Change vs. Growth

I have greatly appreciated the discussion of the past several days initiated by Eduardo's posting on "Authority and Reason."  In a recent posting, Robert Araujo pickes up Mark's observation about whether the Magisterium changes, evolves or grows.  Robert takes the position that the Church "grows," using the example of the embryonic stem cell debate, observing that there used to be no Church authority on the issue (becuase there was no issue) but now there is such authority.

I'm not sure the stem cell issue is a good example on this point.  It is easy to speak of "growth" when dealing with a new issue on which there was no prior Church position.  It is much harder to demonstrate to the satisfaction of many people that recent Church statements on, e.g., capital punishment, represent "growth" rather than "change."  I sometimes worry that insistence that the Magisterium does not change makes the Church's voice less effective in many quarters.