Fr Nicola Bux to Pope Leo XIV: Do All Possible to Bridge Differences With SSPX
In a filial yet urgent open letter, the former Vatican consultor presses for SSPX dialogue, liberalisation of the traditional Roman rite, answers to the dubia, and limits on Germany’s Synodal Path.
Ahead of a Consistory of Cardinals this week, Father Nicola Bux, a close associate of the late Pope Benedict XVI, has written a filial yet firm appeal to Pope Leo XIV, urging him to swiftly “resolve in truth – and only in truth – the many ‘polarisations’ that run through the ecclesial body.”
In an open letter signed on the feast of the birth of St John the Baptist, Father Bux in particular calls on the Pope to build a bridge with the Society of St. Pius X before they consecrate new bishops without a papal mandate on July 1.
“Now that we are experienced in dialogue with people and groups outside the Church,” he writes, “should we not also, and above all, engage in dialogue within our own ranks, doing everything possible to ensure that none of those brothers and sisters whom the Lord has entrusted to us are lost?”
Father Bux, a priest of the Diocese of Bari and a former consulter to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, also urges Pope Leo to take three other key actions: to “revisit” Pope Benedict XVI’s motu proprio Summorum Pontificum that liberalized the traditional Roman liturgy but which Pope Francis abrogated in 2021; ensure that the German ‘Synodal Path’ not decide on matters of doctrine, morality and sacramental practice; and to give a response to dubia (formal questions seeking clarification) that cardinals issued during Pope Francis’ pontificate but which Francis either did not answer, or, according to the cardinals, answered unsatisfactorily.
“The faithful need to be confirmed in the truth, stability and substantial immutability of the faith,” Father Bux writes, adding that they “must be able to hear from the Successor of Peter, after more than a decade of confusion, that the Holy Spirit does indeed make all things new, but in the sense that He brings them to their final (novus) fulfilment, in harmony – and not in contrast – with what has been inspired to date.”
“Please act swiftly, Holy Father, I implore you,” Father Bux writes in closing. “Let us not allow the underlying schism to become irreparable.”
Most Blessed Holy Father,
It is with feelings of profound and filial devotion that I dare to address this heartfelt appeal to You, having first had the grace to collaborate with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, and subsequently with the Holy Father Benedict XVI, before spending these last thirteen years in prayer, self-sacrifice and discreet yet constant work for the unity of the Church.
The Church is the bridge between God and humankind, of which the Pope is the pontifex; indeed, she is synonymous with the peace that Christ has set as her boundary: building up the Church is nothing other than building peace; to separate the two is to undermine the mission of the Gospel. Therefore, I beg Your Holiness to continue in this ‘single’ direction, so as to resolve in truth – and only in truth – the many ‘polarisations’ that run through the ecclesial body. Now that we are experienced in dialogue with people and groups outside the Church, should we not also, and above all, engage in dialogue within our own ranks, doing everything possible to ensure that none of those brothers and sisters whom the Lord has entrusted to us are lost?
Referring in particular to the serious action announced by the Priestly Fraternity of St Pius X, I ask you to revisit the ‘bridge’ conceived by Benedict XVI through the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum and, consequently, through the lifting of the excommunication. Looking at the reality of so many bishops who have, with balance, achieved liturgical harmony in their own dioceses, Your Holiness could set an example: by granting the whole Church the possibility of celebrating, alongside the new rite, the ancient Roman rite, whilst reaffirming the validity of the liturgical reform and the inviolability of the Second Vatican Council, as of every other Ecumenical Council.
With regard, then, to the German ‘Synodaler Weg’, I implore the Holy Father to clarify that the ‘synodal path’ cannot deliberate on matters of doctrine, morality and sacramental practice, and that pastoral care cannot be separated from these; otherwise, the so-called ‘accompaniment’ will never lead to the necessary conversion: for the sinner would not, in fact, be guided away from sin, but – on the contrary – towards its confirmation and even its institutional recognition. Your Holiness has already stated that certain divisive issues ‘cannot be the subject of deliberations or decisions by a particular Church’, but you are surely aware that this serious rift could spread to other episcopates. The Church is inclusive only if those who wish to enter undergo sacramental initiation and those who wish to return follow the penitential journey.
Your Holiness, finally, I implore you to remove another obstacle to truth and communion, namely the lack of, or insufficient, response to the Dubia of the Cardinals on the doctrinal and pastoral matters of the recent Synods. Many of the faithful throughout the world await this response, not, however, in the form of an interview – interviews reduce the Pope’s words and magisterium to just one opinion amongst many – but in the form of a document of equal or greater authority.
The faithful need to be confirmed in the truth, stability and substantial immutability of the faith, for the Holy Spirit cannot deny what He has inspired in the Church throughout its two-thousand-year history. The faithful need to rediscover, with Saint Irenaeus, that Christ brought all that is new by bringing himself, and that there is nothing else new to be expected, save the ever-new proclamation of the Gospel of Christ.
The faithful must be able to hear from the Successor of Peter, after more than a decade of confusion, that the Holy Spirit does indeed make all things new, but in the sense that He brings them to their final (novus) fulfilment, in harmony – and not in contrast – with what has been inspired to date.
By virtue of the indispensable prerogative of the Petrine munus, I beg Your Holiness to state clearly what is truth and what is error: the whole Church must thus conform to Your word. You have rightly said that following Christ requires conversion and ‘that we should seek ways to build our unity on Jesus Christ and on what Jesus Christ teaches’. Now, Your Holiness, the only way we know to bring this about is precisely and solely to uphold the truth. Please act swiftly, Holy Father, I implore you. Let us not allow the underlying schism to become irreparable.
We pray for you, Your Holiness, in the firm hope that within the Consistory you may initiate and lead a fruitful discussion on these pressing matters.
In Domino Jesu,
Fr Nicola Bux
24 June 2026,
Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist
Just give them bishops. Simple.
Nice letter by Don Nicola, a priest I love and respect. However, his remonstrations will fall on deaf ears in the Vatican. His own archbishop in Bari sponsors masses against "homobitransphobia". It is too far gone now, and Leo (who invokes Pope Francis on a daily basis) does not seem to think it's a big deal.