Hans Küng

1928 - 2021

photo credits: Wikimedia Commons

country of citizenship: Switzerland

native language: German

languages spoken, written or signed: German, Latin, Italian

educated at: Pontifical Gregorian University, Catholic University of Paris, Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum

occupation: theologian, writer, philosopher, university teacher, Catholic priest

award received: Order of Merit of the State of Baden-Württemberg, Knight Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Steiger Award, Das unerschrockene Wort, Oskar Pfister Award, Otto Hahn Peace Medal, Abraham Geiger Prize, Theodor Heuss Award, Honorary doctorate from University of Toronto, honorary doctorate from the University of Cambridge, honorary doctorate of the University of Glasgow, Ernst Robert Curtius Award, honorary doctor of Loyola University Chicago, Ludwig Thoma Medal, Kulturpreis der deutschen Freimaurer, Lessing Ring

Hans Küng (German: [ˈhans ˈkʏŋ]; 19 March 1928 – 6 April 2021) was a Swiss Catholic priest, theologian, and author. From 1995 he was president of the Foundation for a Global Ethic (Stiftung Weltethos). Küng was ordained a priest in 1954, joined the faculty of the University of Tübingen in 1960, and served as a theological adviser during the Second Vatican Council. In 1978, after he rejected the doctrine of papal infallibility, he was not allowed to continue teaching as a Catholic theologian, but he remained at Tübingen as a professor of ecumenical theology until he retired with the title professor emeritus in 1996. He remained a Catholic priest until his death. He supported the spiritual substance of religion, while questioning traditional dogmatic Christianity. He published Christianity and the world religions: paths of dialogue with Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism in 1986, wrote Dying with Dignity together with Walter Jens in 1998, and signed the appeal Church 2011, The Need for a New Beginning. He was awarded honorific doctorates internationally, and received numerous awards including the Otto Hahn Peace Medal in 2008. An asteroid is named after him. Source: Wikipedia (en)