Controversial Swiss-born Catholic theologian
Hans Kung on Wednesday launched a new book attacking papal authority
and calling on rank-and-file Catholics to seize control of the church
from its clerical masters.
The book Can the Church Still Be
Saved? was set to go on sale in Germany Thursday, coinciding with the
worldwide release of a book by Pope Benedict XVI titled Jesus of
Nazareth - Part II.
Kueng, who has lived most of his life in
Tuebingen, Germany, tangled with church authorities in the 1970s.
His
1983 book Infallible? attacked the 1870 proclamation of papal
infallibility. He was stripped of his licence to teach but remains a
priest.
Speaking at the book launch in Tuebingen, Germany,
Wednesday, the 82-year-old said Jesus Christ would not like today's
Catholic Church.
'If Jesus of Nazareth returned, he would not
prohibit contraceptives, he would not shut out divorced people, and so
on, Kueng said.
He charged that the curia, or Vatican
bureaucracy, had come up with a long series of rulings over the
centuries that opposed the teachings laid down in the Christian New
Testament.
He said Benedict XVI and his predecessor John Paul II had reinforced this.
In the book, he argues that resistance to church doctrines that are 'obviously against the Gospels' is a duty.
Kueng said this included Catholic parishes insisting on keeping their
priests after they marry, even if church law declares the man is no
longer a priest.
He said the church could only saved by the faithful
taking over responsibility for their church.