Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith

Leadership

About Victor Manuel Fernandez

Víctor Manuel Fernández, known as 'Tucho', was born on 18 July 1962 in Alcira Gigena, Córdoba Province, Argentina. His father Emilio was a shopkeeper and supporter of radical political leader Raúl Alfonsín. Fernández entered the seminary in 1978 and was ordained a deacon on 21 December 1985 and a priest on 15 August 1986 for the Diocese of Villa de la Concepción del Río Cuarto. He completed his licentiate in theology at the Catholic University of Argentina in 1990, and in 1993 obtained a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome. His early career focused on catechesis and seminary formation in Río Cuarto, and he served as parish priest of Santa Teresita Parish from 1993 to 2000. In 2009, then-Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio nominated him rector of the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina (UCA), a selection initially resisted by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith before being confirmed in 2011. Pope Francis, shortly after his election, named Fernández titular Archbishop of Tiburnia in 2013 as a signal of trust, and later Archbishop of La Plata in 2018. Fernández is widely recognized as a principal collaborator in drafting key Francis documents including Evangelii Gaudium, Laudato Si', and Amoris Laetitia. On 1 July 2023, Pope Francis appointed him Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, and created him a cardinal-deacon on 30 September 2023.

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The oldest dicastery of the Roman Curia. Promotes and protects the integrity of Catholic doctrine on faith and morals. Comprises Doctrinal and Disciplinary Sections.

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