The polarising effect of social media has heightened anti-Catholic sentiment, writes David Quinn Is anti-Catholicism a thing, and does it exist in Ireland? The answer to both questions is an emphatic yes. Just as it is possible to be anti-communist or anti-EU or anti-American, it is also possible to be anti-Catholic. How do you know…
Pro-lifers must fight cleverly to whittle away abortion laws, writes David Quinn The repeal of Roe vs Wade last summer by the US Supreme Court was a great moment for the pro-life movement everywhere. From 1973 until this year, the result of Roe vs Wade was that a very liberal abortion law was forced on…
Ireland must play its part in combatting global warming, even though anything we do will make no discernible difference because our population is so tiny, writes David Quinn The autumn has been exceptionally mild so far and we had a warm summer. Parts of Europe had extreme weather events, including droughts. China has experienced a…
It is not at all clear where this whole synodal process is going to end up, writes David Quinn The Vatican has just issued a new synodal working document that is now to be studied at a continental level by the Church in the coming months. This new document is a synthesis of the papers…
The death of Savita Halappanavar did not justify repeal of the Eighth Amendment, writes David Quinn The road to the repeal of the Eighth Amendment was paved by hard cases, often know by letters like ‘X’ or ‘C’ or ‘D’. The most famous was that of Savita Halappanavar who died in tragic circumstances in Galway…
Moral choiches are not always as clear-cut as we might like them to be, writes David Quinn I remember it very well. I was in junior school at the time and our teacher, Mrs O’Leary, was very excited when she told us the news that victims of a plane crash in the Andes had been found…
Churches seem to be an afterthought in the post-pandemic world, writes David Quinn Parishes, like the country in general, will have to pray hard for mild weather this winter if they are to cope with the big rise in energy costs caused chiefly by the war in Ukraine. Fortunately, the Government has allocated additional support…
Sixty years on from the Cuban Missile Crisis, Pope’s plea for cool heads is timely, writes David Quinn It is 60 years ago this month since the Cuban missile crisis, which brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. Older readers will remember the events of those fateful few weeks well. When the Cold…
Too many young men who father children do not play a proper role in raising their children, writes David Quinn Here are words uttered some years back in an address to a Church gathering by a major American politician: “We know the statistics — that children who grow up without a father are five times…
Parts of the world we barely think about have an importance we in Ireland don’t appreciate writes David Quinn One of the Pope’s fiercest critics is Athanasius Schneider, the auxiliary bishop of Astana in Kazakhstan, the vast landlocked central Asian country which Pope Francis visited last week. Bishop Schneider’s criticisms of the Pope are often…