After ordination, he held a number of positions including Professor of Fundamental Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University and the Pontifical Lateran University, consultor of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, member of the Central Committee of the Great Jubilee Year 2000 and vice president of the Historical-Theological Commission of the same committee.
He was named rector of the Lateran University on 18 January 2002.[3] On 8 September 2002, he was named a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.[4]
When asked in 2005 if he would give Communion to Italian politicians Romano Prodi and Pier Ferdinando Casini, Fisichella responded that he "did not see a reason" for refusing Communion to Prodi, whereas Casini "knows well the rules of the Church" and does not present himself for Communion.[7]
On 17 June 2008, he was given the title of archbishop and named president of the Pontifical Academy for Life.[8]
In December 2008, he wrote to the members of Luxembourg's legislature, which was considering legislation to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide, saying a Catholic legislator has "the clear obligation to oppose any legislation that is an attack on human life" and that Catholic voters could not vote in good conscience for a legislator who voted for such a law. Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker criticized him for interfering.[9]
On 24 January 2009, he urged US President Barack Obama to listen to all voices in America without "the arrogance of those who, being in power, believe they can decide of life and death."[10] When Obama ended the ban on U.S. funding of organizations that discuss and perform abortion in the developing world, he said: "Among the many good things that he could have done, Barack Obama instead has chosen the worst. If this is one of the first acts of President Obama, with all due respect, it seems to me that the path toward disappointment has been very short."[11]
In a case that attracted international attention in 2009, when Brazilian Archbishop Jose Cardoso Sobrinho said that an abortion performed on a nine-year-old girl pregnant with twins, reportedly fathered by her stepfather, had resulted in excommunication for the mother who arranged for the abortion and the doctors who carried it out, Fisichella defended the doctors in a statement addressed to the girl: "There are others who deserve excommunication and our forgiveness, not those who permitted you to live and who will help you to regain hope and faith." He wrote: "Her life was in serious danger because of the pregnancy in progress. How to act in these cases? An arduous decision for the physician and for the moral law itself. The conscience of the physician finds itself alone when forced to decide the best thing to do. A choice like that of having to save a life, knowing that one puts a second at serious risk, never comes easily."[12]L'Osservatore Romano published Fisichella's essay critical of Sobrinho on its front page.[13][14] Several members of the academy wrote a letter protesting Fisichella's intervention in the case.[15] In July, L'Osservatore Romano published a document issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith called "Clarification on procured abortion", which declared that church teaching on abortion had not changed and will not change.[16]
Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation
On 30 June 2010, Fisichella was appointed as the first president of the planned Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation.[15][17] He was replaced as president of the Pontifical Academy for Life by Monsignor Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, who had served as chancellor of the academy. At the same time, Archbishop Fisichella resigned his position as rector of the Pontifical Lateran University, and Enrico dal Covolo, S.D.B., was appointed as his successor.
Shortly after his appointment, Archbishop Fisichella called for an investigation into who covered up for the Legion of Christ's disgraced founder, Marciel Maciel ("those who took his appointments, those who kept his agenda, those who drove him around"). Fisichella suggested that the Vatican look inside the legion. "We must be able to verify how well-covered up it was inside his congregation, not outside it".[18]
Fisichella's task is to reawaken the faith in traditionally Christian parts of the world, particularly Europe and North America. The idea is that, while the countries within Christendom today were first "evangelised", or converted to Christianity, many centuries ago, today it stands in need of a "new evangelisation" because of a decline of faith in the West. His first, declared project was a celebration in 2012 of the 20th anniversary of the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
During the press conference on the release in October 2010 of the motu proprio authorizing the setting up of the new council, the members of which were appointed in January 2011, Archbishop Fisichella stated that his new office did not yet have an internet connection, or even a computer: "Right now, I'm just hoping to get a computer in my office so I can get on the internet myself."[19]
In February 2011, following public controversies with respect to Bishop Richard Williamson's denial of the Holocaust and the Regensburg lecture's impact on Christian-Muslim relations, Fisichella dismissed as premature the idea of assessing the papacy of Pope Benedict XVI. He said: "We're still at the beginning of a pontificate, and in my opinion it's always difficult to make judgments or offer a far-ranging analysis at the beginning. ...A sense of history should make us prudent and cautious from this point of view."[20]
In March 2012, when former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a Catholic since 2007, expressed support for same sex marriage, Fisichella said: "If the stories in the press about Blair's thinking are true, I think he should examine his conscience carefully".[24]
In May 2017, he said that Pope Benedict XVI should not use the title "Pope emeritus", "which theologically creates more problems rather than solving them". He praised Benedict XVI's decision to retire, but said he hoped another title could be found.[25]
Dicastery for Evangelization
When the apostolic constitutionPraedicate evangelium took effect on 5 June 2022, Fisichella assumed the position of the Pro-prefect for the Section of New Evangelization of the Dicastery for Evangelization.[26] The Dicastery for Evangelization is a merger of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, which Fisichella headed.[27]
The Roman Curia comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See and the central body through which the affairs of the Roman Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia is the institution which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily makes use of in the exercise of his supreme pastoral office and universal mission in the world. It is at the service of the Pope, successor of Peter, and of the Bishops, successors of the Apostles, according to the modalities that are proper to the nature of each one, fulfilling their function with an evangelical spirit, working for the good and at the service of communion, unity and edification of the Universal Church and attending to the demands of the world in which the Church is called to fulfill its mission.
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of the Holy Office in Rome. It was founded to defend the Catholic Church from heresy and is the body responsible for promulgating and defending Roman Catholic doctrine.
Marc Armand Ouellet is a Canadian prelate of the Catholic Church. He was the prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America from 2010 to 2023.
Crescenzio Sepe is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Naples from 2006 to 2020. He served in the Roman Curia as Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples from 2001 to 2006. He was made a cardinal in 2001. Before that he spent 25 years in increasingly important positions in the Roman Curia.
Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson is a Ghanaian prelate and cardinal of the Catholic Church who has served as chancellor of the Pontifical Academies of Sciences since 2022. He was president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace from 2009 to 2017 and the inaugural prefect of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development from 2017 to 2021.
The Dicastery for the Clergy, formerly named Congregation for the Clergy, is the dicastery of the Roman Curia responsible for overseeing matters regarding priests and deacons not belonging to religious orders. The Congregation for the Clergy handles requests for dispensation from active priestly ministry, as well as the legislation governing presbyteral councils and other organisations of priests around the world. The Congregation does not deal with clerical sexual abuse cases, as those are handled exclusively by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Jean Clément Marie Gérard Joseph Françoise Georges Laffitte is a French prelate of the Catholic Church. A bishop since 2009, he has had an academic career and served in several positions in the Roman Curia. He has been Prelate of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta since 4 July 2015.
Agostino Vallini is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church. He has been a cardinal since 2006. From 2008 to 2017 he served as Vicar General of Rome. He is also the Archpriest emeritus of the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran.
Antonio Cañizares Llovera is a Spanish cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who was the Archbishop of Valencia from 2014 to 2022. He was prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments from 2008 to 2014, and archbishop of Toledo and Primate of Spain from 2002 to 2008. He was made a cardinal in 2006.
Vincenzo Paglia is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church. He is the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life and grand chancellor of the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences.
Francesco Coccopalmerio is an Italian cardinal. He was president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts from his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI on 15 February 2007 until his resignation was accepted by Pope Francis on 7 April 2018. He spent his early years in the Archdiocese of Milan and became an auxiliary bishop in 1993. He moved to the Roman Curia in 2000.
The John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences is a Roman Catholic pontifical institute of theological studies on marriage and family with affiliated campuses around the world.
Stanisław Marian Ryłko is a Polish Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He held positions in the Roman Curia beginning in 1987 and was president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity from 2003 to 2016. He was made a cardinal in 2007. He has been Archpriest of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore since 28 December 2016.
Gianfranco Ravasi is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church and a biblical scholar. A cardinal since 2010, he was President of the Pontifical Council for Culture from 2007 to 2022. He headed Milan's Ambrosian Library from 1989 to 2007.
The history of the Roman Curia, the administrative apparatus responsible for managing the affairs of the Holy See and the Catholic Church, can be traced to the 11th century when informal methods of administration began to take on a more organized structure and eventual a bureaucratic form. The Curia has undergone a series of renewals and reforms, including a major overhaul following the loss of the Papal States, which fundamentally altered the range and nature of the Curia's responsibilities, removing many of an entirely secular nature.
The Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, also translated as Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, was a pontifical council of the Roman Curia whose creation was announced by Pope Benedict XVI at vespers on 28 June 2010, eve of the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, to carry out the New Evangelization. On 5 June 2022, the department was merged into the Dicastery for Evangelization.
Robert Sarah is a Guinean prelate of the Catholic Church. A cardinal since 20 November 2010, he was prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments from 23 November 2014 to 20 February 2021. Sarah previously served as secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples under Pope John Paul II and president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum under Pope Benedict XVI.
Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle is a Filipino prelate of the Catholic Church currently serving as the Pro-Prefect for the Section of Evangelization of Dicastery for Evangelization since June 5, 2022, and as the President of Interdicasterial Commission for Consecrated Religious since December 8, 2019. He was the 32nd Archbishop of Manila from 2011 to 2020. Tagle is the Cardinal-Bishop of San Felice da Cantalice a Centocelle and also serves as the President of the Catholic Biblical Federation, Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical Urbaniana University, and as a member of various departments and dicasteries in the Roman Curia.
In 2009, a 9-year-old Brazilian girl was repeatedly raped by her stepfather and became pregnant with twins; the girl's mother helped her procure an abortion, and the pregnancy was terminated. José Sobrinho, a Catholic archbishop, said that the girl's mother and the doctors who performed the abortion had been automatically excommunicated under canon law. This prompted an array of national and international criticism for the archbishop's actions. In response, the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil declared that no one was excommunicated in the case, and in an article published in L'Osservatore Romano, a bioethicist of the Holy See rebuked the archbishop for his public statement.
Praedicate evangelium is an apostolic constitution reforming the Roman Curia and was published and promulgated on 19 March 2022 by Pope Francis; the document took effect on 5 June 2022.
References
↑ "Stemma Mons. Fisichella", Forum dell'Istituto Araldico Genealogico Italiano (in Italian), 21 June 2008, retrieved 4 February 2021
↑ Paticchio, Vincenzo (20 May 2016), "Mons. Rino Fisichella"(PDF), Trinità e Liberazione (in Italian), pp.22–25, retrieved 4 February 2021
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