A former consulter to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has said he believes that because Fiducia Supplicans “does not belong to the authentic Magisterium,” it is not binding and so “one cannot even adhere to it with religious assent of will and intellect.”
He has also called for the resignation or dismissal of its principal author, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, as “suspicion of ignorance and bad faith will weigh on [him] in any document he signs later.”
In a Jan. 18 interview with this site, Father Nicola Bux, a respected theologian and friend of the late Pope Benedict XVI, discussed the fallout following the publication of the declaration that allows same-sex blessings under certain conditions.
Fiducia Supplicans, approved by Pope Francis, was signed by Cardinal Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith, and dicastery Secretary, Msgr. Armando Matteo, and published Dec. 18.
Father Bux explains how the document has been received in Italy, what he thought of the Jan. 4 press release aimed at clarifying the declaration, and what this might all mean for the future of the Church and the next conclave.
“The drama of the Church today is the separation of the pastoral from doctrine, that is, of love from truth,” Father Bux says. “And we are paying dearly for it, as John Paul II predicted.
“Pope Francis should cancel Fiducia Supplicans and replace the prefect with a man of ‘sure, sound and pure doctrine,’ to use the Apostle’s words to Titus.”
Father Bux, what has been the general reaction to the Fiducia Supplicans in Italy – mostly contrary, in your opinion, supportive or ambivalent?
Because of their proximity to the Apostolic See, Italian bishops seem to be like dumb dogs: they approve or they dissent, or they fear “reprisal.” Among the faithful and the non-practicing are those who consider Fiducia Supplicans, and the attempts to justify it, an insult to their intelligence. Then there are those who know the doctrine of faith and morals, especially the norms of Revelation, and ask the first dubium [doubt or question] of the five cardinals sent last summer: Is it possible for the Church today to teach doctrines contrary to those she has previously taught in matters of faith and morals, whether by the Pope ex cathedra, or in the definitions of an ecumenical Council, or in the universal ordinary magisterium of bishops scattered throughout the world (cf. Lumen Gentium 25)?
For sure, Fiducia Supplicans does not belong to the “authentic Magisterium” and is therefore not binding because what is affirmed in it is not contained in the written or transmitted word of God and which the Church, the Roman Pontiff or the College of Bishops, either definitively, that is by solemn judgment, or with ordinary and universal Magisterium, proposes to believe as divinely revealed. One cannot even adhere to it with religious assent of will and intellect.
What do you think of the January 4 press release aimed at clarifying the statement? Did it resolve anything?
Ignorance predominates in the majority of the baptized, due to the fact that for decades, social issues have been preferred to catechesis; for irregular heterosexual and homosexual couples what now applies is: love is love. Those who use logic are opposed to it and then the second dubium of the Cardinals arises: Is it possible that under certain circumstances a pastor could bless unions between homosexual persons, thus suggesting that homosexual behavior as such would not be contrary to God’s law and the person’s path to God? Tied to this dubium is another: Does the teaching upheld by the universal ordinary magisterium continue to be valid, that every sexual act outside of marriage, and in particular homosexual acts, constitutes an objectively grave sin against God’s law, regardless of the circumstances in which it takes place and the intention with which it is carried out? So, the January 4 statement is a classic attempt to paper over the cracks.
Do you agree that the statement exposed divisions that were already present but are now out in the open?
Benedict XVI, in his Notes of April 11, 2019, described the origin of the debacle of Catholic morality, and thus also of divisions among Catholics, because of deeming the cohabitation of both a heterosexual and a homosexual couple as not sinful. The division or schism, previously submerged, has now emerged. Whether it will be formally declared at an upcoming ecclesial event, such as a synod or conclave, we shall see. Certainly, the next Pope will have to do an accounting and decide whether to deepen the division or mend it by convening a council. Whoever is a candidate for pope will have to be asked in the pre-conclave congregations to answer the dubia accumulated since 2015, or else the division of the Church will deepen.
Why do you think there has been opposition mainly in Africa, Central/Eastern Europe and not so much in the United States and other mainly Western countries?
Because in these areas, i.e., in the northern and western hemisphere, after Vatican II, the Church contrasted the relativist ideology that had penetrated morality and demolished natural law with formation in doctrine and life in Christ — that is Catholic morality, fighting neo-pagan thinking. Thus, the people remained faithful. Then, ask a Jew if it’s a blessing (berakah) when it does not have a sacredness (let’s say, it’s not liturgical) and whether you can bless something that God curses and abhors, such as a sin against nature. A Jewish friend who heard about Fiducia Supplicans told me: “Doesn’t the Pope know the Bible?” Not to mention the ridicule of Muslims and the distancing of the Orthodox who have now declared unity with Catholics impossible. Fiducia Supplicans and subsequent communiqués are the result of Prefect Fernandez’s ignorance.
What is the best way to resolve the confusion and division resulting from Fiducia Supplicans?
Explain that there’s nothing pastoral without “pasto” (meal) because “doctrine is actually like food, the possessor of which is he who distributes it” (St. Gregory Nazianzen). Doctrine, therefore, is pastoral, but if the shepherd does not have it, he cannot do pastoral work. The drama of the Church today is the separation of the pastoral from doctrine, that is, of love from truth. And we are paying dearly for it, as John Paul II predicted. Pope Francis should cancel Fiducia Supplicans and replace the prefect with a man of “sure, sound and pure doctrine,” to use the Apostle’s words to Titus.
How do you think this affair will affect the next Conclave?
Surely the next Pope, if he does not want to be one only for one part of the Church, will have to ask himself the question: what is the mission of the Church? That of conforming to the world or saving it? The unity of the Catholic Church is compromised by Fiducia Supplicans because, on such an essential moral truth, it accepts, in practice, opposing views among the Churches scattered around the world. One example: The new bishop of Foggia said that his church will be the “church of Francis who blesses all.” But is the Church not Jesus Christ’s?
Fernandez discredited himself by publishing a document that is the opposite of that of his predecessor, [Cardinal Luis] Ladaria, in 2021. Would this be a “development” or rather a heterogenesis of doctrine? The Dicastery and the Holy See have humiliated themselves. Someone has already renamed the Dicastery “for the Destruction of the Faith.” Suspicion of ignorance and bad faith will weigh on Fernandez in any document he signs later. He should resign.
Agree with Fr. Bux.
Blessing of the homosexual couples is an abomination. God created, male an female and procreation, humans and animals
Homosexuality is the devil’s way to rebel against God and get more souls. Prayer and self control to obey and love God is what save us through the cross and resurrection of our Lord JesusChrist!
When did God stop loving all his children? It must have been simultaneously conferred with your self-righteous indignation designation.
Don’t worry when you become truly contrite, God will forgive you.
What in this interview suggests that God stops loving his children? Or where indeed in the catechism does it teach that love must embrace error in order to be loving? You disburse epithets like “self-righteous indignation” without thought nor hesitation – just because you don’t like what you read. One can only presume that you think your accusations righteous – the hypocrisy and irony of which is totally lost on you. But don’t worry, when YOU become truly contrite, God will forgive you.
MaltaKnight, thank you for such an excellent response to Bill’s nonsense.
Sodomite couples are an abomination. It is not “love” to bless a sodomite couple, but a deception. You are deceived. May you repent from the false Pachamama gospel of syncretism with evil.
Where does God say that sin does not separate us from God and His blessings? God says the opposite in Isaiah 59,1-2: “Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear”. The fake pastoral care of francis could not support a verse from the Bible to support his empty blessings for those who persist in doing what God hates.
I love it. His JEWISH friend asks “Doesn’t the POPE know the Bible”?! Exactly. This is what happens when PEOPLE make up their own doctrine rather than looking directly to God’s truly infallible Word. So very, very sad. I wonder how he (the Pope) plans on explaining his latest doctrine to our Lord.
On the other hand Luther knew the Book of James pretty well so he took it from his translation of the Bible and called it “letter of straw”, blessed be God for the Catechism of the Catholic Church which uses the Bible to reject the errors francis teaches.
I think Fr Bux is correct. It’s now incumbent upon the holy father to keep cardinal Fernandez in DDF or not. The divisions arising from FS are discouraging and must be stopped, resolved and reconciled. Holy Spirit of truth and love, lead us to truth, harmony and unity…amen
Remember Pope Francis signed this Document and has spoken out strongly in AGREEMENT with it! So BOTH NEED TO GO!!
Homosexuals do not enter the kingdom of God- St. Paul
In the Fiducia Suplicans, we see the continuation of a decades old consistent effort to destroy the True and Eternal Faith. The Church needs to emphasize the teachings on the 10 Commandments with a New Emphasis that renews our Spiritual Discipline.
Shouldn’t have been published in the first place. It is such an embarrassment
The servants of the devil have made great strides in their goal of decapititating the Vicar of Christ. Feducia Supplicans is a break with the Church, it must be burned and never called to mind.
I continue to pray that these hatchet men (Francis and Card Fernandez) resign. There has been so much infighting and confusion and it’s sad to see the Church go the way of the world. Sadly people still can’t see it and they cry out to Pope Francis “please fire Fernandez or James Martin…” Ummm he knows exactly who they are….he appointed them to these posts…
If you think that this idiot Bergoglio is actually “The Holy Father,” you are already a part of the problem.
Fernandez nickname is Tucho which means MONKEY as in ape of the Church the counter Church…A Sign from God the Father for is to ponder 🙁
Both the Pope and Fernandez should resign.
Resign? Both had fallen into heresy prior to holding their current “office”, and neither can possibly be in communion with Christ and His Church now, as then.
“Canon 188 §4 states that among the actions which automatically (ipso facto) cause any cleric to lose his office, even without any declaration on the part of a superior, is that of “defect[ing] publicly from the Catholic faith” (” A fide catholica publice defecerit“).
This is what Jorge Bergoglio said,
prior to his election as pope, on page 117 of his book, On Heaven And Earth, demonstrating that he does not hold, keep, or teach The Catholic Faith, and he continues to act accordingly:
“If there is a union of a private nature, there is neither a third party, nor is society affected. Now, if the union is given the category of marriage, there could be children affected. Every person needs a male father and a female mother that can help shape their identity.”- Jorge Bergoglio, denying The Sanctity of the marital act within The Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, and the fact that God, The Most Holy And Undivided Blessed Trinity, Through The Unity Of The Holy Ghost, Is The Author Of Love, Of Life, And Of Marriage, while denying sin done in private is sin.
From The Catechism Of The Catholic Church:
1849 Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity. It has been defined as “an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law.”121
1850 Sin is an offense against God: “Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight.”122 Sin sets itself against God’s love for us and turns our hearts away from it. Like the first sin, it is disobedience, a revolt against God through the will to become “like gods,”123 knowing and determining good and evil. Sin is thus “love of oneself even to contempt of God.”124 In this proud self- exaltation, sin is diametrically opposed to the obedience of Jesus, which achieves our sal
“Canon 188 §4 states that among the actions which automatically (ipso facto) cause any cleric to lose his office, even without any declaration on the part of a superior, is that of “defect[ing] publicly from the Catholic faith” (” A fide catholica publice defecerit“)
Who can deny that a schism is occurring in Christ’s Church, separating the counterfeit church from The True Church of Christ, as we are witnessing bishop v Bishop, cardinal v Cardinal, and pope v every validly elected Pope, due to the denial of The Unity Of The Holy Ghost, and thus Sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture, and The Teachings of The Magisterium, grounded in Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, The Deposit Of Faith that Christ Has Entrusted To His Church?
“It is not possible to have Sacramental Communion without Ecclesiastical Communion”, due to The Unity Of The Holy Ghost (Filioque) ; it Is “Through Christ, With Christ, And In Christ, In The Unity Of The Holy Ghost”, that Holy Mother Church, outside of which, there is no Salvation, due to The Unity Of The Holy Ghost (Filioque) exists.
“For the Holy Spirit was not promised to the successors of Peter that by His revelation they might make known new doctrine, but that by His assistance they might inviolably keep and faithfully expound the Revelation, the Deposit of Faith, delivered through the Apostles. ”
Dear Blessed Mother Mary, Mirror Of Justice And Destroyer Of All Heresy, Who Through Your Fiat, Affirmed The Filioque, and thus the fact that There Is Only One Son Of God, One Word Of God Made Flesh, One Lamb Of God Who Can Taketh Away The Sins Of The World, Our Only Savior, Jesus The Christ, thus there can only be, One Spirit Of Perfect Complementary Love Between The Father And The Son, Who Must Proceed From Both The Father And The Son, In The Ordered Communion Of Perfect Complementary Love, The Most Holy And Undivided Blessed Trinity (Filioque), hear our Prayer.
Does anyone here seriously think that men with the kind of power that Jorge Bergoglio and Tucho Fernandez have are going to resign? Really? If you do, you must be very naive.
Beautiful Catholic Church,
Sadly this so called Pope, and his newly Pope appointed Co conspirator, have implemented Fiducia Supplicans which has been planned for many years by these Monsters of Evil, hiding in our church hierarchy. Millions and millions of innocents, Mother’s and Father’s, whole communities and now countries and nations all over the earth are being severely damaged mentally spiritually and physically by choosing to practice this evil, or just hearing of and now seeing in media pictures and video going viral of this Blessing of Hell by CATHOLIC PRIESTS AND BISHOPS — the horror of this well planned plot. We must all come together and not allow this to continue immediately or split from those who put it forward TODAY or we have lost our Church to Evil. The Pope has created a situation as this practice of Blessing Homosexual couples continues all over the world, that it must be a mortal sin to be a part of this Catastrophic Tragedy and then go to Holy Communion and receive Our Lord as a sinner not in a State of Grace, which itself is A Mortal Sin!
We can’t do both at the same time! This must be reversed immediately or we will lose our Church!
The Catholic Church belongs to Christ. We are losing Souls, who are being separated from The One Body Of Christ and becoming part of a counterfeit church that professes to be Catholic, but in denying The Unity Of The Holy Ghost, they deny The Divinity Of The Most Holy And Undivided Blessed Trinity, Father, Son, And Holy Ghost, which is apostasy.
A Council must be called immediately least we cooperate with this Great Apostasy from The Word Of God Incarnate.
A council must be called? Really? Who is going to call it? You or Bergoglio?
A lot of the persons commenting here seem to be living in a world of hallucinatory fantasy.
Fernandez and Bergoglio behave as would Marxist Deconstructionists, on a mission to Demolish Catholicism. This ghastly “Argentinian Moment” is surely the Sankt Gallen Lavender Mafia’s last stand, drawing to a close the Modernist Apostasy which has destroyed so many, abused and abandoned so many. New generations of occidental families are now non-baptised thanks to the Spirit of Vatican II.
The situation of Marxist Deconstructionism of Catholicism underway with renewed terror since the fateful ides of March 2013 leaves all serious Catholics hanging up their harps and bemoaning the Babylonien exile of China Deal and Traditionis Custodes…