The publication of the encyclical Humanae Vitae has given a new relevance to Charles Davis's charges of untruthfulness against the Roman Catholic Church. It is not so much a question of personal dishonesty as of a concern with the institution which is closed to new ideas. Changes in leaching are seen as endangering the credibility of the church, and new ideas are met, not with arguments, but with a simple appeal to 'tradition' or 'authority'. Even worse, critics are vilified and subjected to a variety of psychological pressures, not least the threat of losing their livelihoods. Professor Kung analyses this attitude as a fundamental misunderstanding of what it means to be faithful to the gospel of Christ, and contrasts it with the passion for honesty which he finds at the heart of modern culture.