Monsignor Bux
by Christopher A. Ferrara
June 23, 2017
Not so long ago, “traditionalists” and “Fatimites” were routinely derided by the Catholic “mainstream” as “prophets of doom” on account of their “apocalyptic” descriptions of the crisis in the Church, which the Catholic establishment, with each new disastrous development, labored to explain away as overblown and not really very serious in the grand scheme of Church history.
Then came Pope Bergoglio, whose immensely disruptive pontificate has made it impossible to deny that the ecclesial crisis of the past half-century has, with him, reached an acute, critical and apparently terminal phase as he carries to their logical conclusion the ruinous ecclesial trends that followed the close of the Second Vatican Council and the emergence of the novelties of “dialogue,” “ecumenism,” “collegiality” and a “liturgical reform” that was actually a liturgical deformation with devastating consequences.
Thus a figure as respected as Monsignor Nicola Bux, theologian and former consulter to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Benedict XVI, now frankly declares to Edward Pentin, in an interview with EWTN’s National Catholic Register, that under Pope Bergoglio “We are in a full crisis of faith!” and that it is incumbent upon him to make “a Declaration or Profession of Faith, affirming what is Catholic, and correcting those ambiguous and erroneous words and acts — his own and those of bishops — that are interpreted in a non-Catholic manner.”
His own! At long last, the Catholic mainstream is finally willing to recognize the critical papal role in the emergence of the crisis, the dire consequences of papal words and deeds which, in the reckless spirit of the post-conciliar “opening to the world” and the pursuit of “dialogue” instead of teaching with the peremptory authority of God Himself, have compromised the Church’s witness and divided the flock.
Msgr. Bux now makes the same diagnosis of apostasy in the Church that Father Gruner had been publishing for decades before his passing. Alluding to Pope Bergoglio’s refusal to answer the four cardinals respecting the errors of Amoris Laetitia, Bux declares:
“The first implication of doctrinal anarchy for the Church is division, caused by apostasy, which is the abandonment of Catholic thought, as defined by St. Vincent of Lerins: quod semper, quod ubique, quod ab omnibus creditur (what has been believed everywhere, always, and by all). Saint Irenaeus of Lyon, who calls Jesus Christ the ‘Master of unity,’ had pointed out to heretics that everyone professes the same things, but not everyone means the same thing. This is the role of the Magisterium, founded on the truth of Christ: to bring everyone back to Catholic unity….“For many Catholics, it is incredible that the Pope is asking bishops to dialogue with those who think differently, but does not want first to face the cardinals who are his chief advisors. If the Pope does not safeguard doctrine, he cannot impose discipline.”
In all of this there is good news, however. A crisis of this magnitude has revealed to all observers of good faith the disease-causing agent in the ecclesial organism: a papal embrace of novelty and a consequent departure from (to quote Msgr. Bux) “Catholic thought, as defined by St. Vincent of Lerins: quod semper, quod ubique, quod ab omnibus creditur (what has been believed everywhere, always, and by all).”
The first step in the treatment of any disease is an accurate diagnosis. What now remains is the administration of the cure that will lead to a restoration of Tradition and the Church’s good health: the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.