One of the top positions within the Vatican and the Roman Catholic church is the Prefect of the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), formerly known as the Inquisition, as the DDF is tasked with safeguarding Church doctrine against heresy.
The position was famously held by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI, from 1981 to 2005.
On Friday, Pope Francis announced that he would be appointing a new Prefect, Argentine Archbishop Víctor Manuel Férnandez, a close friend, who is set to take up the role in September, the National Catholic Reporter states.
“The dicastery over which you will preside in other times came to use immoral methods. They were times when, rather than promoting theological knowledge, possible doctrinal errors were pursued,” Pope Francis stated.
“The different lines of philosophical, theological and pastoral thought, if they allow themselves to be harmonized by the Spirit in respect and love, can also make the church grow,” the Pope said and added, “This harmonious growth will preserve Christian doctrine more effectively than any mechanism of control.”
The announcement has caused backlash from the conservative Catholic community due to Archbishop Férnandez’s prior writings as he worked as a ghostwriter on several of Pope Francis’ writings, including the controversial Amoris Laetitia (On Pastoral Care of Families).
Four Cardinals publicly questioned Amoris Laetitia following its release in 2016, asking for clarification on passages in the eighth chapter that seemed to contradict prior Church teachings on Holy Communion for unlawfully divorced and remarried persons, among other issues.
Archbishop Férnandez has published hundreds of works, but one of his lesser known books “Heal Me With Your Mouth.The Art of Kissing” has been highlighted as being missing from the list of writings by the Archbishop.
The book states:
In these pages I want to synthesize the popular feeling, what people feel when they think of a kiss, what mortals experience when they kiss. For that I chatted at length with many people who have abundant experience in this area, and also with many young people who learn to kiss in their own way…
Férnandez has praised Pope Francis’ tenure as the head of the Catholic church, and once stated, “The pope goes slow because he wants to be sure that the changes have a deep impact. The slow pace is necessary to ensure the effectiveness of the changes. He knows there are those hoping that the next pope will turn everything back around. If you go slowly it’s more difficult to turn things back.”
The appointment of Férnandez comes just ahead of the October Synod of bishops as part of the Synod on Synodality, a multi-year project which saw Catholics encouraged to submit their feedback to local dioceses on a number of topics.
October’s synod is expected to discuss issues of priestly celibacy, the role of women in the church and how to address groups that feel “unwelcomed” by the Church, such as the divorced and remarried, LGBT people and others.
