There is a long Christian tradition – rooted in the Gospels – of showing compassion for women who work as prostitutes. Christian women and early feminists took up this cause in the 19th century – the anti-slavery Christian campaigner Josephine Butler sheltered prostitutes, and halted young girls from being trafficked into prostitution, too. Compassion and…
One of the points that Volodymyr Zelensky made in the now infamous Oval Office confrontation with Donald Trump and JD Vance, was that 20,000 Ukrainian children have been abducted by Russia. No further discussion ensued about this terrible statistic, which is confirmed by other sources. Indeed, Radio Free Europe claims the number of Ukrainian children…
I believe the majority of us favour the flourishing of the Irish language (even if some school pupils do try to obtain exemptions – it’s not an easy subject to master). And in Northern Ireland, as I’ve written previously, I think the Unionists have been daft to try to oppose its introduction: they should have…
During my apprenticeship as a rookie journalist, many decades ago, I was taught some rudimentary rules about the law. The first was an emphasis on the difference between ‘the accused’ and ‘the convicted’. There was a sacrosanct rule in every liberal democracy that everyone has the right to be judged innocent until and unless they…
Over all the European countries – and North America – migration and immigration are among the most persistent topics which concern the public. In the crucial German general election, coming up on February 23, it’s the prime issue. The French are obsessed with the topic. In Britain, Nigel Farage’s ‘Reform’ party – deeply critical of…
I am a fan of a BBC TV series called “Silent Witness”. It’s somewhat macabre in that it focuses on a forensic pathologist (played by Emilia Fox) who is seen gruesomely cutting up dead bodies – those murdered in unknown circumstances. The “silent witness” is the corpse. In essence, it’s a murder-mystery – “whodunnit” –…
The events marked at Auschwitz last Monday (for Holocaust Memorial Day) were a sombre international reminder of the terrible death camps maintained by the Nazi regime. We will be seeing more of such anniversaries this year, notably in April, recalling the liberation of Bergen-Belsen, whose revelations really shocked the world. There is now a large…
It is disappointing – if not surprising – that the newly-formed Irish government does not plan to celebrate the 200th centenary of Catholic emancipation in 2029. They have earmarked several other important dates which will occur under their stewardship: 2026 for the 250th Declaration of US Independence; 2027 marking the birth of Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington and…
When David Lodge died at the beginning of this month, he was hailed, in the obituaries, as the leading English Catholic novelist since Graham Greene and Evelyn Waugh. Mr Lodge, who was 89, had indeed written a famously hilarious novel about a young Catholic married couple, in 1965, struggling with the “Safe Period” of fertility…
I suppose one of the most reviled stereotypes by liberal progressives is the “trad wife”. This is the figure of the woman who stays at home to care for her family, preside over the kitchen and mealtime, and manage the household. There used to be, in Ireland long ago, popular entertainments which actually rewarded this…