Vatican, 27 January, 2026 / 12:52 pm (ACI Africa).
Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, warned Tuesday about a culture of “ex cathedra” condemnations online and called for greater humility in the Church to avoid repeating “the same deception that led to the excesses of the Inquisition.”
“Today on any blog, anyone — even without having studied much theology — expresses an opinion and condemns as if speaking ex cathedra,” the cardinal said as he opened the dicastery’s plenary assembly, being held Jan. 27–29 at the Vatican with more than 70 participants, including cardinals, bishops, and experts.
Fernández cautioned that those working in the dicastery — which issues authoritative responses and drafts documents that can become part of the ordinary magisterium — face a particular risk of “losing the breadth of perspectives,” especially given its role in “correcting and condemning.”
From the department that inherited the historical function of the former Holy Office, Fernández urged participants to be “more aware of our limits.”
He also stressed that the Church’s work requires analysis grounded in listening. “We 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,” he said. Employing a favorite term of the late Pope Francis, the cardinal urged more attention to the “peripheries,” where he said things are seen differently.
