Pope Francis appoints consultants to Vatican doctrine office, including controversial theologian

Pope Francis has appointed 28 new consultants to the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), including moral theologian Maurizio Chiodi, who has expressed opinions contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Chiodi, a moral theologian, has come under media scrutiny in recent years for suggesting that contraceptive use in marriage might be morally permissible in some circumstances.

At a 2017 conference in Rome, the priest also said that homosexual relationships “under certain conditions” could be “the most fruitful way” for those with same-sex attractions to “enjoy good relationships.”

Chiodi was appointed Professor of Theology at the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences in 2019 following its refoundation by Pope Francis. He is also 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 for the investigation and prosecution of sexual abuse by priests, has been under the leadership of Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández since September 2023.

In the last year, the DDF has faced the internal and ecumenical consequences of Begging for confidencethe dicastery’s statement allowing non-liturgical blessings for same-sex couples. He has also published a document on human dignity, Infinite dignitywhich addresses growing concerns about gender theory, sex changes, surrogacy, and euthanasia, as well as abortion, poverty, human trafficking, and war.

In May, the dicastery also issued new standards for judging alleged Marian apparitions, subsequently approving Marian devotion in several spiritual places, and recently in Medjugorje.

The nearly three dozen new external consultants, experts in Theology, Canon Law and Scripture, will meet with the DDF’s existing consultants to advise the dicastery’s leaders and members at regular intervals.

The 28 new appointments are mostly Italian priest-theologians, but also include six women—two nuns and four lay theologians—and two lay theologians.

The full list of new consultants below:

Mons. Antonio Staglianò, president of the Pontificia Academia de Teología.

Fr. Giovanni Ancona, professor of Theology.

Fr. Giacomo Canobbio, scientific director of the Catholic Academy of Brescia.

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

P. Basilio Petrà, theologian.

P. Bruno Fabio Pighin, canonista.

Fr. Mario Stefano Antonelli, rector of the Pontifical Lombard Seminary of Saints Ambrogio and Carlo in Rome.

Father Pasquale Bua, theologian.

P. Maurizio Chiodi, theologian.

P. Massimo Del Pozzo, canonist.

P. Aristide Fumagalli, theologian.

P. Federico Giuntoli, biblical scholar.

P. Pier Davide Guenzi, moral theologian.

P. Franco Manzi, theologian.

P. Massimo Regini, theologian.

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

Fr. Denis Chardonnens, OCD, theologian.

P. Armando Genovese, MSC, theologian.

P. Juan Manuel Granados Rojas, SJ, biblical scholar.

P. Dominic Sundararaj Irudayaraj, SJ, biblista.

Mario Bracci, theologian.

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

Sister Benedetta Rossi, Missionaries of Mary, biblical scholar.

Donatella Abignente, theologian.

Claudia Leal Luna, theologian.

Sandra Mazzolini, theologian.

Ignazia Seville, theologian.

Emanuele Spedicato, canonist.

Translated and adapted by the ACI Prensa team. Originally published in CNA.