Pope Francis has named 28 new consultors to the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, including moral theologian Father Maurizio Chiodi, who has expressed opinions contrary to Church teaching.
Chiodi, a moral theologian, has come under media scrutiny in recent years for suggesting contraception use in marriage could be morally permissible in some circumstances.
In a 2017 lecture in Rome, the priest 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 following its refounding by Pope Francis. He has also been a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life since 2017.
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office responsible for issues of doctrinal orthodoxy in the Catholic Church and the investigation and prosecution of sex abuse by priests, has been under the leadership of Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández since September 2023.
In the past year, the DDF has faced internal and ecumenical fallout from Fiducia Supplicans, the dicastery’s declaration permitting nonliturgical blessings for same-sex couples. It has also published a document on human dignity, Dignitas Infinita, that addresses growing concerns over gender theory, sex changes, surrogacy, and euthanasia in addition to abortion, poverty, human trafficking, and war.
In May, the dicastery also issued new norms on judging alleged Marian apparitions, subsequently approving Marian devotion at a number of spiritual sites, including most recently at Medjugorje.
The nearly three dozen new external consultants — experts in theology, canon law, and Scripture — will meet with existing DDF consultors to advise the dicastery’s leadership and members at regular intervals.
The 28 new appointments are mostly Italian priest-theologians but also include six women — two religious sisters and four lay theologians — and two lay male theologians.
The full list of new consultors is below:
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
This article was originally published on Catholic News Agency.
