VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Contrary to online rumors, there has been no formal, permanent confirmation of Cardinal Fernández as prefect of the Vatican’s doctrinal office.
In recent days, considerable chatter has been focused on the person of Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández and his role as prefect of the Congregation (now Dicastery) for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Pope Leo “provisionally” re-instated all Vatican Curial heads and secretaries “until further notice” on May 9.
Online rumors have suggested that the cardinal has been confirmed as prefect of the CDF by Pope Leo XIV, and have consequently condemned the move given how controversial Fernández is.
However, to date there has been no such formal statement from the Vatican about any appointment of Fernández to become the permanent or normative prefect of the Vatican’s doctrinal office.
On the contrary, all Vatican Curial leaders and secretaries were asked on May 8 by Pope Leo to temporarily remain in place for the time being so he could take time to consider their longer-term future. Such is commonplace for new pontificates, and replacing Curial officials – especially at leadership level – is not something which Leo is likely to rush.
As reported by LifeSite on May 8, the Vatican informed the press that:
His Holiness Leo XIV has expressed his wish that the Heads and Members of the Institutions of the Roman Curia, as well as the Secretaries and the President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, continue provisionally in their respective offices until further notice. The Holy Father wishes to reserve a period of time for reflection, prayer, and dialogue before making any definitive appointments or confirmations.
Any change to this would be communicated officially by the Vatican, and as yet no such statement has been forthcoming.
The past week’s rumors appear to have been fueled by one article published by the left-leaning Spanish language outlet Religion Digital.
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However, that article – small portions of which were translated without crucial context and then shared online – spoke about Fernández’s future as CDF prefect as still being an unknown. Written June 12, after the cardinal’s third meeting with Leo as Pope, it highlighted how the decision of whether to keep Fernández in his place or not would be a key tell on the direction of Leo’s papacy:
And, at this moment, the key figure, the bishop who can tip the game, is the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Víctor Manuel ‘Tucho’ Fernández, who represents the ideological and theological heart of the reformist project promoted by Francis…
The Argentinian theologian, a close collaborator of Francis, has in just two years revolutionised the most sensitive dicastery, presenting documents on blessings, human dignity and burning issues that have generated both enthusiasm and controversy from the most fundamentalist sectors.
Prevost knows this, which is why he received Cardinal Fernández twice during the first ten days of his pontificate. And today, he received him for the third time. According to our sources, in the various audiences the Argentinean cardinal answered yes to the Pope’s question as to whether he could count on him, and Leo XIV confirmed him as head of the Doctrine of the Faith.
If Leo XIV keeps him, it will be an unequivocal sign of continuity and protection of the Bergoglian legacy; if he is relieved, the more conservative sectors will see the door open to a restoration.
The latter sentence was crucially omitted from news of Fernández’s “confirmation” which spread online last week. However, the passage clearly denotes that the cardinal’s future is still to be determined.
Fernández was a close collaborator of Pope Francis, and also a native of Argentina. Named as CDF prefect in the summer of 2023, his promotion was one of the most politically charged moves of Francis’ papacy, leading to some of the most hotly debated and controversial moments of the 12-year pontificate.
It was Fernández’s December 2023 Declaration Fiducia Supplicans, which contained approval for “blessings for couples in irregular situations and for couples of the same sex.” Fiducia Supplicans’ publication arguably caused one of, if not the greatest, tumult in the Francis pontificate up until that time, with the global backlash of Catholic bishops against the text on a scale previously unseen in the prior 11 years of Francis’ reign.
Prior to this, Fernández was already widely acknowledged as Francis’ “primary ghostwriter” and “trusted theologian,” with his work including the ghostwriting of Evangelii Gaudium, Laudato Sí, and the highly controversial Amoris Laetitia.
Indeed, many of these texts – written by Francis and Fernández – have been the most hotly debated issues of the previous papacy, and are also those identified by many Catholics, clerical and lay, as needing urgent clarification under Leo.
The cardinal has been subject to increased scrutiny over the controversy of some of his published works – works which the Vatican tried to hide from his official resume. Among the most controversial of Fernández’s writings is his 1995 book “Heal me with your mouth: The art of kissing,” full of unmistakably erotic and often ambiguous sexual relationships in which the genders of the participants are unspecified.
Another sexually explicit book by Fernández from 1998 downplayed the immoral nature of homosexual activity and favorably compared how the “particularities of men and women in orgasm also occur in some way in the mystical relationship with God.”
Turning 63 in July, Fernández would have until mid-2028 as prefect should Leo decide to let him finish his term. Should the new Pope do so, then it would indeed be a sign of his response to the doctrinal confusion in the Church.
