Hans Küng quotes

Hans Küng was a Swiss Catholic priest, theologian, and prolific author, widely known for his critical work on Catholic doctrine and interfaith dialogue. His scholarly contributions challenged traditional Church teachings and promoted global religious understanding. He remains a significant figure in contemporary theology and religious reform movements. Here are 31 of his quotes:

We are conscious that religions cannot solve the economic, political and social problems of this earth.

Hans Küng

Time and again we see leaders and members of religions incite aggression, fanaticism, hate, and xenophobia - even inspire and legitimate violent and bloody conflicts.

Hans Küng

After two world wars, the collapse of fascism, nazism, communism and colonialism and the end of the cold war, humanity has entered a new phase of its history.

Hans Küng

And a third thing is the understanding of the Church as a community, a communion which is just a hierarchy but the people of God, whose servants are the priests and bishops.

Hans Küng

Everyone agrees the celibacy rule is just a Church law dating from the 11th century, not a divine command.

Hans Küng

All historical experience demonstrates the following: Our earth cannot be changed unless in the not too distant future an alteration in the consciousness of individuals is achieved.

Hans Küng

As a matter of fact, you have deficiencies in all religions, but you have truth in all religions.

Hans Küng

Religion often is misused for purely power-political goals, including war.

Hans Küng

A human person is infinitely precious and must be unconditionally protected.

Hans Küng

If priests were allowed to marry, if this would be an optional thing, and if he could have wife and children, he would certainly have less temptation to satisfy certain sexual impulses with minors.

Hans Küng

The Epistle to the Romans is an extremely important synthesis of the whole theology of St. Paul.

Hans Küng

At the same time we are aware that our various religions and ethical traditions often offer very different bases for what is helpful and what is unhelpful for men and women, what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is evil.

Hans Küng

The Gospel has to be the norm.

Hans Küng

But I have to add - and this answers your other question - this catholicity in time and in space is only meaningful for me if there is, at the same time, a concentration on the Gospel.

Hans Küng

I like the catholicity in time: our tradition is one of 2,000 years.

Hans Küng

However, if the religions in essence merely repeat statements from the United Nations Human Rights Declaration, such a Declaration becomes superfluous; an ethic is more than rights.

Hans Küng

Hundreds of millions of human beings on our planet increasingly suffer from unemployment, poverty, hunger, and the destruction of their families.

Hans Küng

That is the Roman way: to give favors to the favorites.

Hans Küng

The same church must, in my opinion, also respect that the one whose name is absent from the same declaration out of embarrassment, although he and he alone led Muslims to pray to this one God, so that once again through him, Muhammad, the prophet, this God "has spoken to mankind."

Hans Küng

Joseph Ratzinger has stood still because as a Bavarian Catholic in the Hellenistic tradition, interpreted in Roman terms, he wanted to stand still. To this degree he represented and represents a different basic model of theology and church, as different from mine as in astronomy Ptolemy's geocentric picture of the world is different from Copernicus' heliocentric picture.

Hans Küng

If you cannot see that divinity includes male and female characteristics and at the same time transcends them, you have bad consequences. Rome and Cardinal O'Connor base the exclusion of women priests on the idea that God is the Father and Jesus is His Son, there were only male disciples, etc. They are defending a patriarchal Church with a patriarchal God. We must fight the patriarchal misunderstanding of God.

Hans Küng

We must fight the patriarchal misunderstanding of God.

Hans Küng