Reforming the Church Today

Amid the presciptions for reform of the Roman Catholic Church presented here in capsule form by the embattled theologian from Tubingen, Kung's affirmation of loyalty to Catholicism rings clear. An advocate of theology developed ``from below,'' Kung expounds on issues of clerical celibacy, the decline in numbers of ordained priests, human rights and other concerns that have led to polarization among clergy and laity in the post-conciliar years, and delivers a threnody for the populist style of Pope John XXIII. The theologian's bold, often defensive tone in this selection of articles from the past two decades is softened by his very personal expression of gratitude for his enduring faith even, as he notes, in the ``tenth year since the revocation of my permission to teach as a representative of the Catholic Church.'' (Nov.)