This chapter assesses the issuance of the encyclical Humanæ vitæ in July of 1968, which imposed on Catholics a stringent code of sexual morality in line with Pius XI's 1930 encyclical Casti connubii, or ‘chastity in marriage’. In particular, Humanæ vitæ rejected all forms of artificial contraception. Many Christians were expecting the Church to adapt to the tide of sexual liberation, but instead, just when birth control pills appeared on the European market, hence proposing an alternative to abortion, the pope issued an encyclical taking a stance against the changing mores. Sexual morality came to be the newest battlefront between religion and Europe's dominant culture, and became central to the way of life promoted by the Church. What once bridged the gap between believers and nonbelievers, namely a shared base of secularized Christian values, had faded or disappeared. This raises some serious questions: If the Church no longer recognizes the dominant culture in Europe today as Christian, who would take the liberty of claiming that Europe's identity is Christian? And how could this Christian identity be reclaimed without a battle for Europe's morals, which would be directed less against Islam than against European society itself? Not only does this change the position of the Catholic Church but it also alters the very meaning of what it is to be a believer in Europe.