A concerted effort is being made to persuade readers that Jorge Maria Bergoglio is a systematic theologian of some distinction. Not only has the Vatican launched a series of booklets in Italian called ‘The Theology of Pope Francis’, (which Benedict XVI politely declined to review),  but the Liturgical Press has recently produced ‘A Pope Francis Lexicon’, (introduced by the Ecumenical Patriarch and containing a chapter by Justin Welby), replete with articles by Austen Ivereigh, Tina Beattie, Blase Cupich and all the usual suspects.

The effort is superfluous. Anyone who doubts the crisp, incisive theological mind of Francis should simply view the following: