Controversial theologian among 28 new consultors chosen by Pope for Vatican’s DDF

Twenty-eight new consultors have been chosen by Pope Francis to assist the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF). Among those selected to work with the Vatican’s important doctrinal office that deals with the promotion and protection of the doctrine of faith and morals, is the provocative figure of moral theologian Father Maurizio Chiodi.

Chiodi has hit the headlines in recent years and caused various degrees of consternation by expressing various opinions contrary to Church teaching, reports the Catholic News Agency (CNA). He has suggested the use of contraception by married couples could be morally permissible in some circumstances.

During a 2017 lecture in Rome, the theologian also said that homosexual relationships “under certain conditions” could be “the most fruitful way” for those with same-sex attraction “to enjoy good relations”.

Chiodi was made a theology professor at the Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute for Marriage and the Family Sciences in 2019, after it was re-founded by Pope Francis. He has also been a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life since 2017.

The group of new external consultants, whose expertise spans the likes of theology, canon law and Scripture, will meet with existing DDF consultors at regular intervals to advise the dicastery’s leadership and members on doctrinal policy.

In addition to being responsible for the doctrinal direction of the Catholic Church, the DDF has been responsible for the investigation and prosecution of clerical sexual abuse. It has been led by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández since September 2023. 

The DDF’s most headline-grabbing and, for some Catholics, notorious moment came with the publication of Fiducia Supplicans at the end of 2023, the dicastery’s declaration permitting blessings for same-sex couples in non-liturgical settings.

More recently, it published Dignitas Infinita on human dignity that addressed a gamut of concerns from gender theory, sex changes, surrogacy and euthanasia, to abortion, poverty, human trafficking and war.

In May, the dicastery issued new rules on judging alleged Marian apparitions, which was followed by it subsequently approving Marian devotion at various spiritual sites. This month it approved devotion at Medjugorje, though it stopped short of approving the supernatural quality of the apparitions.

The 28 new consultors are mostly Italian priest-theologians, though the group contains six women – two religious sisters and four lay theologians – as well as two lay male theologians. The full list of new consultors is as follows:

Bishop Antonio Staglianò, president of the Pontifical Academy of Theology

Father Giovanni Ancona, theology professor

Father Giacomo Canobbio, scientific director of the Catholic Academy of Brescia

Father Carlo Dell’Osso, secretary of the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archeology in Rome

Father Basilio Petrà, theologian

Father Bruno Fabio Pighin, canonist

Father Mario Stefano Antonelli, rector of the Pontifical Lombardo Seminary of Sts. Ambrogio and Carlo in Rome

Father Pasquale Bua, theologian

Father Maurizio Chiodi, theologian

Father Massimo Del Pozzo, canonist

Father Aristide Fumagalli, theologian

Father Federico Giuntoli, biblicist

Father Pier Davide Guenzi, moral theologian

Father Franco Manzi, theologian

Father Massimo Regini, theologian

Father Raffaele Talmelli, superior general of the Congregation of the Servants of the Paraclete and exorcist

Father Denis Chardonnens, OCD, theologian

Father Armando Genovese, MSC, theologian

Father Juan Manuel Granados Rojas, SJ, biblicist

Father Dominic Sundararaj Irudayaraj, SJ, biblicist

Mario Bracci, theologian

Sister Giuseppina Daniela Del Gaudio, SFI, director of the Observatory for Apparitions and Mystical Phenomena regarding the Virgin Mary in the World

Sister Benedetta Rossi, Missionaries of Mary, biblicist

Donatella Abignente, theologian

Claudia Leal Luna, theologian

Sandra Mazzolini, theologian

Ignazia Siviglia, theologian

Emanuele Spedicato, canonist

Photo: Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández (second from left) during the DDF’s presentation in the Holy See Press Office of ‘Dignitas Infinita’; image from Vatican News.

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