Over the last few weeks, much ink has been spilt reflecting on the significance of Humanae Vitae in the life of the Church since 1968, but very little on its impact at the time on those toiling in the vineyard in the heat of the day. One such was a priest of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, Fr John Dalrymple, known to all as Jock.

He was a shy introvert with a tendency to depression, but also a man of intellect and holiness whose books – among them Simple Prayer and Costing Not Less Than Everything  – are still viewed as spiritual classics. Jock’s private journals reveal the anguish he and many other priests endured in seeking to respond to the encyclical with integrity. The issue was not simply the Christian way to regulate birth but the authority of the Church and the nature of the obedience he had promised his bishop at his ordination.