The prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, has acknowledged that he did not expect a major impact from Venite ad me, the document published on October 22 on the transmission of the faith. In an interview given to Religión Confidencial, the Argentine prelate maintains that the issue does not arouse particular interest either among progressive sectors or among the Church’s conservatives.
Fernández has also revealed that his dicastery has requested the collaboration of the Secretariat of State to promote the reception and application of the text in episcopal conferences.
“He was realistic”: Fernández acknowledges the document’s limited impact
Asked whether he had expected Venite ad me to have greater impact, the prefect replied that he had not, because he was aware of the difficulties involved in translating its proposals into the life of local Churches.
The cardinal explained that numerous episcopal conferences had collaborated during the consultation prior to the document’s drafting, but he acknowledged that its application requires additional effort.
He also ruled out the idea that holding a press conference to present the text would have been advisable, considering that questions would probably have focused on other matters.
In the interview published by Religión Confidencial, Fernández further acknowledged that the dicastery has asked the Secretariat of State for help in requesting that episcopal conferences make an effort to receive and apply the document.
Fernández criticizes the priorities of progressives and conservatives
The prefect attributes the scant interest in the document to the priorities that, in his view, predominate in different ecclesial sectors.
According to Fernández, more progressive bishops pay greater attention to structural changes and dialogue with society, while conservative sectors concentrate especially on the transmission of sexual morality.
The cardinal believes that both orientations relegate the proclamation of Jesus Christ and the personal experience of faith to a secondary place.
In this context, he maintained that Pope Francis’s call to renew the missionary proclamation of the kerygma has not produced significant changes in the pastoral projects of dioceses and movements.
In his opinion, this lack of response explains why the new document has not aroused particular enthusiasm either.
A document on the transmission of the faith
On October 22, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published Venite ad me. Considerations on the Transmission of the Faith in an Age of Change, a text prepared following a consultation process begun during the pontificate of Francis and continued under Leo XIV.
The document addresses the difficulties facing the transmission of the faith in societies where religious practice has declined and traditional mechanisms of Christian formation have weakened.
The text recognizes that in some regions the intergenerational transmission of the faith has practically been interrupted and proposes restoring the centrality of the proclamation of Jesus Christ.
Unlike other doctrinal documents, Venite ad me is presented as a set of considerations intended to stimulate reflection and pastoral work, without claiming to offer a systematic treatment of all the issues addressed.
It was approved by Leo XIV on August 21, 2026, and signed by Fernández and by Monsignor Armando Matteo, secretary of the Doctrinal Section of the dicastery.
The prefect calls for recovering the center of the Gospel
In the final part of the interview, Fernández expresses his concern about what he sees as a shift in ecclesial priorities toward matters that can only be properly understood from the core of the Christian faith.
The cardinal maintains that the renewal of the Church requires returning to its true origin, which he identifies with the encounter with Jesus Christ.
He also mentions the reception of Dilexit nos, Francis’s encyclical on the human and divine love of the Heart of Jesus Christ, and questions the concrete effects it has had on episcopal conferences, dioceses, and movements.
The prefect’s statements come just days after the publication of Venite ad me and reflect his concern over the limited pastoral impact that, according to his own diagnosis, certain documents and calls from the Magisterium have.