In a letter dated 1 July, addressed to the new Prefect of the Dicastery for the Faith (ddf), Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández, Pope Francis said the task entrusted to him was one he considers very valuable. Indeed, its central purpose, he underlined, is to guard the teaching that flows from the faith. The Holy Father asked the newly appointed Prefect to promote impetus for the transmission of the faith in the service of evangelization, adding that we need a way of thinking that presents a God who loves, forgives, saves, liberates, and promotes people and calls them to fraternal service. In the letter, the Pope asked the new Prefect to encourage a proclamation that concentrates on the essential, and warned him against overshadowing central issues with secondary ones.
Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández, who succeeds Cardinal Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer as Prefect of the ddf , will also serve as president of the Pontifical Biblical Commission. Archbishop Fernández, until now Archbishop of La Plata, Argentina, will take up his duties in mid-September 2023.