The battle over Amoris Laetitia seemed to be joined anew by the guidelines, endorsed by Pope Francis himself, of the Buenos Aires bishops. That has been covered extensively in these pages, but it seems that the larger picture might have been missed. The Buenos Aires guidelines indicate that the magisterial impact of Amoris Laetitia is limited even in the present and unlikely to endure in the future.
A fortnight ago I suggested that the governance reforms of Pope Francis regarding finances and sexual abuse had been significantly rolled back by the same pope because, being improvised without consultation of all the relevant parties, they lacked a solid foundation. Magisterial teaching is a much more serious matter, but the same principle applies. While in theory a pope only need teach something for its impact to be felt, in practice the degree to which a teaching endures depends on the clarity of its expression, the persuasiveness of its argument, and the consultation that precedes its promulgation.
