By CLARÍN news staff
ROME — He may have been the Cardinal closest to Pope Francis. Víctor Manuel “Tucho” Fernández, former Archbishop of La Plata, Argentina, and head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office, has shared his final goodbye to the pontiff.
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Cardinal Fernandez, who Francis personally appointed in 2023 to be Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, accompanied him through his final days at the Vatican. “I knew that he had little time left, but I thought that we would still have him among us for a little while longer,” the Cardinal confessed in an interview with Cadena 3 radio station.
The 62-year-old Cardinal said the death of Francis was sudden, even for the medical team that assisted him. “It was a stroke, very fast, nothing could be done,” he said.
Born 88 years ago in Buenos Aires with the name Jorge Bergoglio, Pope Francis died on Monday at 6:30 a.m. (Italian time), only an hour after falling into a coma at his residence in Casa Santa Marta. The day before he had eaten dinner without problems and even indulged in a last ride in the popemobile around St. Peter’s Square.
“Do you think I’ll be able to make it?” he asked his personal nurse. “Thank you for bringing me back to the Square,” he told him later, in what would be his silent farewell before thousands of faithful who gathered to celebrate Easter.
Tucho Fernandez had the opportunity to say goodbye in private.
“At 10 o’clock in the morning I was allowed to go in to give him my last greeting. They had not yet dressed him,” he recalled. “Two things were mixed in my heart: a great respect for being before the successor of Peter, and a deep emotion for seeing Jorge there, the friend, the man who always gave me encouragement in hard times and never let me down.”
He was an immense figure
Fernandez, who will be one of the four Argentine cardinals with voting rights in the next conclave, also spoke of his personal bond with Bergoglio. “I never said ‘vos’ (informal “you” in Spanish) to him, always ‘usted’ (formal “you”). For me he was an immense figure. His voice is still inside me telling me: ‘Tucho, fuerza.’”
“This world, which seems orphaned and aimless, lost a father. A universal father. And I thank God for him,” he said, visibly moved.
The last hours of Francis
Vatican News, the official media of the Holy See, reported that Francis made the decision to ride among the thousands of Easter Mass faithful in his personal vehicle at the last minute. “It was not planned,” officials at the Holy See confirmed — it was a personal request of the Holy Father.
After his last public appearance Sunday, the Pope rested in the afternoon in his apartment at the Santa Marta residence in the Vatican, and had a quiet dinner. Then in the evening came the feeling of being unwell, the stroke, the coma and death, Vatican News journalist Salvatore Cernuzio reported.
It was a discreet death.
Regarding his death, the official Vatican media confirmed that “the Pope did not suffer, because everything happened quickly; according to the words of those who were at his side in those last moments.”
Worldcrunch Extra! 🗞️
Know more — Argentinian Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández was appointed by Pope Francis to lead the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in October 2023. In the appointment letter, Francis wrote he wanted the Dicastery to reconcile “differing currents of thought in philosophy, theology, and pastoral practice” rather than acting as a “control mechanism.”
The two men have known each other since at least the 1990s, they notably have worked together closely on the Episcopal Conference of Latin America in 2007. Then Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio appointed Fernández as rector of Argentina’s pontifical university in 2009 — a nomination that although stalled for a year and a half as Fernández was investigated by the then-Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for “possible unorthodoxy” in his theology.
Church historian Massimo Faggioli described Fernández appointment to the doctrinal office as “a turning point”, drawing a contrast between a “desktop theology” approach and the Latin American style, which prioritizes being “in touch with the existential condition of real people.” This reflects what Francis said many times, including in his letter at Fernández’s appointment, “reality is superior to ideas.”
While Fernández is not a likely successor, he could be an influential “kingmaker” in the upcoming conclave, both for his influence in his current position and his personal closeness with Francis. — Cecilia Laurent Monpetit (read more about the Worldcrunch method here)
Based on the testimony of the people who shared those last minutes: “It was a discreet death, rather sudden, without long waits or too much clamor for a Pope who had always kept his health in great secrecy.”
