Cardinal V\u00edctor Manuel Fern\u00e1ndez said Church officials with censorious attitudes risks promoting \u201cthe same deception that led to the excesses of the Inquisition.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cardinal V\u00edctor Manuel Fern\u00e1ndez, prefect of the Vatican\u2019s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, warned Tuesday about a culture of \u201cex cathedra\u201d condemnations online and called for greater humility in the Church to avoid repeating \u201cthe same deception that led to the excesses of the Inquisition.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cToday on any blog, anyone \u2014 even without having studied much theology \u2014 expresses an opinion and condemns as if speaking ex cathedra,\u201d the cardinal said as he opened the dicastery\u2019s plenary assembly, being held Jan. 27\u201329 at the Vatican with more than 70 participants, including cardinals, bishops, and experts.<\/p>\n
Fern\u00e1ndez cautioned that those working in the dicastery \u2014 which issues authoritative responses and drafts documents that can become part of the ordinary magisterium \u2014 face a particular risk of \u201closing the breadth of perspectives,\u201d especially given its role in \u201ccorrecting and condemning.\u201d<\/p>\n
From the department that inherited the historical function of the former Holy Office, Fern\u00e1ndez urged participants to be \u201cmore aware of our limits.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also stressed that the Church\u2019s work requires analysis grounded in listening. \u201cWe must reflect, think, analyze reality, but by listening to others, welcoming their perspectives, which allow us to perceive other aspects of reality itself through other points of view,\u201d he said. Employing a favorite term of the late Pope Francis, the cardinal urged more attention to the \u201cperipheries,\u201d where he said things are seen differently.<\/p>\n
Fern\u00e1ndez said a fuller understanding ultimately requires God\u2019s light: \u201cTo understand everything fully, we need to be illuminated by God \u2014 we need to invoke him, pray, listen to him, and allow ourselves to be guided by him amid the shadows.\u201d<\/p>\n
He pointed as well to a recent line from Pope Leo XIV: \u201cNo one possesses the whole truth; we must all seek it with humility, and seek it together.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cardinal noted that in theology, the mysteries of the faith form an \u201corganic unity\u201d that cannot be fragmented without losing meaning \u2014 and that even powerful technologies cannot give the human mind exhaustive knowledge of reality in all its dimensions. \u201cThis is only possible for God,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Fern\u00e1ndez concluded by warning that, in an era of rapid scientific and technological development, failing to keep a living sense of human limits can lead to the same kinds of deceptions that have fueled grave evils in history, including wars and mass atrocities.<\/p>\n
Acest articol a fost publicat ini\u021bial de ACI Prensa, serviciul de limb\u0103 spaniol\u0103 al EWTN News. Ea a fost tradus\u0103 \u0219i adaptat\u0103 de EWTN News English.<\/p>\n