Küng, Hans [key], 1928–, Swiss Roman Catholic theologian and author. Ordained in 1954, he became (1960) professor of theology at Tübingen Univ. and later served (1962–65) as adviser to the Second Vatican Council. Having consistently criticized papal authority, he became the first major Roman Catholic theologian to reject the doctrine of papal infallibility in his book Infallible? An Inquiry (1971). In 1979 he was stripped of his right to teach as a Roman Catholic theologian. His other works include The Council in Action (tr. 1963), Structures of the Church (tr. 1966), Why Priests? (tr. 1972), Eternal Life? (tr. 1984), and Global Responsibility (tr. 1991).
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