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…
One year ago, the #MeToo movement erupted across much of the Western world, starting in the United States. The Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was accused by a number of women of sexually assaulting and even raping them (charges he denies), and then other women came forward to say that they had also experienced sexual assault…
Christianity offers an antidote to a harmful individualism, writes David Quinn A meeting of bishops from all around the world is currently taking place in Rome. Its purpose is to look at the relationship between the Church and young people. There is no one way to look at this question because a huge amount depends…
It is increasingly becoming heretical to say that there are differences between the sexes, writes David Quinn Not that you would think it from reading our newspapers, but one of the things that Pope Francis frequently criticises is so-called ‘gender ideology’. This is the belief that men and women are the same and if…
How to Defend the Faith Without Raising your Voice: Civil responses to Catholic hot-button issues by Michael Kelly and Austen Ivereigh (Columba Press, €14.99) A couple of generations ago, one could have safely assumed that most Irish people shared a set of common values. Even if one didn’t necessarily fully subscribe to the Catholic worldview, the culture was…
The blandness of Francis’ speeches in Ireland is mysterious, writes David Quinn It is now one month since Pope Francis was in Ireland. If you were to conduct a poll and ask people what they remember about the visit, how would they respond? If you asked them what the Pope had to say, I…
Our Christian faith ultimately rests on Christ himself, writes David Quinn The faith of many Catholics has suffered another battering recently because of the latest eruption of public anger over abuse scandals. In Germany, a report commissioned by the Catholic bishops there shows that over a 70-year period, more than 3,000 priests have been…