SOURCE: “The Way Forward: Talking with Hans Küng,” in Commonweal, Vol. CXIV, No. 2, January 30, 1987, pp. 44-5.

In the following interview, Küng discusses the current and possible future path of the Catholic Church in terms of reform and tradition.

Last November Commonweal's David Toolan spoke with Hans Küng in New York City. Among other topics covered were issues of authority and dissent in the Catholic church today.

[Toolan:] What do you think of the Vatican's current actions?

[Küng:] If you want an explication of the context of Rome's present attitude, you have to see that the Catholic church in the Second Vatican Council achieved an integration of the two great paradigm changes after the Middle Ages. We integrated the paradigm change of the Reformation: vernacular language, participation of the people in the liturgy and the church, collegiality, people of God. … We used the arguments...