'Tucho' Fernandez does not understand that it is not for the Church to be shaped by the world but for the world to be shaped by the Church

The head of the former Holy Office: “More power for women. And the Church on gay couples can not only prohibit "

Interview with Argentine Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernandez, just appointed by Pope Francis as prefect of the dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the first Latin American to fill Ratzinger's role

We need to guarantee greater "power" to women in the Church. Word of the new Prefect of the Vatican dicastery for the Doctrine of the faith, the former Holy Office, the Argentine Victor Manuel Fernandez, nicknamed "Tucho" by his friends. The first Latin American to fill the role that belonged to Joseph Ratzinger, a theologian attentive to biblical exegesis, a long experience as a parish priest, the archbishop, who will take office in mid-September, does not hide, in this interview with Repubblica, that he will have enemies who will try to harm him "by any means", but rejects the label of "progressive" and explains that the doctrine "must not be treated so much by controlling, sanctioning, prohibiting", but through "dialogue". Monsignor Fernandez ensures attention and help to his collaborators who manage cases of sexual abuse, a problem which, he underlines, affects "the credibility of the Church". He explains that it is wrong to transform Catholic sexual morality "into mere prohibitions". And he does not rule out the possibility of reviewing the ban on blessing homosexual couples sanctioned in the past by the same dicastery which he is now called to develop.

Your Excellency, in the letter accompanying your appointment, the Pope wrote that the dicastery you will preside over "in other times came to use immoral methods", and that he now expects "something very different" from you: what methods does the Pope refer? Will “doctrinal errors” no longer be corrected in the future?

The deeper meaning of these words is not to make a historical comment. It is clear that today the Vatican would not behave as it did at the time of the inquisition. What Francis mentions wants to express that doctrine should not be treated so much by controlling, sanctioning, forbidding, but above all by making our understanding of it grow, deepening it, bringing out all its richness in study and in dialogue between theologians, but also in dialogue with the current world.

How does you react when they portray you as “progressive”? How would you present yourself?

Both the Pope and I do not feel represented by the word "progressives" because it tends to have a touch of superficiality, of an obsessive search for change, of contempt for the richness that history leaves us, of a passion for innovation as if the new were still better than the old. Between Hitler and St. Francis, I prefer St. Francis even though he is from the Middle Ages. In any case, what interests me is that theology is meaningful, that it speaks to today's man, that it can be understood and assumed as a light for one's existence. And this implies being able to deepen it in dialogue with what is happening to people today, but also the flexibility to find languages that better express the truth in this specific context.

You wrote on Facebook that you are aware that you will have "many cons: there are people who prefer a more rigid, structured way of thinking, at war with the world": who are they? Where am I? How will he deal with them?

Look, I love the variety, the richness, the contributions that come from everywhere. For example, I don't celebrate mass in its traditional form, I think most people today aren't attracted to it, but I like to see it and it doesn't bother me that anyone likes it. Also, in my Archdiocese I created a personal parish so that traditionalists would have a parish priest to look after them. But I don't accept being condemned because I celebrate Mass in Spanish. The problem is people who want to impose a single way of doing theology, a single way of expressing Christian thought, a single style, and do not accept different accents or concerns. Obviously whoever is like this will not be able to tolerate me and it is possible that someone will try to hurt me by any means. But every day I repeat this prayer many times a day: “Protect me, Lord, in you I take refuge. I trust you, I will not be disappointed." I would like to say these words to protect myself from furious anti-Catholics, and I regret having to say them to protect myself from my own brothers in the faith.

Do you think that in the future it will be possible to revise the "responsum" of the then congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which prohibited the possibility of blessing (not: uniting in marriage) homosexual faithful couples?

I believe that the possibility of clarifying it, enriching it, improving it, and perhaps allowing it to be better illuminated by the teachings of Francis, always remains open.

You said that you had initially refused the appointment because she did not feel "prepared or qualified" to deal with the problem of child abuse, and that she accepted in the end because the Pope explained to her that a "fairly autonomous" section is dealing with the issue ”: yet the section still falls under your responsibility and that of abuses is an epochal crisis for the Church: how do you plan to address the issue? Or will the disciplinary section become totally independent from the rest of the dicastery?

This section has excellent experts. Some I know and respect very much. I think it makes no sense for me to waste their time with my opinions. Precisely because of the importance that this question has today for the credibility of the Church, I believe that the best thing I can do is to leave them free to work. That doesn't mean I forget or abandon them. I will give them the help they ask for and be attentive to their needs. But I will direct my time and efforts towards what I feel safe and prepared for, namely theology, reflection on faith, dialogue between faith and science, the relationship between theology, spirituality and pastoral care, the development of a theology capable of listen and light up the world.

Do you share the criticism of those who, for example in Germany, consider Catholic sexual morality to be a set of "no"s far from reality?

There is always the risk of turning morality into mere prohibitions and this certainly won't make it attractive or convincing. It is always better to first show the beauty of the proposal, the objective, the ideal to be realised, the banquet that God serves us.

Do you believe that in the future it will be possible to rethink the role of women in the Church, and how? In what forms?

Certainly. For this we will not need to concentrate the discussion on women's access to holy orders. It would be an impoverishment of the proposal. It is a question of deepening and explaining much better the specific place of women, their most specific contribution. But it is true that if this reflection does not have practical consequences, if the question of power in the Church does not arise, if it is not capable of granting women spaces where she can have a greater impact, this reflection will always be unsatisfactory.

At the 2015 Synodal Assembly on the family, Pope Francis noted that "what seems normal for a bishop of a continent can turn out to be strange, almost like a scandal - almost! - for the bishop of another continent": how do you think the relationship between your dicastery and the local Churches will be articulated, between your dicastery and the ongoing global synod? Where does listening end and orthodoxy begin?

It is the question of inculturation, and it is one of the themes most appreciated by Pope Francis. When he defends the spirituality proper to the poorest in Latin America, their way of living the faith, he shows a concrete way of applying the teaching on the inculturation of the Gospel, of faith, of spirituality. At the same time, Francisco has immense respect for the different ways of being Catholic that exist in different parts of the world, and he frowns on any pretense of uniformity. It would be a betrayal of the Holy Spirit, whose creativity is inexhaustible, and who is capable of producing a unique way of incarnating the Gospel in every place on earth.

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