Those pastors who argue for the need to change teaching on homosexuality and other moral issues should be reminded that “the Church does not have the authority to change ‘even one iota or one sign’ ” of Revelation, of which the Catechism is a faithful interpreter. The Catechism can “change,” or develop, only in the sense of advancing understanding of the doctrine, but without distorting it. La Bussola interviews Fr. Nicola Bux.
On Friday evening, October 24, in Rome, in the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, president of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI), presided over solemn Vespers in the ancient rite in the context of the 14th “Summorum Pontificum ad Petri Sedem” Pilgrimage, commonly referred to as “the Jubilee of the Traditionalists.”
On the sidelines of the celebration and the third assembly of the Synodal Path of the Churches in Italy, we gathered some reflections from Fr. Nicola Bux, theologian and former consultor to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, on current ecclesial and theological issues.
Some pastors have argued that the Catechism can be modified. Is it theologically and doctrinally possible to change the teaching of the Church, for example on homosexuality or other moral issues?
The Church bases its teaching on the Revelation made by God and fulfilled in Christ, contained in Sacred Scripture. Suffice it to recall Genesis 1:27: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them,” and Matthew 19:4: “Have you not read that the Creator from the beginning made them male and female?” The Church does not have the authority to change “even one iota or one tittle” (Mt 5:18) of these words, but only to make them known and preserve them: this is the purpose of the Catechism.
Today, many cultural trends also influence ecclesial language. Is there a risk in allowing oneself to be influenced by ideologies foreign to Catholic Tradition?
St. Paul offers a criterion that is always valid: “Test everything; hold fast to what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). This means that we must examine every proposal, idea, or behavior and retain only what is good and true. For Christians, the criterion of truth is Christ himself: every thought or theory “stands or falls” in relation to him. This is why we speak of an anthropology “in Christ” and not simply of changing human conceptions.
According to Catholic doctrine, how do we distinguish between welcoming a person and approving their behavior?
The concept of the person, developed at the Council of Chalcedon to express the mystery of Christ, teaches us that human beings are created in the image and likeness of God (CCC, 362). Being a man or a woman is a good thing, willed by God (CCC, 369). Accepting a person means recognizing this fundamental truth. But acceptance cannot mean approval of behavior if it deviates from the good: just as medicine corrects what is pathological, authentic pastoral care aims to heal, not to confirm error. Gender ideology, as Pope Francis has repeatedly pointed out, is a mistake of the human mind: acceptance means accompanying toward the truth, not justifying falsehood.
Is the doctrine on sexuality compatible with the pastoral care of mercy invoked by Pope Francis?
True mercy does not consist in leaving the person in sin, but in helping them to convert and rediscover the truth. Where genderist thinking has caused suffering, as in the phenomenon of detransitioners [people who regret having undertaken the so-called “gender transition,” ed.], we see the wounds produced by a lie that has affected the body and soul. The body is not at our disposal, but a gift from God. To go against the reality of the body is to oppose the Creator himself: it is a deception that takes on the traits of the Antichrist, when even a pastor of the Church comes to endorse it.
To those who accuse Catholic doctrine of being “exclusive” or “non-inclusive,” how would you respond?
I would respond that yes, in a certain sense it is, because it follows Jesus Christ, who said that he came “to bring division” (cf. Lk 12:51). Christ does not seek consensus, but truth: his “inclusion” is that of those who welcome salvation in truth. The teaching of the Church is not conformity to the fashions or powers of the world, but fidelity to the One who said, “Whoever is not with me is against me” (Mt 12:30). Christian freedom consists in following the truth, even when it divides.
The Catechism defines homosexual acts as “intrinsically disordered”: is this a linguistic expression that can be overcome or an irreformable judgment?
God is the Creator of order, and order is the right disposition of persons and things toward an end. The source of all order is Divine Wisdom. Moral disorder is therefore a denial of God himself. The Catechism does not use language that can be overcome here, but expresses an ontological truth, rooted in the being of things. As Gustave Thibon recalled, “freedom is the daughter of order.” And Seneca wrote: “To be free is to obey God.” Where order is lacking, the lie of the Evil One reigns.
Bishop Francesco Savino, vice president of the Italian Episcopal Conference and bishop in Calabria, recently celebrated Mass for the jubilee pilgrimage of several LGBT groups and spoke of the need for a “changing Church.” Does tradition allow for a reinterpretation of truths based on the times?
As John XXIII recalled at the opening of the Second Vatican Council, the problem of the world is always the same: to be with Christ or against Him and His Church. The progress of doctrine is not a change in substance, but an organic development, like the growth of a body: when we become adults, we do not add a new limb, but we mature what already exists. It is not the Church that must change to adapt to the world, but every Christian who must convert to the immutable truth that is Christ the Lord.
Why does the authority of the Magisterium bind bishops in the teaching of the faith?
Because their authority is exercised in persona Christi. As Pope Leo the Great recalled, before Christ the bishop must “disappear.” The Magisterium is not above the Word of God, but serves it, teaching only what has been handed down (Dei Verbum, 10; CCC, 86). When a pastor proposes an “accommodating and flexible gospel,” he ceases to be a teacher of the faith and becomes an echo of the world. Fidelity to the deposit of faith is true charity toward souls.
[Italian]
