La Plata, Argentina, Jun 2, 2018 / 10:09 am
Pope Francis has appointed his personal theologian and ghostwriter Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernandez to head the Argentinian Archdiocese of La Plata, the Holy See's press office announced Saturday.
Fernandez, 55, replaces Archbishop Héctor Aguer, who turned 75 in May, the age at which diocesan bishops are required to submit letters of resignation to the pope.
Fernandez was replaced as rector of the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina in April after serving in the position since 2011, and university officials told CNA at the time Fernandez was hoping to be named Archbishop of La Plata, considered to be the second most important Argentinian archdiocese, after Buenos Aires.
The archbishop is a controversial figure in the Church in Argentina, because of some of the publications of his past, and because of his open claim that he can interpret Pope Francis at almost every turn, CNA's executive director Alejandro Bermudez said in an April 2018 analysis for Catholic News Agency.