On Saturday, 24 September, 2005, Pope Benedict XVI and Professor Hans
Küng met for a friendly conversation. Both sides agreed that for
this conversation there was no point in entering into a dispute about
those questions of Church teaching, which are the object of controversy
between Hans Küng and the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. For
this reason, the conversation centred on two areas, which in recent years
have been in the forefront of Hans Küng’s work: the question
of a global ethic and the dialogue between the natural sciences and the
Christian faith.
Professor Küng made clear that the Global Ethic project is not some
kind of abstract intellectual construction. On the contrary, it is concerned
to bring to light those moral values on which the great religions of
the world, despite all their differences, tend to converge and which,
by reason of their convincing meaningfulness, prove themselves to be
valid standards with which secular thinking can also agree. The Pope
praised Professor Küng’s efforts – in dialogue with
the religions and with secular thinking – to contribute to a renewed
recognition of the essential moral values of mankind. He emphasized that
the engagement for a renewed awareness of the values underlying human
life is also an essential concern of his pontificate.
The Pope likewise emphasised his approval of Professor Küng’s
efforts to promote the dialogue between faith and the natural sciences
and to bring to the fore the necessity and the reasonableness of posing
the question of God in the context of the thinking of the natural sciences.
For his part, Professor Küng expressed his agreement with the efforts
of the Pope to promote the dialogue of the religions and the encounter
with the diverse social groups of the modern world.
Citta del Vaticano, 26 September 2005
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