We now find ourselves in a situation where the Faith that is still practiced by a huge number of Irish people finds itself under constant criticism while everything new is celebrated, writes David Quinn It is almost two years since the visit of Pope Francis to Ireland. The contrast with the visit of St Pope…
The delusion of freedom in China
The Pope must break silence about Chinese human rights abuses, writes David Quinn As you may have seen in the media, the Chinese government has recently cracked down hard on freedom in Hong Kong by passing a new ‘security’ law. Pope Francis intended noting this in a recent address but decided not to at the…
Christianity both accepted and condemned slavery
Slavery remains one of the great stains on human history and the role of Christians is chequered, writes David Quinn In America there is an attempt to have 1776, the year Independence was declared, supplanted in the national memory by a new date – 1619. That is the year the first group of 20 slaves…
The 1980s was not a dark and repressed time, whatever RTÉ says
What liberals really lament is that they didn’t have everything their own way in the past, writes David Quinn Jack Charlton was one of the most loved figures Ireland has seen in decades. It is a rare person who becomes a national hero to the extent that he did. He gave us the same sense…
6,666 abortions in Ireland not treated as a big story
Covid-19 figures and the gender pay gap get the headlines when the tragedy of abortion is sidelined, writes David Quinn The figure of 6,666 abortions that took place in Ireland last year will be seared into the memories of anyone who read it because it is horribly symbolic. But how many will get to remember…
The Church and the fight against racism
We cannot expect perfection from all of those who went before us writes David Quinn You’ll have noticed in the last few weeks that statues of certain historical figures are under attack and have even being pulled down because of an association between those figures and racism. The most dramatic example took place in Bristol…
Take new student sex survey with a big grain of salt
We need to teach young people that there is more to sex than just consent, writes David Quinn A new survey was launched to plenty of publicity earlier this week. If it is at all accurate, no parent should let their children, especially their daughters, anywhere near university or any other third level institution because sexual…
A form of Christianity that is risk-averse is doomed to fail
If we are not willing to be troublemakers, it is no wonder that the secular culture takes no notice of us, writes David Quinn Are we still a Church of risk-takers? I’m not so sure. I think we have become increasingly risk-averse, taking the safe, soft option when choices must be made. We have become…
Return to Mass strikes the right balance between safety and normal life
The lockdown has caused huge damage and it’s simplistic to look at it only in terms of lives saved writes David Quinn Public worship in Ireland is now due to return on June 29, not July 20, as originally planned. It’s still one of the latest dates in Europe even though our outbreak was not…
Taking the nation’s spiritual pulse under lockdown
When the pandemic is finally over, the livelihoods of very many people will be harmed and the damage will be huge, writes David Quinn The pandemic is increasing feelings of anxiety among the population, with a bigger effect on women than men. This has now been confirmed by new data from the Central Statistics Office…
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