Cardinal Fernández says neither progressives nor conservatives show interest in new evangelization document
The prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith said his office's recent document on handing on the faith has drawn little attention from progressive or conservative circles in the Church
Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández publicly acknowledged that the document his office published recently on handing on the faith has drawn little attention in progressive Church circles or in conservative and traditional ones. Fernández is prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office responsible for Church teaching. He spoke to Religion Confidencial, a Spanish Catholic news outlet, and said the indifference runs across the board.
In local churches led by bishops of a progressive outlook there is no real concern for promoting an intense, personal encounter with Christ, Fernández said. The same is true, he said, in the more traditional or conservative sectors. Pope Francis's call for a renewed missionary proclamation of the kerygma has not changed the pastoral plans of dioceses or movements, he said. That is why the core of the new document, which is closely tied to that call, has not stirred passions in any quarter.
Fernández described the differing interests of each camp. Progressives focus on structural change and on dialogue with society, he said, while conservatives direct their energies toward handing on sexual morality. In neither case, he said, is it a central aim to awaken in the faithful a living and attractive experience of Christ.
Fernández said the underlying problem is that awakening in believers a captivating encounter with the living Christ, who offers his friendship and a new life, sounds "romantic" to both sides, almost disconnected from reality. "And precisely on that point, progressives and conservatives agree," he added.
