This volume was inspired by a series of lectures at St Patrick’s, Soho Square, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s encyclical, Humanae Vitae. This excellent initiative by the parish priest, Fr Alexander Sherbrooke, has resulted in a collection of essays of enduring value. They should be read and re-read by Catholics who are concerned about the moral disorder of our society but who are not always confident of the beauty and truth of Church teaching on the “theology of the body”. Fear of sounding “homophobic” or puritanical keeps us silent when we should, in charity, speak out.

The book is divided into two parts, the first concerning this theology and society, the second concentrating on specific issues for today. William Newton discusses the bad fruits of the sexual revolution and Bishop Alan Hopes describes his own journey into the Church from Anglicanism, largely as a result of the Church’s consistent and courageous teaching. Edmund Adamus provides a moving insight into the background of the encyclical, in particular Paul VI’s own suffering; “Many times we trembled before the dilemma of giving in easily to current opinions”, he once admitted. He also quotes that great Bishop Fulton Sheen: “Those who advocate birth control neither appreciate birth nor understand control.”

Fr Anthony Doe reflects on what it means “to be authentically Catholic in our world”; “We have to be involved in giving life, in some way, if we are to encounter the real power of God and understand the true meaning of our vocation.” Indeed, I found this chapter, with its meditation on holiness, so powerful – the action of grace on one tepid heart, no doubt – that I wept as I read it.

Among the contributors to the second half of the book, Fr Tim Finigan’s analysis of the “epidemic of moral lawlessness” in our society is particularly good, including his robust prescription for effective Catholic witness, as is the chapter by James Parker entitled “Truths about Homosexuality and Contraception.” As Parker comments, “By allowing contraception...to become a basic feature of modern life, we have made the legalisation of same-sex partnerships very difficult to oppose.” As someone who does extensive pastoral work among homosexual men, he asks for more widespread pastoral care “to those who identify themselves as same-sex attracted”. As a former active homosexual himself, who has “fully lived the gay lifestyle”, he also has important insights into the psycho-sexual causes of homosexuality, as well as the unresolved and buried emotional pain that often accompanies same-sex attraction.

Robert Colquhoun, the editor, who has contributed a chapter on the true meaning of chastity, quotes GK Chesterton: “Chastity does not mean abstention from sexual wrong; it means something flaming, like Joan of Arc.” It is to be hoped that the many insights within these pages will be part of the leaven of Christian renewal and find their way into catechesis, school syllabuses and parish homilies.

© 2009 Francis Phillips

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