From Alcira Gigena to the Vatican, the path of “Tucho” Fernández in the Church

2023-07-02 03:01:00

“Tucho” is actually “Tuchito”. The youngest of the three Fernández brothers, he is the son of Emilio “Tucho” Fernández. He inherited the nickname from his father, like his brothers, but it was more than clear that the diminutive corresponded to him in that Alcira Gigena of the 1970s.

“Tucho” father had received the nickname in reference to Norberto “Tucho” Mendéz, the historic player of Racing and Huracán. Fernández Sr. was from San Lorenzo and the friends of the Plaza bar baptized him as charged.

Over time, he kept his official nickname and became Víctor “Tucho” Fernández, or simply Father “Tucho”, now designated in the strategic position of the Catholic Church of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

a different boy

He was born on July 11, 1962. “Tuchito”, the son of a merchant of different items and a seamstress, was very different from his brothers. Applied, studious, a voracious reader, very sensitive, devoted, the childhood of the current archbishop had several differences with the boys from Gigen.

He did not like to go out or play football, although today he continues to say that he maintains his father’s legacy of being a fan of San Lorenzo and Lautaro Roncedo, of Gigena. On the other hand, he did not inherit the radical militancy of his father. Although he never expressed partisan support, Archbishop Fernández has shown himself to be more comfortable with the progressive sectors related to Peronism or Kirchnerism.

From his mother he received a strong commitment to the faith and as a boy he worked as an altar boy in the San José de Tegua parish.

Instead of playing soccer or doing other sports, he preferred walks to the Mosuc Mayú stream, which he took as a moment of reflection. Companions from those walks say that “Tucho” sat in the shade of the willows of the stream to reflect on life, injustices, the need to help those in need.

And came home to read. The Mariano Moreno library had him as a regular visitor.

studious writer

Such a passion for reading turned her later into writing. She has over 300 writings, including several books. Several of these works are not religious, such as the case of Sáname con tu boca, el arte de besar, where she highlights the importance of the kiss as a support for both loving and affective relationships. “I clarify that this book is not written so much from my own experience, but from the lives of the people who kiss,” the author starts.

“Tuchito” attended secondary school at the Pedro Caviglia Commercial College, a religious institution whose rector was Artemio Staffolani, who later became Archbishop of Río Cuarto and had a very intense personal relationship with José Manuel de la Sota.

Staffolani’s time as Gigena’s priest was marked by the large number of adolescents who chose a religious vocation and registered as aspiring priests.

In the Seminary, “Tucho” had an outstanding step, to the point that he was ordained a priest at the age of 24 so that he might go to the Vatican to study a specialization in biblical subjects at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

His religious life oscillated between theological studies and social commitment. A desk priest who traveled inch by inch the most deprived neighborhoods of the place where he was destined.

When he returned from Rome, he began to teach at the Río Cuarto Seminary and was in charge of a parish in that city. But he began to travel to Buenos Aires every week to give classes at the Villa Devoto seminary and to present at the Episcopate on the new challenges of the formation of priests.

Friendship with Bergoglio

There he met the then brand new Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Bergoglio. He was running in 1993 and there began a relationship that was consolidated over time, to the point that the Pope now once once more made it clear who his favorite Argentine disciple is.

The highest point of that relationship was when Bergoglio appointed him as coordinator of the more than 200 writers of the document in Aparecida, Brazil, in 2007. The text speaks of “greater missionary commitment” and “preferential option for the poor and excluded”. . It is considered the platform of Francis’ pontificate, which began in 2013.

He is a doctor in Theology, was rector of the Argentine Catholic University and currently serves as Archbishop of La Plata.

He is one of those chosen for the relationship of the Church with power. Little fond of technology, he does not have WhatsApp installed on his cell phone, he continues to have a hobby taking care of his plants and continues to take steps in his promotions in the Catholic Church.

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