Writing in L'Espresso, Sandro Magister compared passages from Amoris Laetitia with passages from two articles by Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández.

"The resemblance between the two is very strong," the journalist wrote.

Magister described Archbishop Fernández as the "ghostwriter" of Francis's major texts and his "thinker of reference".

Magister stated that the two Fernández articles, written in 2005 and 2006, were a reaction to a conference in Argentina in 2004 on St John Paul II's encyclical "Veritatis Splendor".

At the time, Fernández was professor of theology at the Universidad Católica Argentina in Buenos Aires.

Magister described the articles as "practically in defence of situational ethics", of which Veritatis Splendor had been "decisively critical".

"Partly on account of those two articles, the congregation for Catholic education blocked the candidacy of Fernández as rector of the Universidad Católica Argentina, only to have to give in later, in 2009, to then-archbishop of Buenos Aires Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who fought tooth and nail to clear the way for the promotion of his protégé," Magister wrote.

"In 2013, just after he was elected Pope, Bergoglio even bestowed episcopal ordination upon Fernández, with the title of the extinct metropolitan see of Teurnia," the Italian journalist continued.

Whereas "the chief culprit of the rejection, Dominican theologian Jean-Louis Bruguès" was consigned to the Vatican Apostolic Library, without being given the traditional title of cardinal, Magister added.

In an interview with Corriere della Sera last year, Archbishop Fernández said that "Christ has assured special guidance and illumination for the Pope and at the same time for the bishops as a whole, but not for a prefect or for another structure".

Magister saw this as a slap in the face for the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, German Cardinal Gerhard Müller and the Roman curia.

Sources

• L'Espresso
• Image: Catholic Weekly

Veteran Vaticanista Sandro Magister claimed on his blog Settimo Cielo on May 11 that the Pope had "binned" the first draft of the encyclical in March.

Magister said the Pope feared the first draft would have been "demolished" by Cardinal Gerhard Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, "once it had gotten into his hands".

The draft had been ghost-written by the Pope's theologian friend Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernández from Argentina, the National Catholic Register reported.

But Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said it is "normal and obvious" that, as with any encyclical, the CDF would check the document before publication.

Fr Lombardi said he was unaware of "any cause of delays or problems".

He called the speculation "totally unfounded" and said it "seems almost unbelievable that such things are written".

Fr Lombardi said it is "reasonable to expect the publication within a few weeks, probably in June".

A few days previously, Archbishop Fernández told Corriere della Sera that the Curia "is not an essential structure".

He added that a prefect of a dicastery was essentially not necessary to prevent the Church from "falling into ignominy".

Rather Christ granted the Pope and the bishops a special governance and enlightenment —not to a prefect or some other structure, Archbishop Fernández said.

The archbishop's comments come after Cardinal Müller stated in an interview in April that the CDF's role was to "provide the theological structure of a pontificate".

Archbishop Fernández is considered to be one of Pope Francis's inner circle.

The archbishop, who is rector of the Universidad Católica Argentina in Buenos Aires, contributed to Evangelii Gaudium.

He was appointed by Pope Francis as vice president of the commission that drew up the final message of the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family last October.

Sources

• National Catholic Register
• Image: John Thavis blog