Pope cannot offer carte blanche for priests to dissent, writes David Quinn It has now been confirmed that Enda Kenny did indeed intervene with Pope Francis when he visited him recently on behalf of a number of priests disciplined by the Vatican, including Fr Tony Flannery. This raises an obvious question: why did the Taoiseach…
What the North’s child abuse inquiry reveals
The latest revelations deserve greater attention, writes David Quinn Another report of another child abuse inquiry was published last week. This time, the inquiry, the Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) Inquiry, chaired by retired judge Sir Anthony Hart, dealt with abuse in institutions in Northern Ireland. These institutions were run by the Catholic Church, by the…
Govt should see the real value of faith schools
“Bruton set to pledge end of school ‘baptism barrier’”, read the headline in one newspaper on Monday. It was typical of the headlines in a number of news outlets. Reading those headlines you could be forgiven for thinking that Education Minister, Richard Bruton, has decided to altogether abolish the right of Catholic schools to admit…
Our bishops get ready to meet Pope Francis
Times have changed since the last ad limina, writes David Quinn It is 10 years since the Irish bishops made their last ad limina visit to Rome. It will take place from January 15-25. Literally, an ad limina apostolorum means ‘to the threshold of the Apostles’. It is a pilgrimage to the tombs of Ss…
What a new poll reveals about our attitudes to political correctness
A backlash of stymied voices is developing, writes David Quinn One of the many things highlighted by the victory of Donald Trump in the US, and Brexit in the UK, is that a lot of people are sick and tired of political correctness. Those who are sick of it appear more likely to have voted…
A total misapplication of the Pope’s teaching on mercy
Condoning assisted suicide would be disastrous pastoral practice, writes David Quinn
Family is changing but ‘traditional’ family remains all-important
The ‘Family Rhythms’ report gives cause for thought, writes David Quinn
Syrian Christians must choose between several evils
“Christians here in Ireland need to ask ourselves what we would do if we were in Syria”, writes David Quinn
A very bad start to the Citizens’ Assembly discussions on abortion
The latest sitting was far from neutral, writes David Quinn
The perils of waking the dead
A 14-year old girl in the UK, dying of cancer, was awarded by court the right to have her body frozen after her death, so-called ‘cryogenic freezing’. The girl, who has since died, wants the possibility of being raised from the dead if science ever allows this, even if that is still hundreds of years…
David Quinn



