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
flows from the faith in order to give a reason for our hope, not
as enemies who point out and condemn.
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".
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