Opinions were attributed to de Buck which, if not formally heretical, at least openly defied ideas generally accepted by Catholics. What apparently gave rise to these accusations were the amicable relations established, principally through correspondence, between Victor de Buck and such men as the celebrated Edward Pusey in England, and Montalembert, in France. Through contacts with foreign hagiographers and the English Jesuits in Louvain, de Buck developed an interest in a possible reunification of the Churches. During the 1850s he expressed this interest in a number of publications, including the "Études Religieuses" and "The Rambler". De Buck's opinion regarding the views of Pusey were closer to those of Newman than Cardinal Manning.