As the Year of Faith closes, during which the new Pope Francis promised to reform the Curia, radical Catholic theologian Hans Küng presents the Church with an urgent diagnosis and set of recommendations. Can We Save the Catholic Church? promises what Catholics have long been yearning for: modern responses to the challenges of a modern world.
Fifty years ago, the world's bishops gathered for the Second Vatican Council in the hope they could, in the words of Pope John XXIII, 'open the windows of the Church and let some fresh air in.' It was a gathering of real optimism; Hans Küng and Joseph Ratzinger, the future pope, were both there.
In Can We Save the Catholic Church? Kung relates how after fifty years and three Popes, the Church has only pulled the shutters back down, becoming ever more conservative. Refusing to open dialogue on celibacy for male priests; the role of women in the priesthood; homosexuality and gay marriage; or the use of contraception even to prevent AIDS in Africa, the Roman System is losing touch. Now, amid widespread disillusion over child abuse, the future of Catholicism is in crisis.
Since his election, Pope Francis has made more signs than ever before that the Church can present a more compassionate vision of Christianity to the world. The time is ripe for reform, and Küng calls for a complete renewal of the Church, setting out a radical and inspiring programme of action. As grassroots support grows - in the UK and internationally - Can We Save the Catholic Church? makes a compelling case for structural reform and for a proper dialogue on the modern world.
