Pope John XXIII had called the meeting to “let some fresh air into the church.”Dr. Küng saw the conference as only a beginning. Two years later, Pope Paul VI, John’s successor, responded to the mounting interest in Dr. Küng’s work by inviting him to the Vatican. Paul told Dr. Küng that he would have preferred that he had written nothing, then offered him a Vatican post. Dr. Küng turned him down. They said that the sort of democratic church Dr. Küng advocated, however meritorious, did not guarantee spiritual truth.

Source: New York Times April 06, 2021 18:32 UTC