Francis chose his “Ratzinger”

A week later, the pontiff announced the apppointment  of new  cardinals, and as expected, Fernández was among them.

Since the name of the Argentine theologian was not very well known in our country, it might seem that he is an unknown person from the opposite side of the planet.

However, it is not quite so. Although Archbishop Fernández was in Argentina – for several years the rector of the local Catholic University and from 2018 he led the Diocese of La Plate – so he was not in the eyes of Europe, but his influence on the pontificate of the current Pope in the last ten years is greater than it might seem.

We have already covered Fernández in a large  profile article. He is considered a co-author of Francis’ key works, first his “program” exhortation Evangelii gaudium , then the encyclical Laudatio si’ and also the post-synodal exhortation Amoris laetitia .

And at the same time, some people make fun of him. Although he has 350 items of publishing activity to his credit, which – by the way – the Vatican emphasized in the announcement of his appointment as prefect, the Vaticanist Sandro Magister does not see among them any that would make a “hole in the world”.

On the contrary, he ironically recalls that the theologian Fernández’s first book was about kissing. It was published in 1995 under the title Heal me with your lips. The art of kissing .

Immediately after the Vatican announced that the man would become head of one of the church’s most powerful offices, accusations surfaced that Fernández had not properly handled a sexual abuse case in his diocese. At the same time, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has this area on its agenda.

Archbishop Fernández  has already responded to these reservations, but in addition to this topic, some Vaticanists in recent days have also focused on evaluating the step taken by Francis when he significantly promoted Fernández. And indeed, they also used strong words.

What do the Vaticanists say?

According to Andrea Gagliarducci, it was not such a surprise that Francis chose Fernández among the possible candidates for the post of head of the former Holy Office.

He considers the letter of Pope Francis to Archbishop Fernández, which accompanied the appointment, to be a real novelty. The Press Center of the Holy See published it in Spanish and without any translation.

“The letter is key, because in it we find all the intentions of Pope Francis to define the church’s change of course and to close the path on which he appointed Fernández as archbishop ten years ago, when he was still rector of the Catholic University of Buenos Aires,” Gagliarducci wrote on his blog .

In this letter, the Pope describes the role of the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and states that the Church “appreciates and supports the charism of theologians and their efforts in the field of theological research” ( Evangelii Gaudium , 133), as long as it “is not satisfied with the theology from the green table” (ibid. ) with a “cold and hard logic that tries to control everything” ( Gaudete et exsult

He also wrote to Archbishop Fernández to avoid using “immoral methods” in defense of the faith, but did not define exactly what he considered those methods to be.

According to the Pope, the Dicastery also pursued possible “doctrinal errors” in the past instead of “supporting theological knowledge”. “What I expect from you is definitely something completely different,” František wrote to his Argentinian colleague.

It is not clear from the letter which period František is referring to. Among the last prefects were the Spanish Cardinal Luis Ladaria Ferrer and before him Cardinals Gerhard Ludwig Müller, William Joseph Levada and Joseph Ratzinger.

Vaticanist Gagliarducci sees the appointment of Fernández as head of the dicastery as a certain personal revenge of the Pope, who as archbishop of Buenos Aires “fought for Fernández to be rector (of the Catholic University of Argentina, note) against the opinion of the Congregation for Catholic Education, especially the secretary of Archbishop Brugués at the time.” . Pope Francis later appointed him to the position of librarian of the Holy Roman Church, and never appointed him a cardinal.

Another Vaticanist, Edward Pentin, usually critical of Francis, returned to the episode about the rector’s post these days.

Controversy surrounding the post of rector

Last week, Pentin wrote on the National Catholic Register that Cardinal Gerhard Müller confirmed to him the information that the Vatican doctrinal office had in the past a file containing theological doubts about Archbishop Fernández.

The file, the existence of which, according to Pentino, was also confirmed by a second high-ranking church source, dates from the period when Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires in 2009 appointed the then Father Fernández as rector of the Pontifical Catholic University in Argentina.

Cardinal Müller, who was prefect of the Dicastery, formerly the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, from 2012 to 2017, said the document was drawn up sometime in the late 2000s by Archbishop Jean-Louis Bruguès, secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education. This happened after Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio proposed Fernández as rector.

It was about the fact that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was deciding whether to grant the so-called nihil obstat , that is, church approval for the nomination of a new rector of a Catholic university. The Congregation, then led by Cardinal William Levada, postponed the publication of the nihil obstat .

Fernández was thus only able to take the rector’s oath in May 2011, two and a half years after his unofficial appointment, because of persistent concerns raised in the file regarding some of his theological views, Pentin writes.

Archbishop Víctor Fernández celebrates mass at the cathedral in the Argentine city of La Plata on Sunday, July 9, 2023. Photo: TASR/AP

Archbishop Fernández said in a statement to the NC Register on July 5 that the Vatican’s concerns “didn’t carry much weight” and that after exchanging letters with Vatican officials in which he “clarified” his “true thinking, everything was resolved peacefully.”

According to Fernández, for example, they questioned a half-page article he wrote in a small Argentinian newspaper. In the text, he explained that priests cannot bless homosexual unions because they recognize a certain concept of marriage, but they should still not condemn people.

Finally, Víctor Fernández was rector of the university until 2018.

He was afraid of the subject of abuse

Speaking of Fernández’s views, we mentioned some in the profile article , but Fernández himself also gave several media interviews after the current appointment.

The editorial director of the Vatican media, Andrea Tornielli, also spoke with the appointed prefect about the aforementioned Pope’s letter. According to Fernández, the letter offers at least six strong points that are thought-provoking.

“It calls for a theology that matures, grows, deepens in dialogue between theologians and in conversation with science and society. But all this in the service of evangelization,” said Fernández.

When asked what it means to “guard” the faith today, the Argentinian theologian answers by saying that, according to Pope Francis, the term “guard” is rich in meanings.

“It certainly does not rule out vigilance, but it does express that the teachings of the faith are preserved primarily by growing in our understanding of them. Even a situation where it is necessary to deal with a possible heresy should lead to a new theological development that matures in the understanding of doctrine, and this is the best way to guard the faith,” stated Víctor Fernández.

In an interview, Fernández admitted that when Pope Francis first offered him the post of prefect, he declined. “Primarily because I did not consider myself fit to manage in a disciplinary area,” he said. “I’m not a canonist, and in fact, when I came to La Plata, I had little idea how to deal with these questions.”

The agenda of cases of sexual abuse in the church also falls under the dicastery, which he will soon lead.

According to Fernández, who himself faces accusations that he did not act properly in handling such a case in his diocese, this is a difficult area because “basically you have to believe those who make allegations of child abuse, and on the other hand, you cannot condemn a priest without due process, which requires time’.

He also said that during the leadership of the diocese, he allowed himself to be guided by the ecclesiastical lawyers and also educated himself, “but with great suffering for fear of being unjust to one or the other”.

Fernández added that he felt “more confident” when Pope Francis told him that, as prefect, he was to delegate this task to the disciplinary section and that he should personally devote himself to theology and the transmission of the faith.

Confusion should be avoided when blessing couples

When asked how the new head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith wants to manage the German synodal journey, Fernández replied that now is the time for him to “catch up on this matter, listen, speak, consult”.

“For now I have to tell you that I don’t believe there is anything good in this German ‘movement,'” he said.

“Cardinal Ladaria (former prefect, note) once told me that he wished there was a heretic who would force us to deepen our faith,” added Fernández.

Delegates of the so-called of the German synodal route voted several controversial proposals in Frankfurt in March, among them the controversial practice of blessing homosexual partnerships.

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued an opinion in 2021 stating that this is not allowed.

Asked if he agreed with the dicastery’s statement, Fernández said that if the blessing could be given in a way “that does not cause confusion,” it would have to be “analyzed.”

According to Fernández, marriage in the narrower sense is only one thing, and that is the stable union of two beings as different as man and woman, who in this difference are able to give birth to new life.

“There is nothing that compares to it, and using that name to mean something else is not right,” he continued. “At the same time, I think we have to avoid gestures or actions that could express something else. Therefore, I think the greatest care should be taken to avoid ceremonies or blessings that might feed this confusion.’

According to him, “if the blessing is given in such a way that it does not cause this confusion, it will have to be analyzed and confirmed.”

In an interview with a Spanish website, he also commented on his book about kissing from 1995, for which many criticize him. She says she doesn’t regret her release. “It was not a theological manual, but a pastoral attempt that I will never regret,” Fernández said, adding that he asked the publisher not to republish it.

According to his own words, the Argentine archbishop wrote the book with an interest in young people who tried to explain to their peers why they should avoid premarital sex. He added that kissing is “an example of one of those displays of affection that can happen without the need for sex.”

Ratzinger versus Fernández

Italian Vaticanist Andrea Gagliarducci believes that we are in the third phase of the Pope’s pontificate. “It is a phase in which the pontificate tries to consolidate itself before the inevitable decline. And Pope Francis carries out this consolidation precisely by appointing bishops and prefects, giving preference to the most faithful,” he stated.

Also the leading American Vaticanist John L. Allen Jr. perceives the choice of Fernández to head a key dicastery in the context of the “legacy” of Pope Francis. According to Allen, the clear mission of this decision is to “institutionalize Francis’ vision in the intellectual life of the church.”

John L. Allen Jr. in his article on Crux Now, he compares Víctor Fernández to Joseph Ratzinger, although he admits that he is not comparing the quality or intellectual performance of Ratzinger and Fernández.

“It is rather to suggest that, politically and personally, Fernández is now poised to be roughly what Ratzinger once was to John Paul II, albeit with some important differences,” he wrote.

Archbishop Víctor Fernández celebrates mass at the cathedral in the Argentine city of La Plata on Sunday, July 9, 2023. 

He also noted that the relationship between Bergoglio and Fernández is even deeper than that of Ratzinger and Wojtyla.

“During the ten years of Francis’ pontificate, when the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was headed by German Cardinal Gerhard Müller, widely regarded as a conservative, and then by Spanish Cardinal Luis Ladaria Ferrer, seen as more of a moderate, most observers considered them less influential than Fernández in shaping the papal theological positions,” Allen points out.

Now Pope Francis has pulled Fernández out of his theological “kitchen”, put him in the spotlight and is also giving him formal power and a powerful office. And as we learned last Sunday , also a cardinal’s hat.

John L. Allen Jr. notices one more interesting detail.

In the aforementioned letter to Fernández, the Pope states that “your task also implies special care in verifying whether the documents of the Dicastery itself and others have adequate theological support, whether they are in accordance with the richness of the eternal teaching of the Church and at the same time whether they accept the latest Magisterium”.

Vaticanist Allen draws attention to the phrase “and others,” which he says indicates that Fernández will now fill the role that Ratzinger filled in his heyday under John Paul II. and which consists in theological assessment of the outputs of other Vatican departments, while in fact he will act as the Pope’s “quality controller”.

And there is another similarity between the German and Argentinian theologians, although in the opposite guard.

Joseph Ratzinger was the star of the conservatives, progressives in the church had reservations about him. In the case of Fernández, it is the opposite, according to Allen. The Argentinian theologian already has his “profile” among Catholic conservatives, “and as they get to know him better, it will only grow.”

At the consistory in September, Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández will be created a cardinal, potentially giving him the opportunity to become Francis’ successor.

John Allen Jr. has one comment: “Sure, his candidacy will seem inconceivable to the Pope’s critics, who will not be able to believe that the majority of cardinals would vote for such a controversial figure – but I remind you that exactly the same was said about Joseph Ratzinger’s chances 18 years ago .”

In the cover photo, Archbishop Víctor Fernández celebrates mass at the cathedral in the Argentine city of La Plata on Sunday, July 9, 2023.