In the mid-1980s, Arns' programs for the development of priestly vocations came under fire from Vatican authorities that suspected its ties to liberation theology. The seminarians lived in eleven small communities of seven or eight and each group was tied to a base community. The seminaries also held secular jobs in order to provide support to their families during their priestly formation. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), appointed Cardinal Joseph Höffner of Cologne, whose politics were so conservative he considered democratic socialism "unacceptably Marxist", to conduct an investigation. In Brazil he praised the São Paulo program, but submitted a largely negative report to the CDF.