Cardinal John Heenan, Archbishop of Westminster at the time of the publication of Humanae Vitae 40 years ago this summer, described the crisis of authority it triggered as "the greatest shock the Church has suffered since the Reformation". With hindsight that was an exaggeration, though the encyclical brought about a profound change in the way Catholics saw the Church. Remarks a week ago by Pope Benedict XVI offer a less dramatic perspective on Humanae Vitae's legacy, as much an understatement as the late cardinal's were the opposite. The Pope admitted the encyclical was a "sign of contradiction" that "caused much debate", linking it with the turbulence of the time - this was the year of student unrest, 1968. But "in the light of new scientific discoveries, its teaching is becoming more current and is provoking reflection", the Pope said. The encyclical offered lasting fundamental principles on marriage and procreation. "That which was true yesterday, remains true even today."

One consequence of Humanae Vitae was that the honest discussion of sexual ethics in the Catholic Church became extremely difficult, and the "much debate" Pope Benedict referred to happened despite the intense efforts of the authorities to stop it. That was a sign of contradiction indeed. Any honest reflection provoked by Humanae Vitae would have to take account of the fact that very large numbers of Catholics, priests as well as laity, did not then, and do not now, think the encyclical's main conclusion - that the use of artificial contraception is invariably a grave wrong - was the correct one. And that is not just because the Church is full of sinners. Many believe it is because the sensus fidelium in the Catholic Church is guided by the Holy Spirit. If so, it is a theological fact that sooner or later the authorities in the Church will have to come to terms with.

Humanae Vitae was nevertheless a development of doctrine in the ...

Seen through Western media eyes, the Catholic Church's main contribution to the battle against HIV-Aids in Africa and elsewhere has been its opposition to the use of condoms as a protection against infection. That perception was made worse by the way certain churchmen, most notably the late Cardinal López Trujillo, offered flawed scientific arguments in support of the condoms ban. The reality is rather different. ...

Trust cannot be taken for granted just because it is on the letterhead. The BBC Trust's handling of a complaint against the "Panorama" television programme "Sex Crimes and the Vatican", transmitted in 2006, will dismay those who had hoped the recently revised arrangements for dealing with complaints would quickly rebuild confidence in the BBC's integrity. The Trust's newly published ...

Qui custodiet ipsos custodes? Pope Benedict went further than expected in the way he dealt with the issue of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests in America, and earned much praise for it. Not only did he condemn it in the strongest terms several times, but he met victims of the abuse in person, an occasion of high emotion which appeared to have been cathartic. And when Cardinal Francis George of Chicago admitted ...

Benedict XVI, who has just celebrated the third anniversary of his election as Pope, has surprised those who expected his papacy to be a seamless continuation of his role as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. There has been no witch-hunt of those who do not subscribe to a narrow conservative orthodoxy. Instead, his personal humility and conviction have endeared him to the millions who have seen ...