Who is Archbishop Fernandez? What is his theology? That depends on who you read in the press — GetReligion
The doctrines that govern Catholicism have been very much in the news this summer.
This isn’t normal with the mainstream press. So, why is this the case?
This question has several answers. The Synod of Synodality, a multi-year process involving bishops and parishioners, could very well change church doctrine on a number of key issues. (See this recent tmatt post and podcast for more background.)
The second involves the pope’s recent appointment of Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernandez as Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Both are connected in that they have to do with the future direction of the church and Pope Francis’ legacy. This pontiff very much wants to leave a lasting impression on the global church, in part acting through the synod, and Cardinal-elect Fernandez could very well help shape it. Let’s face it, it has been a very busy news cycle since my last post on the media coverage (and non-coverage) of the synod.
The other major question reporters need to ask themselves is this one: Who is Archbishop Fernandez and why does any of this matter?
It depends on who you read in the Catholic press. Like a Supreme Court nominee, the man now tasked with overseeing church doctrine — and possibly making changes going forward — is seen as a controversial choice. This is especially true in contrast to the most famous recent theologian who held this post, as in Cardinal Ratzinger Joseph Ratzinger, who became the very orthodox Pope Benedict XVI.
Like Francis, Fernandez is an Argentine and soon-to-be cardinal after the pontiff announced a new consistory this past Sunday where 21 men will be given red hats on Sept. 30.
Again, why does this matter?
It matters because the cardinal who heads the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith — an office dating back to the 1500s — wields much power and is automatically considered what Italian press calls papabile (which translates into “popeable), meaning a candidate who can be pope someday.
Once again, Ratzinger was the man who held this title under now-St. Pope John Paul II, a partnership that helped shape the current Catechism of the Catholic Church.
The news coverage of regarding all these developments have largely played out in the Catholic press on the doctrinal left and right.
The Catholic press can be adversarial, especially during the Pope Francis era, which often creates some very good journalism.
John L. Allen, Jr., over at Crux is always a must-read during any big Vatican announcement — not only for the factual content of the news, but also for what it means. This is what he wrote on July 2:
Eighteen years ago, a College of Cardinals largely appointed by the pope whose reign had just ended wanted continuity, and so they elected the man who’d been the intellectual architect of the previous administration. Thus it was that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI, as the natural heir to the doctrinal and spiritual legacy of Pope John Paul II.
After yesterday, one has to ask: Is Pope Francis trying to align the stars for history to repeat itself by naming his own theological right hand, Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernández, to the same post once held by Ratzinger as the Vatican’s doctrinal czar?
Before proceeding, an important caveat: The point here is not to compare the quality or significance of the intellectual output of Ratzinger and Fernández, which is off-topic and, anyway, above my pay grade. It’s rather to suggest that politically and personally, Fernández is now poised to be roughly to Francis what Ratzinger once was to John Paul, albeit with some important differences.
If anything, the bond between Francis and Fernández, both Argentines, runs even deeper than that which linked the Polish John Paul and the German Ratzinger.
The connection goes back at least to 2007, when the future pontiff was still Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires and Fernández was a professor at the Catholic university in the Argentine capital. He acted as Bergoglio’s peritus, or theological advisor, during the conference of Latin American bishops in Aparecida, Brazil, which produced a document that proved to be a blueprint for Francis’s papacy.
This context always makes Allen a good read, but also the background needed for any reporter not versed in Vatican politics and church hierarchy.
Andrea Gagliarducci, writing for MondayVatican.com and reprinted in the National Catholic Register, wrote an analysis piece that focused on Fernandez’s appointment as tied to Francis’ legacy.
Gagliarducci pulls the curtain on what he thinks this all means. Here’s how he started his piece:
The news is not the appointment of his trusted theologian as prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. Although recent rumors had focused more on the possibility that a German like Bishop Wilmer could take the seat of guardian of the Doctrine of the Faith, the name of Victor Fernandez had always been among the possible candidates as head of the former Holy Office.
But the real news is the letter, in Spanish, with which Pope Francis accompanies the appointment. At the same time, the bulletin of the Press Office of the Holy See does not fail to dwell on the list of publications of the new prefect, even going as far as, in a minimal ritual way, to underline that “between books and scientific articles, he has more than 300 publications, many of which have been translated into various languages. These writings show an important biblical basis and a constant effort of dialogue between theology and culture, the evangelizing mission, spirituality, and social issues.”
It is certainly not in the style of a Holy See’s Press Office press release. It was like if somebody had to justify the appointment, or to accredit it to a broader public. The Holy See Press Office seems to have received everything already packaged, including the Pope’s accompanying letter, released in Spanish and without any working translation.
Legacy aside, the fact that Fernandez is a controversial figure also came through in a lot of the coverage (especially in the traditional Catholic press on the doctrinal right) for his past writings.
The great folks at The Pillar wrote the following:
The new head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office has said that he is opposed to same-sex blessings that feed “confusion” over the nature of marriage.
But he suggested that blessings that did not create such confusion should be “analyzed and confirmed.”
Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández made the remarks in an interview published July 5 by the Spanish Catholic website InfoVaticana.
The Argentine archbishop, who will take up the post of prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) in mid-September, was asked if he agreed with the dicastery’s 2021 declaration — published with specific papal approval — which said that “the Church does not have, and cannot have, the power to bless unions of persons of the same sex.”
Fernández replied: “Look, just as I am firmly against abortion (and I challenge you to find someone in Latin America who has written more articles than me against abortion), I also understand that ‘marriage’ in the strict sense is only one thing: that stable union of two beings as different as male and female are, who in that difference are capable of engendering new life.”
“There is nothing that can be compared to that and to use that name to express something else is neither good nor correct. At the same time, I believe that we must avoid gestures or actions that could express something different. That is why I think that the greatest care must be taken to avoid rites or blessings that could feed this confusion.”
