Theologian honoured for peace work
Swiss theologian Hans Küng has won the Otto Hahn Peace Medal in Gold for his work to promote peace and understanding among nations.
Küng, 80, is the founder and president of the Global Ethic Foundation, which promotes intercultural and interreligious research and education.
Born in canton Lucerne, Küng was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1954 and served as a theological adviser to the Second Vatican Council. In 1979 the Vatican denied him the right to teach after he rejected the doctrine of papal infallibility.
In the early 1990s he started the Global Ethic Foundation to promote the common ground shared between the world’s religions. He has written numerous books on the subject.
In December, the United Nations Association of Germany in Berlin will present the award, which was established in 1988 in honour of a German nuclear chemist and Nobel laureate.
Other winners include Muhammad Ali and Mikhail Gorbachev.
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