I knew quite a few older journalists who had reported on Vatican II (1962-65), then described as “Vatican-ologists”: they were a merry and optimistic lot who welcomed the aggiornamento (bringing up-to-date) of the Catholic Church, as did, I believe, the general public. And there was one point on which Vaticanologists agreed: the Church had in the past focused too intensively on sexual sins, and far too little on wider issues such as social justice and other values spelt out in the New Testament. Christianity was about more than the Sixth Commandment, and the obsession with controlling carnal impulses was repressive and neurotic. And yet the cycle of life brings us back, currently, to that very issue which the enthusiasts of Vatican II felt should be stressed less: everywhere we look the focus is on sexual sins, or even in some cases, misdemeanours, catching up with individuals and institutions. Actresses dress in black at film awards to denote their opposition to the sexual harassment which has apparently been part of performing arts. Equity, the actors’ union, is considering banning nude and intimate kissing scenes as being what pre-Vatican II preachers would have called “occasions of sin”. Workers for charities like Oxfam – and caring agencies within the United Nations – are exposed for exploiting young girls sexually. Brendan Cox, the admired widower of the slain MP Jo Fox, has resigned from charity work after admitting to behaving “inappropriately” towards women while working at Save the Children. He has apologised “deeply and unreservedly” for past behaviour and “for the hurt and offence that I have caused”. Meanwhile, two of the photographers who produced renowned portraits of Princess Diana – Patrick Demarchelier and Mario Testino – have been accused of sexual misconduct (they deny the allegations). Two Cabinet ministers have fallen on their sword, under a similar charge. And we know how much devastation sexual abuse has brought to the Catholic Church itself. Harold Macmillan famously said that “events” were his greatest challenge. These “events” have brought us back to the thought that perhaps the sins of the flesh are, after all, a central element in human flaws and imperfections. ......... Darkest Hour is an award-winning film, and also a popular one, still filling cinemas. My cousin in Paris tells me that it is met with audience applause as the movie ends, though it is not especially kind to the French in their darkest hour, 1940. Movies about history invariably slightly re-write events, as narratives demand that there must be heroes and villains. In Darkest Hour Lord Halifax (Stephen Dillane) is portrayed as Winston Churchill’s political challenger, planning to sue for peace with Hitler, via Mussolini. The real Halifax was a serious Christian (nicknamed “The Holy Fox”) who sincerely believed that mass slaughter was wrong, and that you should spare human life when there is a reasonable chance at doing so. He also believed in compromise – and compassion. He had proposed a federal solution to Ireland, and was tactful and tolerant as Viceroy of India. He had lost his three elder brothers to childhood illnesses, which may have heightened his awareness of the fragility of human life. Churchill (Gary Oldman) is the political gambler, who puts life at risk when he judges it necessary, while Halifax, who employs reason and conscience, emerges as the appeaser. A more affecting war film, for me, is the adaptation of RC Sherriff’s marvellous play, Journey’s End, also on recent release. This portrait of a group of officers and men, all doomed to die in trench warfare, brings home the agony of war. The successful German offensive of March 1918 also explains something else: why Lloyd George sought to impose conscription on Ireland at this point – a disastrous policy, which the Catholic Church vehemently opposed. But the trenches were bleeding the reserves of manpower. ......... The diver Tom Daley and his same-sex spouse Dustin Lance Black have posted an ultrasound picture of the baby that they are expecting via a surrogate mother in the US. There are objections to this on grounds that surrogacy amounts to renting women’s bodies. It is certainly a worrisome issue. Yet, every time the ultrasound picture of a baby in the womb is publicised by a celebrity, it underlines the humanity of the unborn. Follow Mary Kenny on Twitter: @MaryKenny4