Pope Francis thanked Cardinal Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, S.J., at the end of his term as Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, President of the Pontifical Biblical Commission and of the International Theological Commission and has called to succeed him in the same posts Monsignor Víctor Manuel Fernández, until now Archbishop of La Plata, capital city of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. He will take possession of his post in mid-September of this year.
About the First Argentine Prefect of the Doctrine of the Faith
Monsignor Víctor Manuel Fernández was born on July 18, 1962 in Alcira Gigena, in the Argentine Province of Córdoba. He was ordained a priest on August 15, 1986 for the diocese of Villa de la Concepción del Rio Cuarto, Argentina. He obtained a degree in Theology with a biblical specialization from Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University and, subsequently, a Doctorate in Theology from Buenos Aires’ Faculty of Theology.
From 1993 to 2000 he was parish priest of Saint Thérèse’s church in Rio Cuarto, Córdoba. He was Founder and Director of the Institute of Lay Formation and of Jesus the Good Shepherd Teacher Training College of the same city. He was also Formator of Seminaries in his diocese as well as Director of Ecumenism and Director of Catechesis.
In 2007 he took part in the 5th Conference of the Latin American Episcopate, held in Aparecida, Brazil, as priest representative of Argentina and, subsequently, as member of the Writing Group of the Final Document.
From 2008 to 2009 he was Dean of the Faculty of Theology of the Argentine Pontifical Catholic University and President of the Argentine Theological Society.
He was Rector of the Argentine’s Pontifical Catholic University from 2009 to 2018.
On May 13, 2023, Pope Francis appointed him Archbishop.
He participated as a member in the Synod of Bishops of 2014 and 2015 on the Family, in which he also formed part of the writing groups. In the 2017 Assembly of the Argentine Episcopal Conference, he was elected President of the Faith and Culture Episcopal Commission (Doctrinal Commission).
He became Archbishop of La Plata in June of 2018.
He has been a member of the Pontifical Council for Culture and Consultant of the Congregation for Catholic Education. At present he is a member of the Dicastery for Culture and Education.
Among the books and articles he has authored are over 300 publications, many of them translated into several languages. These writings reflect an important biblical base and a constant effort to make Theology dialogue with culture, the evangelizing mission, spirituality and social issues.
