By EDWARD PENTIN
How serious is the current crisis in the Vatican and the Church and what does it portend for the future?
To obtain a clearer idea, I spoke with Fr. Nicola Bux, a respected theologian and former consultor to both the then-Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
In this interview, Fr. Bux sees some hope in a world that he sees as moving in a more conservative direction, but he questions whether bishops and cardinals are capable of leading the Church along the same path and therefore elect a suitable successor to Pope Francis.
The mood in the College of Cardinals is, however, changing, Fr. Bux says. “Half of the cardinal electors and many bishops are convinced we cannot go on this way and change is needed to put the Church in order if she is to remain Catholic — there is turmoil in the College of Cardinals, as there is among the priests,” he explains, and adds: “The ecclesial body is waking up from a state of anesthesia.”
Fr. Bux, what is the premise for your considerations on the crisis in the Church and how we could emerge out of it?
“In order to be able to concretely discuss the prospects, predictions, hypotheses of a change of pontificate, many are convinced it is necessary to have understood who influenced Benedict XVI’s resignation and why. [Archbishop Georg] Gänswein asserts that it was unencumbered by influences, but he may not even have wanted to show those influences, and who influenced the appointment of the successor. The forces at play after ten years are the same and are stronger. Therefore, scenario building should identify and understand who would be ‘in play’ in the next conclave and what game they would claim to play, with what goals, with what forces, alliances, and means, etc.
“Basically, who would take the floor to support a Catholic candidate or a ‘progressive’ candidate, taking into account also that the institutions that until recently knew and could influence such an event today (Opus Dei, Communion and Liberation) have been downsized? In practice, without knowing how a Pope will be ‘elected’ tomorrow, it will be almost impossible to make realistic scenarios.”
In light of this, what is your first consideration?
“Certainly, world power is going ‘to the right.’ A crisis like the one going on in the West requires only conservative powers of the world to solve them. The progressive part of the left only knows how to create the problems. One might therefore be able to foresee a form of restoration, even in the supreme moral authority, the pope, on which the new Western power will want to lean. This is certainly a good thing, although one cannot imagine how a new pontiff will be able to rely on the current hierarchy and curia, or on all those who have roles in Church structures (think only of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences) that will not be easily changed any time soon.”
Would a conservative world power want, or know, how to provoke such a restoration?
“This is my second consideration. Would they know how to do this, or would they want to maintain the process of secularization of the Church? Because restoration, as I understand it, would still mean creating a competitive arena of confrontation on moral, ethical themes, in the financial, economic field. I do not believe that a conservative return in the U.S. (with the Republicans) will result in a downsizing of the power of Silicon Valley or the major investment funds. Returning a little more to the right does not necessarily mean converting technocrats.”
Why do you say this?
“As a consultant to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, I was very struck in 2017 when I read Pope Francis’ apostolic letter, in which he created a new category of saints and blesseds, and secularizing the calendar. They would be, today, those who offer their lives (oblatio vitae) as martyrs of charity. But not the Christian charity of martyrs who bear witness to the faith (odium fidei). One example was the canonization of Archbishop Romero (martyr of charity) assassinated for his political choices not for matters of faith.
“Some theologians believe that this new category of oblatio vitae will allow the sanctification of political or economic ideologies considered exemplary, perhaps inspired by Gnostic circles. Why should a new conservative but still technocratic environment deprive itself of this opportunity?”
Does that coincide with the Church’s general drift towards promoting more secular ideas than exclusively Catholic ones?
“Yes, this brings me on to my third consideration. In the last decade, the Church has ceased to primarily defend traditional values (life, family, birth, heroic virtues…) but rather ecology, sustainable development, migration, etc., creating a system of umbilical relations with those advocating these values. This has changed the structure of international foreign relations. It will not be child’s play for the new pontificate to deal with this.
“I try to imagine the appointment of a restorative Pope, hoped for by so many, someone like Pius IX, for instance, perhaps writing a Syllabus of Errors for the 21st century [Pius’ 1864 Syllabus condemned a total of 80 errors or heresies, articulating Catholic Church teaching on a number of philosophical and political questions]. What would become of him, a new Porta Pia? But also, I imagine a Paul VI writing a document like Humanae vitae for today. Or a Benedict XVI writing the second part (which was omitted) of Caritas in Veritate where he tackles biotechnology.”
Have we perhaps reached a point of no return?
“A non-religious friend of mine, but in the Courtyard of the Gentiles, speaking to me a few months ago about the successor to Francis, said he saw it as a challenge between St. Michael the Archangel confronting the challenger who had just said ‘non serviam,’ answering him ‘quip ut Deus?’ [Who is like God — the literal meaning of the name Michael]. The friend concluded by telling me: but if the Church is God’s work, is this not the time for Him to intervene?
“From Cardinal Mueller’s recent book In Good Faith: Religion in the 21st Century, the answer is apparent: the Church is riddled with apostasy, the precursor to schism: from the German synodical way, ‘lacking a coherent ecclesiological vision,’ to the appointment of bishops who make puzzling statements because they often do not even have a theological bachelor’s degree, there is a disdain for theology and philosophy, not least because on more than one occasion the pope has directed very harsh words toward academia and professors of theology, especially toward those considered too anchored in tradition (coining for them the term “indietrists” and “indietrism”). Thus, for example in the liturgical sphere, they took him for a ride, ‘some professors of the Ateneo Sant’Anselmo’ who ‘manipulated’ the data of the survey of bishops about the implementation of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum.
And yet Pope Francis claimed to have had recourse to Pope Benedict to feel secure. How come in this case did he not consult him?
“Frankly, rather than lending faith to Francis’ statements, it is better to stick to the facts. In his most recent interview, Francis said that he loves criticism from those who speak to his face. This is not true. In fact, he does not respond to those who speak to him, even politely, as seen with the Dubia of the four cardinals, to which, in any case, sooner or later, he or his successor will have to respond. Thus, Mueller can rightly observe, ‘anyone who raises constructive criticism is accused of making opposition, of being an enemy of Francis.’
“I do not believe that Bergoglio is swayed by ‘fraudulent’ advisers, but by ‘courtiers’ who pander to him in what he thinks and likes to hear. Notice how, as quickly as he becomes infatuated with a bishop and appoints him a cardinal [i.e., Cardinal Giorgio Marengo whom he first met only a few days before announcing his elevation to the Sacred College], he becomes disenchanted with him and casts him out [i.e. Cardinal Angelo Becciu whom he elevated to cardinal and two years later dismissed him because of unproven allegations of corruption]. Not to mention former associates of Francis, such as Enzo Bianchi, who came out with broken bones.”
So, what can be done to resolve this crisis?
“Certainly, half of the cardinal electors and many bishops are convinced we cannot go on this way and change is needed to put the Church in order if she is to remain Catholic. There is turmoil in the College of Cardinals, as there is among the priests: the ecclesial body is waking up from a state of anaesthesia.
“But as Joseph Ratzinger affirmed, the crisis of the Church is contingent upon the collapse of the liturgy, and the remedy lies in the ‘hermeneutics of continuity and reform of the one subject-Church,’ I would add it is in the ‘reform of liturgical reform’ he initiated. The funeral of Benedict XVI highlighted that he, in his thinking, nurtured in the Church a reality of the grassroots, despite the ‘laboratories of utopias’ in it. It takes time, and this reality, like a karstic river, will re-emerge. Impostures are doomed to failure.”
(Reprinted with permission from Edward Pentin. All rights reserved.)
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