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ANALYSIS: Only one visible presence has remained close to Pope Francis throughout the pontificate — Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was in the past called La Suprema — “The Supreme [Congregation]” — and the Pope himself was its prefect. Over time, the Secretariat of State surpassed and eclipsed the CDF. Paul VI made the Secretariat of State the coordination center of the entire Roman Curia.
Then came Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who became Benedict XVI, and chose Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone as his secretary of state. Cardinal Bertone had been Cardinal Ratzinger’s second-in-command at the CDF, and he wasn’t a diplomat. Some described the choice as a return to the centrality of the doctrine of faith in the life of the Church, and even saw the appointment as a political act that certified a resurgency of the CDF as La Suprema.
Benedict XVI’s pontificate, however, showed that such a reading was rather inexact at best. Even during the busy and heady year of 2006, in which Benedict made many of the most significant changes in personnel and charted the course of his pontificate, he never behaved antagonistically.
Benedict tried to unite rather than divide. He called to his side long-time diplomats such as Cardinal Ivan Dias and Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo and, at the same time, members and former members of the CDF. During the pontificate of Benedict XVI, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith continued its work, and it was never perceived that it had a different weight or a more significant impact. No revenge for La Suprema, then.
Continued below.
www.ncregister.com
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was in the past called La Suprema — “The Supreme [Congregation]” — and the Pope himself was its prefect. Over time, the Secretariat of State surpassed and eclipsed the CDF. Paul VI made the Secretariat of State the coordination center of the entire Roman Curia.
Then came Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who became Benedict XVI, and chose Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone as his secretary of state. Cardinal Bertone had been Cardinal Ratzinger’s second-in-command at the CDF, and he wasn’t a diplomat. Some described the choice as a return to the centrality of the doctrine of faith in the life of the Church, and even saw the appointment as a political act that certified a resurgency of the CDF as La Suprema.
Benedict XVI’s pontificate, however, showed that such a reading was rather inexact at best. Even during the busy and heady year of 2006, in which Benedict made many of the most significant changes in personnel and charted the course of his pontificate, he never behaved antagonistically.
Benedict tried to unite rather than divide. He called to his side long-time diplomats such as Cardinal Ivan Dias and Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo and, at the same time, members and former members of the CDF. During the pontificate of Benedict XVI, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith continued its work, and it was never perceived that it had a different weight or a more significant impact. No revenge for La Suprema, then.
Continued below.
Pope Francis and the Return of the ‘Suprema’
ANALYSIS: Only one visible presence has remained close to Pope Francis throughout the pontificate — Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández.
