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Vatican to publish document on ‘moral questions’ regarding human dignity, gender, surrogacy

Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández, pictured here in 2014, is the archbishop of La Plata, Argentina. He will take up his new post as prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith in September 2023. / Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Rome Newsroom, Apr 2, 2024 / 15:15 pm (CNA).

The Vatican’s top doctrinal office next week will unveil a new declaration on the theme of human dignity, one that is expected to address a range of contemporary moral issues including gender ideology and surrogacy.

The Holy See Press Office announced on Tuesday that the new document, titled Dignitas Infinita (“Infinite Dignity”) (On Human Dignity), will be debuted at a press conference held in Rome on April 8.

The conference will include presentations by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF); Monsignor Armando Matteo, secretary for the doctrinal section of the DDF; and Professor Paola Scarcella of Rome’s Tor Vergata and LUMSA universities.

In an interview with the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, in early March, Fernández said there had been “several versions” of the text and that it was “almost finished” and would be published in “early April.”

The cardinal’s comments came after he told Spanish news agency EFE in January that the text would address “not only social issues but also a strong criticism of moral questions such as sex-change surgery, surrogacy, and gender ideology.”

In recent months and years Pope Francis has spoken out strongly on these topics. In a January address to the ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, the pope called surrogacy “deplorable.”

In March, meanwhile, the Holy Father labeled transgender ideology as “the ugliest danger” today, one that “seeks to blur differences between men and women.”

Since assuming the top spot at the DDF last September, Fernández has faced backlash over the December DDF document Fiducia Supplicans, which allowed for the “spontaneous” (nonliturgical) blessing of same-sex couples as well as those in “irregular” unions.

The Argentine cardinal in his interview with EFE argued that “people who are concerned” about his work will “be put at ease” by the new document.

Since the publication of Fiducia Supplicans, Pope Francis has publicly defended the directive on numerous occasions. In February he argued that individuals who are critical of blessings for homosexuals are guilty of “hypocrisy” if they are not similarly opposed to blessings for certain other types of sinners.

Some of the strongest pushback against Fiducia Supplicans has come from the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) as well as from other Christian leaders with which the Church holds ecumenical dialogue.


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13 Comments

  1. When will Cardinal Fernandez be investigated for his published account of an erotic conversation he claimed to have had with a sixteen year old girl? That is hardly appropriate pastoral behavior.

    • Exactly, Lucy.

      I’m pretty sure he’s not the one to be in charge of issuing pronouncements on any kinds of moral issues, contemporary or ancient.

      The epically failed Bergoglio imbroglio grinds on.

      And on.

      And on…

    • Around the same time Francis will be called to account for his frivolous disregard for safeguarding the Deposit of Faith.

    • We must differentiate between the man and his work to some extent. Michelangelo, who created the famous fresco “The Creation “ in The sistine chapel , was far from being a saint. We must also allow for repentance and change. We never know what is in the heart of a man.Ones past doesn’t necessarily determine his future. We must also remember that sometimes bad men do good things and good men do bad things. Life is very messy and multi dimensional and we must be careful in passing judgment. In this case let’s see what he says and take him at his word, not reading his motives into it.

  2. “The Argentine cardinal in his interview with EFE argued that “people who are concerned” about his work will “be put at ease” by the new document.”

    To me it sounds like a habitual (sadly) Vatican’s line: “I say something that violates the Church’s teaching and all are shocked and demand explanations; I will explain nothing but to pacify them and to regain credibility I then say something in a line with the Church’s teaching on another topic so all would sigh in relief.”
    This works only for those with a fragmented memory i.e. who are unable to remember bashing when they are given flowers after it, even if it is a years long cycle (bashing – flowers, bashing – flowers etc.).

    The words of Fernandez and those who cover him mean nothing to me until he repents and removes his ‘FS’ and pseudo-mystical staff. Noteworthy, being on alert and discerning possible deception is not only exhausting but also damaging for a spiritual life. It is an abnormal situation when a believer should be on guard against deceptions and heresies… in his own Church.

    It is detrimental for a soul not to be able to trust those who in a normal situation are supposed to be trusted. It is like not trusting your own father.

  3. We read: “The Argentine cardinal in his interview with EFE argued that ‘people who are concerned’ about his work will ‘be put at ease’ by the new document.”

    Four easing questions about the new document:

    1. Does it replace the Natural Law in its entirety with only a shortlist of prohibitions?

    2. Does it explicitly support the “Catechism,” or does it confuse? Is “Veritatis Splendor” still ignored, of possibly now dismissed as a “special case”–like all of continental Africa, Poland, Hungary, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Peru, and parts of Argentina, France, Spain, etc. (re Fiducia Supplicans)?

    3. Is the document consistent with “Il dono della vita” (“Respect for Human Life in Origin and the Dignity of Procreation,” John Paul II/Ratzinger, February 22, 1987), or not?

    The standing document offers direct and succinct answers to direct and numbered questions submitted by “episcopal conferences or individual bishops, by theologians, doctors and scientists, concerning biomedical techniques [….and in] conformity with the principles of Catholic morality.”

    4. Does the document really put the disrupted Church “at ease”–by rescinding the verbose novelty in Fiducia Supplicans? Or, are the lips of Cardinal Fernandez silent? Rescind or re-sinned?

    • Good points. I fear that even if it seems to support orthodoxy, it will not be on the basis of innate natural law, but it will undermine moral truth by making it seem like Catholic idiosyncrasies.

  4. I read the opening title to this piece that reads: “Vatican to publish document on ‘moral questions’ regarding human dignity, gender, surrogacy” and immediately thought it was intended as satirical.

  5. Having tragically abused so many physically, the plan is to selectively abuse all of us theologically. This is at the hardened heart of clericalism, the very antithesis of service.

  6. Praying for clarification though “morals” are often the umbrella under which non-religious or broadly religious societies categorize and classify what they hold to be truisms about healthy attitudes and behaviors.

    The Catholic Church teaches Truth “authored” by God the Father, embodied in the Person of Jesus Christ, and moved in the currents of consciences by the Holy Spirit.

    The former–morals–may bend, be distorted, or even introduced or eliminated depending on the egoism of humans; the Church teachings are immutable with respect to the fundamental knowledge and understanding of the person and personhood.

    Moreover, since the origin of the Church, incredibly wise and able theologians have developed and shared Truth, emulated by great saints. Always present in authentic doctrine has been the dignity of all persons, as they are created in the image and likeness of God. (It has been individuals who for whatever reason have disrespected their own or others’ being.) Later generations have express fundamental and foundational truths in novel or timely ways to best evangelize the populace of any give time period, but the essence remains constant.

    We shall see about this document…yes?

  7. I will not read the document. Possible Heresy is not my cup of tea. Anything coming from Jorge Bergoglio or his Vatican henchmen are not to be trusted. Period.

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