Other major liberal Catholic players of the past have resurfaced during Francis’ pontificate, and come out strongly in favour of the pope’s new “style.” Celebrity Swiss theologian and long-time academic opponent of Pope Benedict XVI, Hans Kung, has recently stated that with the election of Francis he sees no need now to oppose the pope. Kung said he is “overjoyed” about Pope Francis. “He has already achieved some things that can no longer be withdrawn,” Kung told Südwestpresse. “To think that he was not a reformer, would be to close our eyes to the facts.” Kung was a bitter opponent of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict, clashing repeatedly over the full roster of liberal causes, including abortion, homosexuality, contraception and female ordination and papal infallibility, among others. In 1979 the Vatican removed his faculties to teach as a Catholic theologian. The censure launched Kung into the realm of professional anti-Catholic spokesmen and he became an instant celebrity, doing lecture and book tours outlining his objections to Catholic teaching. Despite his open and insistent denial of key Catholic teachings, Kung has been allowed to remain a priest in good standing throughout the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI. He told Südwestpresse that although Francis’ program remains unclear, the signals he has been sending from the first minute of his pontificate are ringing clearly. “I have made many proposals for reform in the course of my life. But that a Pope could leave the papal palace in such an elegant way. I could not imagine.” Meanwhile, the homosexualist movement has unofficially adopted Francis’ comment last year as its most popular recent slogan. A social networking website launched T-shirts featuring the pope’s face and the caption, “Who am I to judge?” Pope Francis, the company says, has “stepped away from the disapproving tone, the explicit moralizing typical of Popes and bishops.”
I am just appalled at this turn of events with PopeFr. A+++