Pope and dissident theologian meet

POPE Benedict XVI had a “friendly” meeting with one of his fiercest critics — dissident Swiss theologian Hans Kueng, the Vatican said yesterday.

Benedict granted a Vatican audience to Mr Kueng, the latest indication that the Pope seems keen to reach out to prominent Catholics who fell from Rome’s grace during the last pontificate.

Last month, Benedict met with the head of the Society of St Pius X, the schismatic traditionalist movement whose leaders were excommunicated under Pope John Paul II. During Saturday’s audience, Benedict and Mr Kueng agreed “there was no sense” in entering into a dispute over the “persistent doctrinal questions” between Mr Kueng and the Catholic Church’s teaching, according to a statement from Vatican spokesperson Joaquin Navarro-Valls.