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Monday, December 9, 2019

HE JUST MAKES TOO MUCH SENSE TO IGNORE HIS CONCERNS AND OBSERVATIONS

From the National Catholic Register:

Verona’s Faith and Culture Conference Focuses on Catholic Tradition
Msgr. Nicola Bux, a former collaborator of Benedict XVI, delivers an uncompromising diagnosis of the current situation of the Catholic Church and reaffirms the necessity to protect its traditions.
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You strongly support maintaining tradition within the Church, especially with regard to liturgy. Why is it so important for you?

When we talk about tradition, we speak about the process of transmission of the faith, which started with Christ, with Revelation, and comes to us through the Apostles. Liturgy is one of these places of transmission of the faith. It is not something at our disposal, subject to whatever we can or want to do, because liturgy then would no longer be sacred. It would become our own liturgy, entertainment or something else.

So, this is why liturgy belongs to the driving [force behind] the transmission of the faith. So true is it that the Fathers of the Church used to say that the rule of the faith and the rule of prayer are interdependent. Today, I could say that I can understand what you believe from the way you pray. If the way you pray changes, it means that even the way you believe has changed.

Sacred liturgy is something very delicate. But we have been through a time of desecration in which it seems that the sacred dimension has been overshadowed by new fashionable dimensions. There is the prevailing impression that everything should be desecrated, secularized.

Young people seem more and more attracted to traditional liturgy nowadays. How do you explain that? 

Several studies confirm that. I see it all the time, especially among young men. And I also want to note that today the participants in this Fede e Cultura gathering [whose sensitivity is openly traditionalist] was mostly made of men — which does not diminish the female presence, of course.

But these tendencies are symptomatic. Because Christianity has a masculine liturgy. It is not feminine in the sense of a sentimental approach. However, nowadays liturgy is often reduced to emotions, to feelings. So, clearly, how could men recognize themselves in this?

Liturgy, by its very nature, is masculine, objective. Liturgy doesn’t fall within the ambit of emotions. Liturgy must gather objectively all the human beings’ states of mind, maintaining such feelings on a low level, because at this very moment, we are worshiping God, not ourselves.

You were a consultant in four different Vatican congregations during Pope Benedict XVI’s pontificate. How have these congregations changed in the last few years? 

I believe they are affected by some of the new orientations that are being given to them … it is something I have noticed, especially at the Congregation for the Cause of Saints.

For example, recently, some processes were opened or even concluded with great ease, even though some of them were very questionable — something that wouldn’t have happened a few years ago. I think this was the case for Argentinian Enrique Angelelli, to name one. It ends up generating a great sense of confusion among the faithful.

Historically, the modalities for such processes have always been extremely rigorous. The Church always used to ask for miracles — two for beatification, and at least two others for canonization. This requirement means that the final declaration, even if it cannot be totally infallible, has a very limited margin of risk. But unfortunately, it has become relative.

Relativism has also reached this congregation in other ways too. I believe things have become more political now. We are trying to promote a “martyrdom of charity.” What does this mean? Martyrdom has always been suffered in odium fidei, which means that the person is killed because of Jesus’ name. When a priest or a lay person is killed because he showed solidarity, he certainly is a hero, but not a martyr. If he gets killed because his charity is a direct expression of the faith he professed, then he really is a martyr. But these things are no longer clear enough.

3 comments:

anticonfusionist said...

A prophetic voice that will be ignored by the current establishment and honored in subsequent generations.

Only a fool could deny that the current leadership of the Church is marching in lockstep with a mindset that is already proven to fail. How long will their blindness persist?

John said...

Msgr. But states it well. Tradition is critical for correct understanding and living of our Catholic faith. I went to a TLM in a major university town last Sunday. The church was close enough to the university but not part of it. As people were coming into the church it was noticeable that many were young men, presumably from the school, and young families almost all with more than one child, some with several in tow. Or you would notice young mothers with a toddler and another baby obviously on the way. I am not young but the sight of the congregation cheers me up as the future church is on display at this parish week after week. It makes for a joyful Advent and I am sure of a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year too.

Anonymous said...

Bee here:

Regarding the comment by John at December 10, 2019 at 9:45 am:

So many people speculate the young people are drawn to the TLM by the majesty and seriousness of the way Mass is celebrated. But I honestly think that these young people are seeking a more serious and challenging aspect of religion than they find in the OF. They do not want pablum. They want meat. They want to be challenged in their quest for God. Their spirits long for something that requires work on their part, striving for real things they believe are possible to achieve, such as virtue. They want to live good lives of virtue, and they want that for their children as well. They want the gifts of the Holy Spirit: Wisdom, Knowledge, Counsel, Fortitude, Understanding, Piety, Fear of the Lord. It's not easy to find those with the things that sometimes go on at an OF Mass.

Many of these young people have studied the documents of the Church in serious ways, and desire to live lives that are not primarily emotional reactions to God's Word, but rather serious rational responses.

Sometimes OF liturgies are so watered down, so emotionally charged, so much feel-good religion, these sorts of young people leave feeling empty. The difference between the OF and the TLM is kind of like the difference between a rock concert and a symphony concert.

Anyway, I know these young people are in it for the long haul, and you are right, John, it is very heartening and good to see.

God bless.
Bee