It was a surprise appointment; the archbishop of La Plata was known to be a favored son of Pope Francis and widely reputed to be the principal drafter of some of the Holy Father’s most important documents — Evangelii Gaudium and Amoris Laetitia. Yet he was thought to be a behind-the-scenes figure, influential to be sure, but not the sort of figure that would command wide esteem as an experienced prelate or gifted theologian.

Of course, he’s no Ratzinger on the latter score; no one is, not even Cardinal Luis Ladaria, the outgoing prefect, or his predecessor, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, both of whom were considered first-rank theologians. When Pope St. John Paul II appointed Cardinal Ratzinger in 1981, his most famous work was Introduction to Christianity, still in print today and universally regarded as an accessible theological classic. The best-known work of Archbishop Fernández is his 1995 book, Heal Me With Your Mouth: The Art of Kissing. To be sure, that was not intended to be a theological work, and was conspicuously absent from the list of publications the Vatican issued upon his appointment. Archbishop Fernández has more than 300 published books and articles, many in reputable theological journals.

Still, Archbishop Fernández is the Holy Father’s Ratzinger in that his appointment is a signal moment, eliciting strong reactions.

[The primary takeaway here from Fr. de Souza is that Fernández is a kind of anti-Ratzinger theologically, or at least cut from a different cloth than the late Pope Emeritus. Perhaps the more surprising development is that it took Pope Francis ten years to fill this position with someone more aligned with his own theological and pastoral approach. — Ed]