Herbert Haag, theologian

Herbert Haag (born 11 February 1915 in Singen am Hohentwiel, died 23 August 2001 in Lucerne) was a
Swiss Roman Catholic theologian and biblical scholar of German origin.

After studying theology in Paris for the diocese of Basel in 1940, he was ordained a priest and worked
for several years as a pastor in Lucerne. In 1942 Haag attained his PhD at the University of Fribourg.
From 1948 to 1960 he taught Old Testament studies at the Theological Faculty of Lucerne, and from
1960 to 1980 he held the chair of Old Testament at the Catholic Theological Faculty at the University of
Tbingen. Haag in particular as biblical scholars and exegete known, among other things, he published a
well-known Bible dictionary. He also criticized dogmas of the church doctrine, such as original sin,
apostolic succession, homosexuality, celibacy of the clergy and the ban on the ordination of women. In
his last years he emerged as a critic of the institutional church.

In 1981, he signed an open letter to Swiss newspapers contending that a wrong had been done to Hans
Kng in 1979, when a Vatican decree stripped the church's recognition of Kng as a Catholic theologian
due to his critique of the church.[1] In 1985, he established the Herbert Haag Foundation for "freedom
in the Church", which awards the Herbert Haag Prize.