Cardinal Fernández Shares More Details on Upcoming ‘Transmission of the Faith’ Document| National Catholic Register
DDF prefect tells Spanish publication it will cover generational breakdown, attractive evangelization, and the role of liturgy ahead of imminent release.
Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández has given further details of the upcoming Vatican document on the “transmission of the faith,” saying it will examine reasons for the failure to transmit the faith between generations, finding ways of making preaching the Gospel attractive and considering questions regarding the liturgy.
In May 19 comments to Javier Arias of the Spanish online publication Religión Confidencial, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) said the document will cover “the breakdown in intergenerational transmission in many countries, which in some cases begins to manifest itself suddenly, and considerations regarding the possible causes of this breakdown.”
He also said it will address “the importance of the quality of the community in the transmission of the faith and in welcoming those who approach or return to the faith.”
The text will examine “the need to find ways to proclaim in an attractive manner the kerygma” — the preaching or proclamation of the Gospel — so that it is “capable of provoking an experience of encounter with the Lord.”
The DDF prefect also said that the role of the liturgy will be considered, “recalling cases such as the conversion of St. Augustine and so many others.”
The Register reported last week that the DDF was preparing the major new document, drawing on a global consultation of episcopal conferences, experts and researchers on how the faith is handed on today, after bishops had raised concerns that the process has broken down in many places.
Cardinal Fernández said the draft also partly grew out of Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (Joy of the Gospel) and was given impetus by feedback from bishops during ad limina visits and dicastery meetings.
In his comments to Religion Confidencial, Cardinal Fernández said the new document on the faith will examine how, in some countries with Christian minorities, “possibilities have been opened up by the Church’s educational institutions.” Another theme that will appear in the document will be “a new deepening of the question of inculturation, so present in St. John Paul II.”
He added there will also be “new reflections” on the praeambula fidei — preambles of the faith, or fundamental truths, popularized by St. Thomas Aquinas that serve as a rational foundation to prepare the mind for faith — as well as on the mystagogical dimension of catechesis,” which involves the teaching of the meaning of the sacred mysteries.
The cardinal reiterated that the new document will incorporate input from bishops around the world, including a range of nuances and themes that require further study.
In his May 15 comments to the Register, Cardinal Fernandez stressed that the document will avoid one-size-fits-all answers and instead reflect the diversity of the universal Church.
He also said the dicastery remains busy with other daily work and the reception of Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, to be released on May 25, but told Religion Confidencial that the DDF document will be published “soon.”
