Herbert Haag; Liberal Catholic Theologian, Teacher

Herbert Haag, 86, a liberal Swiss theologian who gained international renown for criticizing the divisions between priests and laity in the Roman Catholic Church, has died and will be buried in Lucerne today, his family announced Saturday.

Haag was ordained in Paris in 1940 as a priest for the Swiss diocese of Basel. After studying philosophy, languages and Oriental culture, he taught from 1948 to 1960 on the theological faculty of Lucerne and from 1960 to 1980 at the Catholic Faculty of Germany’s University of Tuebingen.

In 1985, he set up the Herbert Haag Foundation to promote greater openness in the church. The foundation gave annual prizes to organizations, including groups campaigning for the ordination of women and against celibacy vows.

In 1997, Haag published the book “Upstairs, Downstairs: Did Jesus Want a Two-Class Church?” It traced the historical roots of divisions between the clergy and the common man. His campaigns against celibacy vows and comments that ordained priests were unnecessary prompted the Swiss Bishops Conference to disown him.