None of us are served unless we have a debate that is rounded and looks at attitudes in other countries, writes David Quinn Much of the commentary down the years about the mother and baby home has focused on the role the Church played in creating harsh attitudes towards unmarried mothers and their children. The…
Letter from Rome By all accounts, President-elect Joe Biden is a sincere Catholic. He’s spoken openly about how his beliefs have sustained him through personal pain and loss, and while there may be debate in some circles about how coherent his politics are with his faith, few contest whether he has faith in the first…
Bishop Juan José Aguirre of Bangassou, Central African Republic, says the city “is paralysed” by post-election violence. “People have fled, they’re in hiding,” he told Crux via WhatsApp. On January 6, Pope Francis expressed his concern for this war-torn country and invited “all of the parties to a fraternal, respectful dialogue, to reject any form of hatred…
“You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.” Anne Lamott Division Those are words worth contemplating, on all sides of the political and religious divide today. We live in a time of bitter division. From our government offices down…
Notebook On Saturday evening I felt a sadness in my heart. I knew it was around going to an empty church to celebrate Mass as I have done for much of the past nine or ten months. It is not the ideal, and like many, I have questioned the need, given that our churches are…
There is no simple or singular story of the treatment of unmarried mothers in mother and baby homes and county homes. At the outset, I acknowledge that many former residents reject the use of the word ‘home’. The report of the commission investigating the treatment of the mothers and their children in the period from…
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin is widely – and correctly – credited with taking decisive action on the issue of child abuse. It was a point noted by his successor Dermot Farrell last week when he said: “Archbishop Martin accepted the leadership of the diocese at a challenging time in 2003. Since then, he has provided forceful…
On New Year’s Eve, RTÉ broadcast a show, ‘NYE Countdown’, hosted by Deirdre O’Kane and Kathyrn Thomas. Aengus MacGrianna, the former RTÉ newsreader, also took part, delivering a ‘Waterford Whispers’ comedy sketch in a mock newsroom. The show confirmed me in my decision – once again – to get rid of our television and stop…
Currently, we are not allowed to go to Mass again in the Republic. All public worship is effectively banned. From the end of March last year until the end of June, public worship was called off, and again in places like Donegal and Dublin from September until early December, and in the rest of the…
Fifty years ago, in 1971, a very fine Dominican priest (and philosopher), Fergal O’Connor, set up an organisation to support unmarried mothers, calling it ‘Ally’. In her autobiography, Political Woman the late Nuala Fennell, T.D. – the first minister for women’s rights – praised Fr O’Connor most especially for his pioneering and compassionate work in…
David Quinn
John L. Allen Jr.
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Michael Kelly
Maria Steen
Mary Kenny