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For many Protestants, the clock of Catholicism appears to have stopped in the Middle Ages; Küng says they are wrong. Some major reforms of attitudes and actions—notably as a result of the Jesuits, the Council of Trent, and Popes Leo XIII, Pius XII and John XXIII—have been accomplished within the church. Küng argues that many of these changes have answered the initial demands of the Reformers. In historical scholarship, European Catholic writers nowadays exude sympathy for the motives of Luther.
Newly emphasizing the authority of the Bible, Catholics freely borrow from the best in Protestant scriptural scholarship. In theology, there has been a renewed appreciation for a doctrine dear to Luther's heart: the concept of the priesthood of all believers. Catholic moralists now pay full respect to the right of the individual conscience before God. Barriers that to Protestants seem almost insurmountable remain—notably the Marian emphasis of Catholicism, and the supremacy of the Pope—but Küng asks: "If Martin Luther had lived in the Catholic Church of today, what course would he have followed? Is it absolutely certain that that course would have taken him out of the Church?"
"Forgive Us Our Sins!" But because the need for Christian reunion is so great, even more sweeping reforms are needed, and both Catholics and Protestants have looked hopefully to Pope John's Vatican Council to achieve some of them. Among the suggestions for renewal that Küng himself favors:
>A doctrinal statement on the role of the episcopacy that would restore the office of bishop "to its full value" and limit the tendency to "Roman centralism."
>Liturgical reform that would allow bishops and diocesan councils wide liberty to create rites suitable to local needs.
>Reform or even abolition of the Index of Prohibited Books. The Index, says Küng, ensures "to any book placed upon it the widest possible circulation."
>A declaration of principle on the role of laymen in the church, and restoration to the laity of the use of the chalice at Holy Communion on certain occasions.
>A declaration of repentance. "We in the Church," says Küng, "are none of us guiltless of the world's unhappy state today, and the guilt of our fathers lies heavy upon us. It would be a truly Christian act if the Pope and the Council were to express this truth: Forgive us our sins! Forgive us our sins, and in particular our share in the sin of schism!"
Küng does not expect that immediate reunion of Catholics and Protestants is at all likely to come about through decisions of the council. But, he writes, "if Catholics carry out Catholic reform and Protestants carry out Protestant reform, both according to the Gospel image, then, because the Gospel of Christ is but one, reunion need not remain a Utopian dream. Reunion will then be neither a Protestant return nor a Catholic capitulation but a brotherly approach from both sides, with neither consciously calculating, on the other's behalf, which of them has more steps to take; an approach penetrated with love, and wholly determined by truth."