Rome Newsroom, Jul 6, 2023 / 09:30 am (CNA).
When asked about the controversy surrounding his recent appointment as the Vatican’s doctrinal chief, Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández responded: “I will do it ‘my way.’”
In his first interview since being named the new prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Fernández spoke about handling clerical abuse, the German Synodal Way, same-sex blessings, and how he plans to approach his new role.
The archbishop of La Plata, Argentina, said that he had written a letter to the members of the Vatican’s doctrine dicastery explaining how he admired the current prefect Cardinal Luis Ladaria Ferrer, SJ, as a theologian and for his style of work, but “added that I will do it ‘my way’ as the Italian song says.”
“Taking into account the pope’s call to synodality, I will first have to listen a bit before making any decisions, but there are certainly considerations from the letter the pope sent me that we will have to apply in some way,” Fernández said in the interview with the Spanish Catholic website InfoVaticana published on July 5.
InfoVaticana asked Fernández about what he would say to people who are opposed to his appointment for fear that he could carry out a role far removed from what the prefect of the dicastery should be.
Fernández responded: “Does it not seem good to you that for some time in history a Latin American who has been a parish priest of the peripheries, who grew up in a small town in the countryside, with a sensitivity close to the pain of the discarded of society, with a life story very different from that of a European or American, but who at the same time is a doctor in theology, occupies this position?”
“Once again, I tell them that I will learn from history, I will respect the processes, I will dialogue, but I will do it “my way.”
Handling abuse
Fernández said that when Pope Francis first offered him the position of prefect, he turned the pope down. “First of all because I did not consider myself suitable to lead the work in the disciplinary area,” he said. “I am not a canonist, and in fact when I arrived in La Plata I had little idea of how to deal with these issues.”
“It is complex because in principle one has to believe those who present accusations of child abuse, you have to believe them, and on the other hand you cannot condemn the priest without due process, which takes time. And in between come all the claims to which one has to respond by saying as little as possible so as not to interfere. At that time I let myself be guided by the canonists and I was learning, but with enormous suffering for fear of being unjust to one or the other,” he said.
Fernández added that he felt “more confident” once Pope Francis told him that “what he wanted was for the prefect to delegate this task to the Disciplinary Section” and asked the Argentine archbishop to dedicate his personal commitment to theology and the transmission of the faith, as the pope also said in a letter published at the time of his appointment.
BishopAccountability.org, a group that tracks sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, has voiced serious concerns about the pope’s appointment of Fernández due to his “recent handling of a clergy sex abuse case in his home archdiocese of La Plata.”
A spokesperson for Fernández at the Archdiocese of La Plata responded to accusations that he has been soft on sex abusers by firmly denying the allegations.
Germany’s Synodal Way
When asked how he intends to handle the German Synodal Way as DDF chief, Fernández said that it is now time for him to “catch up on the matter, to listen, to talk, to consult.”
“For the time being, I must tell you that I don’t believe that there isn’t something good in this German ‘movement,’” he said.
“Cardinal Ladaria once told me that he wished there were some heretic who would force us to deepen our faith,” he elaborated. “This historical question will leave us with something good, even if it may be necessary to polish things, to clarify them, to mature them.”
Same-sex blessings
In response to a question about whether he agreed with the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith’s 2021 declaration that the Church cannot bless same-sex unions, Fernández said that if a blessing can be given in a way “that does not cause confusion,” it will have to “be analyzed.”
“Look, just as I am firmly 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 who in that difference are capable of engendering new life,” he said.
“There is nothing that can be compared to that and to use that name to express something else is neither good nor right,” he said. “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 to be taken is to avoid rites or blessings that could feed that confusion.”
“Now, if a blessing is given in such a way that it does not cause that confusion, it will have to be analyzed and confirmed,” he added.
“As you will see, there is a point where we leave a properly theological discussion and move on to a question that is rather prudential or disciplinary.”
‘The Art of Kissing’
Fernández said that he did not regret publishing the book he wrote as a priest in the mid-1990s called “Heal Me With Your Mouth: The Art of Kissing.”
“It was not a theology manual, it was a pastoral attempt that I will never regret,” Fernández said, before noting that he had asked the publisher not to reprint it.
The Argentine archbishop said that he wrote the book out of concern for young people who struggled to explain to their peers why premarital sex should be avoided. He added that kissing was “an example of one of those expressions of affection that can occur without the need for sex.”
“Don’t you think it is bad form to take that little book, to use single phrases from that youthful pastoral booklet to judge me as a theologian?” Fernández said.
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We read: “As you will see, there is a point where we leave a properly theological discussion and move on to a question that is rather prudential or disciplinary.”
Not much room there for another category called faithful transmission of the Deposit of Faith. Just theology and discipline. The Holy Spirit has spoken!
How can blessing same sex relationships not cause confusion? Oh wait I forgot, the spirit will speak through the laity to say its now ok, therefore no more confusion.
At First Things:
ARCHBISHOP FERNANDEZ, PREACHER OF CHAOS, by Dan Hitchens:
Excerpt:
It was Archbishop Fernández who authored the crucial passages in Chapter Eight of Pope Francis’s 2016 document on marriage, Amoris Laetitia. At least, Fernández’s authorship has been widely reported without denial, the wording is very close to his own prose at certain points, and he has publicly enthused at great length about its contents. And Chapter Eight is, deservedly, the most notorious text in modern Catholic history. It amounts to a sustained reflection on the Church’s teaching that the divorced and remarried can only receive Communion if they give up sexual relations with their new partner. Chapter Eight never quite challenges that teaching, but it is written so ambiguously as to open the door to intellectual and pastoral chaos.
Take one example out of a dozen. The document—Fernández, presumably—proclaims that “A subject may know full well the rule, yet . . . be in a concrete situation which does not allow him or her to act differently and decide otherwise without further sin.” What on earth does that mean? On one reading, it means that having extramarital sex is, for some people, just impossible to avoid: a sad inevitability, like getting hay fever in the spring. Someone wrote a bizarre book (reviewed here) inspired by this passage, arguing for the inexorable force of adulterous sexual intercourse. Three high-ranking cardinals promoted it, and the pope even gave it a vague endorsement. Then nobody ever talked about the idea again, so maybe Chapter Eight didn’t mean that after all. Or maybe it did. This is what I mean about chaos.
Like many right wing conservative anti-Pope Francis Catholics in the U.S., “First Things” is now actually “Last Gasps,” as was suggested, given that Pope Francis’ reception of Vatican II by way of synodality in the Holy Spirit is fast moving forward as he prayed and hoped.
I might be wrong about this, but in all the several stories I’ve read in recent days about the irrepressible Archbishop Fernandez, I don’t remember him referring in any way to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Why would that be?
Archbishop Fernandez does refer to “the unfathomable, marvelous and immutable mystery of the Trinity expressed in Christ” in his reply to one question in an interview. Here is the text in the original:
P-Para usted, ¿la doctrina es algo que puede cambiar o ha de conservarse intacta tal y como se ha recibido durante cientos de años?
R-La doctrina no cambia, porque es en definitiva el insondable, maravilloso e inmutable misterio de la Trinidad expresado en Cristo. Allí está todo, y eso no puede ni mejorar ni cambiar. No hay nada que agregarle. Otra cosa es nuestra comprensión de esa doctrina, y eso de hecho sí ha cambiado y seguirá cambiando. Por eso en Dei Verbum se dice, por ejemplo, que el trabajo de los exégetas puede hacer madurar la opinión de la Iglesia.
The arrogance of power!
What the Church needs is a thorough housecleaning of the rot in the Vatican – fewer meetings, fewer public pronouncements, less travel and more prayer focused on the salvation wrought by Christ, and a quiet contemplative, rarely-heard- from Vatican. This is what our Church needs most at this time.
“…with a life story very different from that of a European or American, but who at the same time is a doctor in theology, occupies this position?”
Seems touchy about things.
”I will do it ‘my way.’”
As one wag put it, these are the words over the gates of hell.
That wasn’t a wag, Rich. It was a sage
I’ve heard “I Did It My Way” was the theme song sung by those in Hell.
🙂
Fr. Larry Richards has said that in many of his sermons. I thought of that immediately as soon as I read what this guy said. He ought to say that he will do his best to follow the Will of God. From my own experience, the times I have messed up badly in my life, I was doing it my way.
”“Once again, I tell them that I will learn from history, I will respect the processes, I will dialogue, but I will do it “my way.””
Oh my … Archbishop Fernandez certainly has an issue with pride! A lot of excess energy seems to be applied to his defending himself about x, y and z. I understand his cultural traits have a lot to do with something called ‘bravado’ … I think it is so normalized within the culture that the Spanish do not even realize it as a vice. I say this to be helpful … hopefully Archbishop Fernandez will recognize that he has issues – likely stemming from his Argentine culture – that may certainly affect the performance of his duties. It seems that this is already apparent to many of us.
I am sorry with the Episcopus expression. It wood be better that he cood say; I will do all I can with Jesus help (Imitatores mei estote sicut et ego Christi. S.Paul)
But even as he says Jesus’ Name he announces falsehood. Blame-shifting is bad habit developed and moralized in the last century and he is giving it new credence for the 21st Century. Moreover Jansenism isn’t ended, it persists to today; so if you advance Pascal in the dialogue of “being relevant and beauteous” you are turning heresy back into the “rich humus” -and what could that be but foolhardiness. (The “rich humus” is in the second link and the Pope’s letter.)
From what I can see God knows what they’re trying to get at but they’ve never asked Him properly.
‘ Even a situation where a possible heresy has to be dealt with, should lead to a new theological development that matures our understanding of the doctrine, and this is the best way to safeguard the faith.
If Jansenism, for example, was able to persist for so long, it was because there was only condemnation, but no response to certain legitimate intentions that might lie behind the errors, and no proper theological development over time.
…..
By always trying to better show all its beauty and attractiveness, without disfiguring it by infecting it with worldly criteria, but always finding a point of contact that allows it to be truly meaningful, eloquent, precious for those who listen to it.
Without dialogue with culture, we risk our message, however beautiful, becoming irrelevant. ‘
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2023-07/archbishop-fernandez-jesus-saves-interview-doctrine-ddf-prefect.html
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2023/07/08/opinion-pope-francis-archbishop-fernandez-and-the-question-of-discipline/
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2023/07/01/full-text-pope-francis-letter-to-new-doctrine-chief-archbishop-fernandez/
DDF. Dicastery for the Doctrine of Fernandez.
Already, Archbishop Fernandez has shown a remarkable ability to defend himself.