Cardinal V Ctor Manuel Fern Ndez

Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández delivered the principal theological meditation during the second session of the first day of Pope Leo XIV’s Extraordinary Consistory The College of Cardinals concluded the first day of Pope Leo XIV’s Extraordinary Consistory with Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández clarifying the Pope’s call for the Catholic Church to move beyond the traditional just war theory. Following presentations by the working groups, the remainder of the afternoon was devoted to open interventions from cardinals, who returned repeatedly to the themes of the Pope’s landmark encyclical. According to the Holy See Press Office, the interventions centred on the need for Christians to transform society through the witness of their lives, while many cardinals expressed gratitude for what they described as the spirit of communion fostered during the Consistory. The Holy See said the discussions stressed Christian witness as the means by which “mentalities and cultures” could be changed, with cardinals reflecting that authentic evangelisation depended not simply on words but on lives capable of demonstrating the Gospel before an increasingly sceptical world. The interventions also returned to one of the most striking passages of Magnifica Humanitas , in which Pope Leo acknowledged that the Church had been too slow in unequivocally condemning slavery. According to the Holy See, cardinals said the Pope’s forthright admission had “opened the hearts of millions to the Gospel”, bringing “light and hope to the Church”. Rather than weakening the Church’s witness, they suggested that the Pope’s willingness to confront painful chapters of history had strengthened its credibility in the modern world. Cardinals also described the encyclical as a personal appeal directed not only to Catholics generally but particularly to members of the College of Cardinals, calling them to assume responsibility for building peace in a world marked by conflict and instability. They noted the continuing importance of symbolic acts of reconciliation, recalling St John Paul II’s Prayer Meeting for Peace in Assisi in 1986 as an example of the Church exercising moral leadership beyond political divisions. The session concluded shortly before 7.30 pm with Pope Leo leading the cardinals in prayer. Earlier in the day, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, delivered the principal theological meditation on the fifth chapter of Magnifica Humanitas , offering what amounted to the clearest exposition yet of Pope Leo’s teaching on war and legitimate defence. Cardinal Fernández argued that the encyclical’s originality lay not simply in its treatment of armed conflict but in its diagnosis of what it calls the “culture” of power, a global mentality that enables wars to emerge and continue with diminishing resistance from societies increasingly shaped by modern communications and artificial intelligence. He said the encyclical’s most significant doctrinal development was its assertion that “the ‘just war’ theory […] is outdated”, explaining that Pope Leo was not abandoning the Church’s concern for legitimate defence but warning that the traditional doctrine had “all too often been used to justify any kind of war”. “The Church’s Social Doctrine is manipulated to provide a theoretical foundation for the most unjust wars,” Cardinal Fernández said. “Instead of stopping wars, it helps to justify them.” He insisted that legitimate self-defence remained part of Catholic teaching, but only when understood “in the strictest sense”, rejecting broad interpretations that had been used to justify so-called pre-emptive wars. Recalling the Catechism’s traditional conditions governing legitimate defence, Cardinal Fernández stressed that military action could only be justified where grave and certain aggression had occurred, all peaceful means had failed, success remained realistically possible, and military action would not inflict greater harm than the evil being resisted. He argued that these principles had become increasingly difficult to satisfy given the destructive capacity of modern weapons. “The destruction of entire cities cannot be considered a proportionate defensive action,” he said, before citing Gaza and southern Lebanon as examples where the scale of military intervention had become impossible to reconcile with classical Catholic teaching on proportionality. “The enormous disproportion of the military interventions in Gaza and southern Lebanon, for example, is evident,” he said. Referring to civilian casualties and widespread destruction, he added that “the percentage of civilian deaths relative to the total population, the enormous number of children killed… and the number of homes bombed allow us to speak of total destruction.” He argued that appeals to self-defence had become increasingly elastic, not only in the Middle East but also in Ukraine and elsewhere, asking: “What remains of the conditions that sought to limit wars?” Cardinal Fernández suggested that contemporary conflicts reflected a broader cultural shift identified by the encyclical as the “normalisation of war” and a “troubling revival of war as an instrument of international politics”, accompanied by what Pope Leo describes as a “loss of historical memory”. The Argentine cardinal warned that this culture was sustained through systematic misinformation, the discrediting of political opponents, and the cultivation of fear. Quoting directly from the encyclical, he said modern politics increasingly relied upon “misinformation and ridiculing opponents, and systematically cultivating fears and resentments”, creating “an environment in which new conflicts can develop almost imperceptibly”. He also criticised what he described as a false political realism that dismissed peace as naïve. “This so-called realism,” he said, “dismisses peace and dialogue as utopian or irrational positions that ignore the risks at stake.” He warned that even bishops could become trapped by such thinking through fear of appearing unrealistic. Cardinal Fernández also criticised what he called selective moral consistency in international affairs, pointing to differing responses to conflicts depending on political alliances. He argued that countries often condemned abuses committed by adversaries while overlooking similar violations committed by allies, concluding that geopolitical interests frequently displaced objective moral principles. The cardinal’s meditation concluded on a more hopeful note, presenting Catholic social teaching as offering a coherent alternative to ideological polarisation. He said the Church remained distinctive because it consistently defended unborn life while simultaneously protecting migrants, opposing war, defending vulnerable populations, and rejecting abortion, all without becoming captive to electoral politics or ideological factions. “It always proclaims the saving love of Christ,” he said, “but never separates it from the constant defence of human dignity in every circumstance, since such a defence lies at the heart of the Gospel.” He ended by turning the challenge back upon the bishops themselves, asking whether local Churches reflected the same integrity found in papal teaching or whether they too had succumbed to the culture of power that the encyclical seeks to overcome.

Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández has criticised a 2006 Vatican doctrinal notification against liberation theologian Fr Jon Sobrino, arguing it risked portraying theology rooted in “the context of the poor” as “inadequate and dangerous”. Speaking in Rome, the DDF prefect also revealed his own defence of “contextual theology” once caused difficulties with the doctrinal dicastery Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández has criticised a 2006 Vatican doctrinal notification against the Jesuit theologian Fr Jon Sobrino. Speaking at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome on 12 May, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith said the notification, issued by the then Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Cardinal William Levada, appeared to suggest that “theology made in the context of the poor is inadequate and dangerous”. The Argentine cardinal made the remarks during the opening address of a study day titled “Milestones in Contextual Theology Today”, in which he spoke at length on theological development, inculturation and the influence of Pope Francis on contemporary Catholic thought. The 2006 notification, approved by Pope Benedict XVI, examined two works by the Spanish Jesuit Fr Jon Sobrino, a leading figure in liberation theology. The congregation concluded the books contained “notable discrepancies with the faith of the Church”, particularly in relation to Christology, the divinity of Christ and the methodological foundations of theological reflection. In the document, the congregation objected to Fr Sobrino’s assertion that “the poor” constitute a privileged theological locus in Latin American theology. It argued instead “the ecclesial foundation of Christology may not be identified with ‘the Church of the poor’, but is found rather in the apostolic faith transmitted through the Church for all generations”. Cardinal Fernández directly addressed those criticisms in his lecture, recalling that many Latin American theologians had struggled to understand parts of the notification. “One of the strong points of Latin American theology is the importance of taking the historical context into account in theological reflection,” he said. “The problem with this document is that it applies the expression ‘from’ only to ecclesial tradition, in such a way that expressions such as ‘thinking from pastoral experience’, ‘thinking from motherhood’, or ‘thinking from the suffering of the poor’ are excluded.” He added: “What we call ‘contextual theology’ would always be viewed with suspicion.” The cardinal argued the notification did not sufficiently encourage theologians to engage with the social realities surrounding them. “This does not encourage the effort to take seriously the context in which theological reflection takes place,” he said. “It seems to indicate rather that theology made in the context of the poor is inadequate and dangerous, that is, that the life of the poor may occupy only a marginal place in the reflection of faith.” Cardinal Fernández also revealed his own defence of contextual theology caused difficulties with the doctrinal dicastery more than a decade ago. He recalled publishing an article in 2007, shortly before the Latin American bishops’ conference at Aparecida, in which he argued although the faith of the Church remained the “fundamental point of departure”, this did not exclude “other complementary points of departure” linked to concrete historical situations. The article resurfaced in 2010 when the Argentine episcopate proposed him as rector of the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina. According to Cardinal Fernández, the doctrinal congregation delayed granting the required nihil obstat after concerns were raised over the text. “There was at that time an exchange of letters with the dicastery, which forced me to publish a new article in which I would have to retract my affirmations,” His Eminence said. Instead, he published a second article in 2011 in which he restated his earlier arguments while stressing “it is precisely the faith of the Church that provides the most solid and profound foundations to look at the poor as God looks at them”. He also maintained fidelity to tradition alone could leave Christians indifferent to the circumstances in which people suffer. “The simple fact of accepting the tradition of the Church can leave us indifferent to the history into which God has inserted us, if at the same time we do not have our eyes open to what is happening around us,” he said. Cardinal Fernández linked those ideas closely to the pontificate of Pope Francis, saying the late pope had consistently insisted reality is better understood from the peripheries and through the experience of the poor. Cardinal Fernández quoted from Francis’s 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, in which the pope warned against abstract thinking detached from lived reality. “The idea disconnected from reality gives rise to ineffective idealisms and nominalisms,” the passage states. “What engages people is reality illuminated by reason.” The lecture also explored the relationship between contextual theology and inculturation, which Cardinal Fernández described as interconnected but distinct processes. Inculturation, he said, involves the long-term embedding of the Gospel within a culture, while contextual theology responds more immediately to particular historical events and social circumstances. Drawing on the documents of the Second Vatican Council, he argued theological reflection develops more fully when it engages with the experiences and cultures of different peoples. He cited the decree Ad Gentes, which called for theological research to re-examine revealed truths within differing socio-cultural settings, and said such engagement allows aspects of revelation to emerge may otherwise remain unnoticed. Cardinal Fernández also referred to the thought of Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II in support of his argument. He quoted Benedict XVI’s encyclical Deus Caritas Est: “Closing our eyes to our neighbour also blinds us to God.” He also cited John Paul II’s Novo Millennio Ineunte, in which the Polish pope wrote that Christ must be recognised especially in the faces of those with whom He identified Himself. The cardinal further argued that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith itself had previously recognised the value of contextual theology. He pointed to the 1986 instruction Libertatis Conscientia, issued under Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, which stated that theological reflection developed “starting from a particular experience” could make a “very positive contribution” by highlighting dimensions of the Word of God not previously perceived in full. Although Cardinal Fernández criticised aspects of the 2006 notification, he did not reject the authority of Church doctrine or dogmatic formulations. Instead, he repeatedly insisted that contextual theology must remain linked to revelation and the faith of the Church. “The faith of the Church is certainly the fundamental point of departure, the principal theological locus,” he said, while arguing that historical and social realities also shape how revelation is understood and expressed. The original notification on Fr Sobrino emerged during a period of heightened Vatican scrutiny of liberation theology in Latin America. While the movement’s concern for the poor was frequently praised by Rome, Church authorities also warned against interpretations influenced by Marxist analysis or approaches thought to weaken orthodox teaching on Christ and salvation. Fr Sobrino, who taught for many years in El Salvador and was closely associated with the murdered Archbishop St Óscar Romero, became one of liberation theology’s most prominent theologians.