray]

A topic or phenomenon that I would welcome having for discussion/dialogue would be the alleged cultic tendency among various spokesmen representative of EWTN oriented Catholics, to glorify or even idolize Mother Angelica Pope John Paul ii and of course Mother Theresa.