Archbishop Fernández’s appointment has been met with criticisms focusing on a book he wrote about kissing, his handling of sexual abuse and comments he made expressing an openness to blessing gay and lesbian couples.

The Catholic Church must take great care to avoid rites or blessings that suggest marriage is anything other than a sacramental bond between one man and one woman, the incoming prefect of the Vatican's doctrinal office said.

In a surprise move, Pope Francis has appointed the Argentine theologian and archbishop Victor Manuel Fernández as the new prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

I have learned more about the church than I could ever have imagined, and the synod process has come to seem even more urgent and fruitful.

News reports, to the chagrin of the synod office, have focused primarily on the questions of the ordination of married men and women deacons—questions on which it invites discussion but makes no recommendations.

Bishop Richard Stika of Knoxville, Tenn., and Bishop Joseph Strickland, of Tyler, Tex., have both been subject to apostolic visitations recently. Here’s what we do (and don’t) know about the Vatican interventions.