The modern system of tax-credits may undermine the viability of marriage; but the Church’s insistence on abject penitence world without end, if taken seriously, would effectively prevent anyone getting married at all. How long does a partnership between druggies last? How loyal is a thieves’ kitchen? To trust, you have to believe in the other’s integrity; for God to trust you, He has to believe in your integrity.

It is a waste of time nowadays expecting leadership from those in authority. We have entered a culture, in which as a matter of course the wrong people are appointed to positions of responsibility; and those who fail are rewarded with sinecures or golden handshakes. Even in the Army, it is beginning to look as if senior officers, when faced with the conflict of interest of protecting their subordinates or their own reputation and careers, weigh in the balance which is better. In contrast, if one puts on the mind of Christ, one starts with the grass roots, as he did. You start to create the perfect society, without fuss and without ostentation, among the people you meet, and bump into, every day. You do it by example; by the example of being willing to create trust. And you do not let yourself be diverted from your sense of purpose, either by the hypocrisy of bishops or by the dreamers about infinities. No-one was ever persuaded to behave better, except by the example of someone who did behave better.