This book draws out the parallels and contrasts between the course of Hans Kung and that of Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope, seen as the last two active representatives of the comrades in arms who fought for renewal at the Second Vatican Council. The divergent currents that followed the council are mirrored in their subsequent careers.
Reflecting in this book on the struggle, he accepts that at the level of power, the others may so far have won; but on the parish level "the opposition has by far the largest majority." He draws a comparison between the "glittering façade of papal demonstrations" and the "lamentable state of Church and clergy" behind it.
There is room in the Church for only one Pope, and the massed guns overwhelmed the Swiss theologian. His account is very detailed, drawing on inside knowledge and documentation. The passage where he recalls his mood and behaviour in the subsequent "fearful" months - the worst of his life - is almost too painful to read. Clearly he came to the very edge of physical, mental and psychological breakdown. - John Wilkins, The Tablet (click below for the full review)
Disputed Truth: Memoirs II, Continuum International, $29.95 (US)rrp.
http://www.thetablet.co.uk/reviews/401
