The View As I sit to write, the news of John Hume’s death has just broken. There is one word that comes to mind when I think of John: courage. With Pat, his wonderful wife, at his side, ever encouraging, ever supporting, he marched through dangerous, hostile, challenging, territory to bring us peace here in…

We now find ourselves in a situation where the Faith that is still practiced by a huge number of Irish people finds itself under constant criticism while everything new is celebrated, writes David Quinn It is almost two years since the visit of Pope Francis to Ireland. The contrast with the visit of St Pope…

Jason Osborne Scotland’s proposed legislation makes it a crime to stir up hatred against any of the protected groups, which include race, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and transgender identity. A societal dichotomy is rearing its head once again as a result, between those who argue that criminalising ‘hate crime’ is necessary to secure the…

Letter from Rome More than a decade ago, I coined the phrase ‘Marian cool’ to characterise Pope Benedict XVI’s attitude toward Mary. While the German pontiff developed a stronger attachment to Mary later in life than he had as a young theologian, when he feared Marian devotion was a distraction from the centrality of Christ,…

Notebook One of the nicer aspects of life in lockdown – for me at least – was having a bit more time to read. I got around to reading some long-shelved books about St Dominic, for example, and I fell in love all over again with the founder of our Order. What struck me most…

One of the social effects of the Covid pandemic and subsequent lockdown is that it has, for the moment, somewhat quietened the voices of the euthanasia lobby. We have heard a little less, over the course of this worrying year, about ‘the right to die’. When the death toll internationally is announced and measured daily,…

The View During the lockdown, many people turned to Amazon, Netflix and good old-fashioned DVD box sets for entertainment. But it is remarkably difficult to find series that are family-friendly, particularly if you have older children and teens. Family-friendly films or series with religious themes which are well-made are even rarer. As a result, I…

The Pope must break silence about Chinese human rights abuses, writes David Quinn As you may have seen in the media, the Chinese government has recently cracked down hard on freedom in Hong Kong by passing a new ‘security’ law. Pope Francis intended noting this in a recent address but decided not to at the…

If the Government wants to abolish oaths, it should. Replacing it with a meaningless statement of truth is pointless, writes John McGuirk Finally. Witnesses will no longer be required to swear before God or make an affirmation when filing affidavits under new proposals agreed by the Cabinet. Instead they will be able to make what…