INTRODUCTION

For many people what peculiarly defines English Roman Catholics is their obsession with matters of sex. In particular, the extended agonising and controversy among Catholics over birth control, especially after the publication of Pope Paul VI's encyclical Humanae Vitae (1968), has been variously interpreted in Britain with astonishment and incredulity. The official position of Catholics has been considered by many to be distinctly odd but clearly related to the wider issue of religious (and especially papal) authority. On this some commentators have even judged the position of Catholic apologists to have been hypocritical (Scott, 1967).

Apart from the question of contraception, the ferocity of the opposition of Catholic spokespersons on the matter of abortion is well known. While for many people abortion is often regarded as a type of contraception, in general Catholics see it as a distinct moral issue and one which they regard with particular abhorrence. Among Catholic lay leaders, the 1967 Abortion Act is generally considered to have been a political defeat of major proportions and lasting consequences. Catholics have been disproportionately active in the two main anti-abortion pressure groups in Britain: the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child (S.P.U.C.) and LIFE (Scarisbrick, 1971).