This book was conceived and mapped out in its main outlines long before several recent papal actions underlined the importance of the complex issues with which it seeks to grapple. The first chapter was completed by the time Pope Paul issued his 'new credo'. The bulk of the book was written before the appearance of the encyclical Humanae vitae and its transformation of the problem of papal authority from a dark cloud on the horizon of ecumenism to a question of conscience for those economists and politicians whose task it is to juggle with the bleak equations of rising populations and deepening poverty in the developing countries.