Pope Francis and Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernandez. (ANSA)
ROME – Pope Francis has named his Argentine compatriot Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández as the new Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), the Vatican said on Saturday.
Archbishop of La Plata Fernández will succeed Cardinal Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, a Spanish theologian, whom the pope thanked for his years of service at the helm of the Dicastery.
Fernández will take up his new duties in mid-September 2023, the Vatican said.
In a letter to the new prefect, Francis said he was entrusting him with a task he considers very valuable.
He wrote that its central purpose is to guard the teaching that comes from the faith “to give for our hope, but not as an enemy who critiques and condemns.”
The pope said that, while in the past the DDF had pursued possible doctrinal errors and questionable methods, what he expected from the new leadership was something very different.
Among other things, the pope stressed the importance of a specific section in the Holy See dedicated to the protection of minors and asked the new Prefect to commit personally and directly to the main purpose of the Dicastery which is "to guard the faith". (ANSA)
