it would be misleading to succumb to the notion that the “trivialisation of sex” was the only hallmark of the cultural revolution of the 1960s (“Blinkered vision on matters of sex”, editorial, 5 July). It went beyond that. A new, powerful ethic of personal autonomy emerged from this period that sought not only to undermine the fusion of faith with sexual morality, but to interrogate the alignment of faith with political authority and to introduce a new, secularised ethic of personal authenticity. All of this was interpreted by such as Benedict XVI as an insidious threat to the stability of earlier forms of religious identity, and to be resisted vigorously.In reality, and in a world bubbling with religious passions, the current Catholic dilemma, particularly in Euro