[Cath Cauc]Predecessor of new La Plata Archbishop Ordered to Depart His Diocese Immediately

It is a story that reads like a passage from The Dictator Pope: Pope Francis recently accepted the age-related resignation of Héctor Aguer, the Archbishop of La Plata, Argentina — the capital city of the Buenos Aires province — and will replace him with his close confidant and ghostwriter, Archbishop Víctor Manuel “Tucho” Fernández. Not only did the pope accept the resignation of Archbishop Aguer within just a few days of its mandatory submission, he also ordered him, through the nunciature, to immediately leave the diocese and not to remain there for his retirement.

On 2 June, the Vatican announced the pope’s decision on Archbishop Aguer’s replacement. The press statement says:

What our readers might not know is that Archbishop Aguer had submitted his resignation only a week previously, on 24 May. According to Elisabetta Piqué, writing for the Argentinian daily La Nación, the fact that the pope accepted Aguer’s resignation so quickly “represents a sign of the change in leadership that lies in wait for the archdiocese.” Piqué notes in particular the expectation that, following Aguer’s departure, the diocese — known for its “conservative positions” and “confrontational style” as well as for being “almost obsessed with issues of sexual morality” will take on “an entirely different and renewing stamp” under its new Archbishop. Piqué reports that Aguer and Bergoglio were auxiliary bishops together in Buenos Aires from 1992 to 1998, and that they were “always ‘friends'” — the quotes around “friends” are in the original — but with “very different styles” and ideas.

Perhaps the most important part of the story comes from a history of conflict between Bergoglio, with his friend Tucho, and the more orthodox elements in the Argentine Church. As Piqué notes, there was the matter of a years-long battle Bergoglio waged against “a conservative Argentine ecclesiastical lobby” when he became Archbishop of Buenos Aires, fighting for his friend, Fernández, to become rector of the Pontifical Universidad Católica Argentina. A lobby of which, Piqué implies — though does not state directly — Aguer was a part. (The reasons for that battle are not insignificant, and we will return to them in a moment.)

If the Archbishop had simply had his resignation accepted at the mandatory age of seventy-five, the story might end there. But there is more at work.

Some of the following information stems from Archbishop Aguer’s own last homily given on 2 June, as well as from a piece published on the well-informed Argentine traditionalist blog, the Wanderer (not to be confused with the American Catholic newspaper of the same name). What is depicted is the rapid and even callous removal of a beloved prelate and pro-life champion who had served his diocese for almost two decades — but who had also been one of Jorge Bergoglio’s most noteworthy conservative opponents within the Argentine episcopacy. From the Wanderer report, we read:

We have been able to confirm some of these facts independently with another Argentine source. This source, however, adds information about new developments in this case since 2 June, namely that Archbishop Aguer has now been granted a few more days in order to celebrate one last farewell Mass and in order to find a new home for himself. He still will not be granted the role of transferring his diocese into the hands of his successor. Thus, while there is a small mitigation, the fundamental injustice in his case remains the same.

This stern method of operation reveals, in the eyes of the writer of the Wanderer post, an “unveiled revenge and manifestation of the lack not only of Christian but also human virtues, and even of the most elemental chivalry” as it is shown by Pope Francis. The article continues, saying that Mons. Aguer “had a good reputation and he was appreciated by most of the Argentine faithful, as well, because of the clarity with which he said things and because of his courage in defending the Gospel.” Moreover, he was especially clear with regard to the problem of abortion. (See here a CNA report which shows his impressive language and resistance in 2007.) In fact, even his final homily on June 2nd was dedicated in large part to admonishing those considering voting in support of legalization of elective abortion in Argentina later this month. Only at the very end of his sermon did he reveal that the Holy See had informed him this Corpus Christi homily was to be his “farewell” to the people he had served for so long.

The report from the Wanderer continues: “In the midst of the debate over abortion, Aguer’s voice had been particularly clear, and Catholics who are fighting a good battle found true leadership in him.” In a piercing conclusion, the author wonders if this “silver bullet” — removing Archbishop Aguer only to replace him with a direct agent of the Bergoglian “reform” who will undo much of his predecessor’s work — will backfire on Francis himself: “To remove him in such a humiliating way will cause many of those faithful to wind up understanding who Bergoglio really is.”

Subsequently, the Wanderer blog presents much about the background of Archbishop Fernández and his personal history in Argentina, based on eyewitness accounts. The author alleges that Fernández is known for being a careerist willing to advance his own position at the expense of his peers. Most importantly, the blog says that Fernández has a large influence over Pope Francis’ teaching, to include his Apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia. Sandro Magister’s work exposing that several passages of AL are essentially plagiarisms of Fernández’ own earlier writings are referenced on this point.

Not mentioned — but very significant to this story — is the fact that these writings of Fernández that were later transformed, in part, into Amoris Laetitia, were the same ones that got him in trouble with the conservative Argentinian bishops in the first place. As Sandro Magister reported in May of 2016, “they actually gave cause to the Congregation for Catholic Education to block his candidacy for the position of rector of the Universidad Católica Argentina.”

It is with this understanding that one can begin to see why suspicions of revenge are on the lips of some Argentinian Catholics. The cleric who was opposed for his unorthodox positions has not only seen them included in the seminal work of a pope — but has now been promoted and placed by that same pope in the position of one of his most noteworthy opponents.

Also highlighted by the Wanderer is Fernández’ 1995 book, Heal Me With Your Mouth — The Art of Kissing, a text well-known to critics of Fernández. Perhaps even more shockingly, the blog quotes from an article written by Fernández shortly after the papal election of Bergoglio, in which, while seeking to defend the new pope, Fernández uses vulgar phrases such as “let’s not f*** [around]” (“No jodamos”) and “sh**,” saying, for example, that “Bergoglio did not sh** anyone” (“Bergoglio no cagó a nadie”). [We are sorry to have to use such words here, but they are very revealing of the mind and recklessness of this prelate who was made an archbishop only two months after Bergoglio became a pope.] This was Fernández’ attempt at painting a sympathetic portrait of Bergoglio, saying that with him there is now a chance “to bring Christ back into the center of the Church.”

Luis Alvarez Primo, a graduate of the Universidad Católica Argentina and former professor of Political Philosophy, spoke with OnePeterFive about the resignation and replacement of Archbishop Aguer. Primo noted that La Plata is the “second most important diocese in Argentina,” and that it would now be headed up by a man known, not for his intellectual or doctrinal erudition, but rather for the kind of work outlined above. Primo also recalled “the less than fraternal relationship that Bergoglio had with Archbishop Aguer,” and the uses to which Fernández has been employed during the present pontificate, adding the concern that Fernández was appointed to “destroy the very good Catholic episcopal work by Archbisop Héctor Aguer” who was, in Primo’s opinion, “probably the best bishop in Argentina for the last 10 years.”

Primo noted that Aguer “was one of the few bishops who headed a pro-life campaign against abortion at a time when congress in Argentina is about to pass a law repealing all restrictions on abortion.”

He summed up the entire affair as “Another lost Catholic battle in the culture wars.”

Onepeterfive has reached out to both press offices of the Vatican and of the Archdiocese of La Plata, asking for comment. Should we receive an answer, we shall update this post.

Jeremiah 23 Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” says the Lord. 2 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the Lord. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, says the Lord.

The Righteous Branch of David

5 “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when men shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 8 but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he[a] had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.”

False Prophets of Hope Denounced

9 Concerning the prophets:

My heart is broken within me,

all my bones shake;

I am like a drunken man,

like a man overcome by wine,

because of the Lord

and because of his holy words.

For the land is full of adulterers;

because of the curse the land mourns,

and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.

Their course is evil,

and their might is not right.

“Both prophet and priest are ungodly;

even in my house I have found their wickedness,

says the Lord.

Therefore their way shall be to them

like slippery paths in the darkness,

into which they shall be driven and fall;

for I will bring evil upon them

in the year of their punishment,

says the Lord.

In the prophets of Samar′ia

I saw an unsavory thing:

they prophesied by Ba′al

and led my people Israel astray.

But in the prophets of Jerusalem

I have seen a horrible thing:

they commit adultery and walk in lies;

they strengthen the hands of evildoers,

so that no one turns from his wickedness;

all of them have become like Sodom to me,

and its inhabitants like Gomor′rah.”

15 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets:

“Behold, I will feed them with wormwood,

and give them poisoned water to drink;

for from the prophets of Jerusalem

ungodliness has gone forth into all the land.”

16 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes; they speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to every one who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No evil shall come upon you.’”

For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord

to perceive and to hear his word,

or who has given heed to his word and listened?

Behold, the storm of the Lord!

Wrath has gone forth,

a whirling tempest;

it will burst upon the head of the wicked.

The anger of the Lord will not turn back

until he has executed and accomplished

the intents of his mind.

In the latter days you will understand it clearly.

“I did not send the prophets,

yet they ran;

I did not speak to them,

yet they prophesied.

But if they had stood in my council,

then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,

and they would have turned them from their evil way,

and from the evil of their doings.

23 “Am I a God at hand, says the Lord, and not a God afar off? 24 Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? says the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord. 25 I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ 26 How long shall there be lies[b] in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams which they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Ba′al? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? says the Lord. 29 Is not my word like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer which breaks the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, says the Lord, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, says the Lord, who use their tongues and say, ‘Says the Lord.’ 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, says the Lord, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them; so they do not profit this people at all, says the Lord.

33 “When one of this people, or a prophet, or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the Lord?’ you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,[c] and I will cast you off, says the Lord.’ 34 And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ I will punish that man and his household. 35 Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the Lord answered?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 36 But ‘the burden of the Lord’ you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man’s own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the Lord answered you?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the Lord,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’” 39 therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up and cast you away from my presence, you and the city which I gave to you and your fathers. 40 And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’”

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