We have a responsibility to ease the burden on countries that are immediate neighbours to war-torn regions, writes David Quinn Europe is currently embroiled in the greatest refugee crisis since the Second World War. It has been precipitated by the collapse of authority in Libya, and in large parts of Iraq and, of course, by…
Bishops must answer Pope’s challenge on sex education, writes David Quinn Amoris Laetitia is a long and complex document with many parts dealing with diverse topics, but all relating in the end to the family, the Church’s concept of the family and how people can be led, sometimes bit by bit, to see the wisdom…
President Higgins’ view of post-independence Ireland is a caricature, writes David Quinn How should we remember 1916? What does justice to all the different strands of the Easter Rising? President Michael D. Higgins has spoken of the need for “ethical remembering”, by which he means a form of remembering that takes account of all the…
It is not good enough to simply say ‘Islam is a religion of peace’, writes David Quinn Is Islam really a ‘religion of peace’ as some of its defenders insist? So many acts of terrorism today are being carried out by followers of Islam. Yes, they are extremists. Yes, their version of Islam may be…
Faith in anything, once lost, is not easily restored, writes David Quinn Lately I’ve taken to calling myself a ‘lapsed’ or a ‘non-practicing’ Fine Gaeler. You might be the same, or else you might be a lapsed Fianna Fáil supporter who perhaps returned to the party at the recent election or maybe opted for one…
It’s time the bishops commissioned a Catholic version of the sex education programme, writes David Quinn Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) has been part of primary and secondary school education for many years now. As is the case with other parts of the school curriculum, there seems to be wide variation between schools in terms…
The Church, BBC and Rotherham abuse scandals all have a culture of deference in common, writes David Quinn Spotlight, the film about how the Boston Globe helped uncover clerical abuse scandals, won the Best Picture award at the Oscars last weekend. The film is aptly named because the Boston Globe did put a spotlight on…
The outbreak of Zika virus in Brazil is being used to justify eugenics, writes David Quinn On the flight home from his trip to Mexico last week, Pope Francis spoke to journalists, which is now a papal practice dating back to St John Paul II. Francis has, however, taken it to a new level. He…
A return of the Fine Gael-Labour coalition will further damage traditional values, writes David Quinn The social liberalism of the outgoing Government cannot be exaggerated. The same is likely to be true of the incoming Government, unless it is a Fine Gael/Fianna Fáil coalition, and even then it will be only somewhat less liberal. When…
We should approach politics with an informed Catholic conscience, writes David Quinn I was speaking recently to a canvasser for one of the former Fine Gael TDs who was expelled from the party for voting against the 2013 abortion law. The canvasser told me that his candidate had been berated outside Mass by one or…