It’s harder than ever to speak out against unfair criticism of the Church, writes David Quinn A few days before Christmas I posted a Tweet which pointed out that I often come across people these days who find it hard to be open about their Catholic faith both in the workplace and even sometimes in…
This was a terrible year for Ireland, writes David Quinn The year just gone will go down as one of the worst, morally speaking, since Ireland gained independence in 1922. May 25 – the date of the abortion referendum – will eventually be remembered as the day when a two-to-one majority of the Irish…
Faith means taking the long view, writes David Quinn When you read the Bible it is easy to miss important ideas when you are not concentrating. How many times have I read, or listened to someone else reading, the opening chapter of St Luke’s Gospel where the Angel declares to Zechariah that his wife,…
Human rights need Christian foundations, writes David Quinn This month marks the 70th anniversary of the passage of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the key human rights document of our time. This document is quoted across the political spectrum to this day. It is used and misused to advance various human…
Today’s PC versions of fairy tales may date very quickly, writes David Quinn It’s Christmas and so that means its panto season. Thousands of parents up and down the country will bring their children to a version of timeless, classical fairy tales like Snow White at the Tivoli Theatre. But wait, are they timeless…
There must be a right to share the Good News in a peaceful way, writes David Quinn Let’s suppose for the sake of the argument that somewhere in deepest, darkest Ireland explorers stumbled across an undiscovered tribe of Irish people still living in the Stone Age. The question would immediately arise, what should we…
Christians are free to disagree about the EU, writes David Quinn Ireland is rather smug just now about the whole Brexit situation. We believe that Britain has landed itself in a big mess (and it has) and we seem to be thoroughly enjoying its discomfort. I’m not sure we should be though, and there…
Our shifting views towards World War I show how fickle we can be, writes David Quinn It is now commonplace for Irish pupils to learn the famous poem by World War I poet, Wilfred Owen, ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’. Owen was killed on the Western Front in 1917. Owen’s poem mocks the idea that…
The Church is a convenient scapegoat for Ireland’s historical sins, writes David Quinn Last week I attended a conference at Notre Dame University in the US. Before proceeding to the main topic of this article, a word about Notre Dame itself is in order. When you visit it, one word comes to mind; majestic.…
If you were a Christian Democrat, how would you have voted in the recent presidential election? To begin with, you might have looked beyond the candidates on offer and looked to the wider political picture. You might have asked yourself, is there some way to register a protest against the way in which the country…