As head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican department that enforces doctrinal orthodoxy, he sensibly delegated managerial work.Admittedly, John Paul liked to bypass bureaucracy and bequeathed a mess to his successor.
His mandate follows a "doctrinal assessment" by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2011 which spoke of "certain radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith" which had allegedly entered the discourse of the American sisters.But it was the sisters, not the hierarch, who delivered to the world a report on the outcome of the two sides' deliberations.
Since then, the debate has become rather more polarised, entrenching views at a time when a more rounded and less doctrinal discussion might be better for the people who really matter in all this.
Hattersley was always considered to be on the right of the Labour party: he believes in market forces and advocates public ownership only when it makes sense, not for antiquated doctrinal reasons.
China is particularly cagey about the size, status and capabilities of its nuclear forces and opaque about the doctrinal approach that might govern their use.
At home, the Saudi regime has learned to quash jihadism through a mixture of the iron fist and rehabilitation programmes involving doctrinal debates, social benefits and clan guarantees by the families of ex-fighters.Many Saudis thus seem pleased with the appointment of Prince Muhammad as deputy crown prince.
But it does mean a departure from the doctrinal antagonism that historically imbued the Catholic church in its attitude to the Jews and Judaism.The move away from prejudice was begun 40 years ago by Pope John XXIII.
As a doctrinal and cultural conservative, Cardinal George was close to both the Polish pope as well as his German successor, Pope Benedict XVI.
Mr Sampson explores the personal and doctrinal rifts that opened up between Mr Mandela and the communist members of the ANC in prison on Robben Island, in particular with Govan Mbeki, a hardline Stalinist and father of Thabo Mbeki who is about to succeed Mr Mandela.
But much of the doctrinal fervour went out of the Islamist revolution when its main ideologue, Hassan al-Turabi, was kicked out of the government in 2000.
It involved delving deep into the devotional and doctrinal resources of Catholicism to withstand the challenges of Protestantism, the scientific revolution and the onset of modernity.
