I could never be a literary critic, not because I can’t tell good literature from bad, but because I lack the hard edge. If I dislike a book, I hesitate to say so. Conversely, if I like a book, I tend to be more its cheerleader than its critical assessor. Be that as it may,…
If someone who had never heard the story of Jesus were to ask any of us about his origins, we would, I suspect, begin with the story of his birth in Bethlehem. It’s a story that we’re all familiar with from childhood. In schools and parish halls across the country, countless generations of Irish children…
Have you ever noticed how faulty your memories can be? Think of the summers you enjoyed growing up: did the sun always shine for long days of fun? That’s how I remember my growing-up days too, though meteorological reports for those years show just as much rain then as now. But I only remember the good…
Dear Editor, Dr John Murray is so right when he states that “there exists a huge need for teaching Catholic doctrine clearly, wholistically, energetically, and honestly, and calling all Catholics, and indeed all people willing to listen, to personal conversion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ” [ The Irish Catholic – November 25, 2021]. It…
Sometimes it takes a long arc of history for a remarkable person and his work to be fully acknowledged and recognised. A hundred years after he founded the Legion of Mary in Dublin, Frank Duff is now seen as not merely a devout and altruistic man, but enlightened and well before his time in his…
Chinese newspapers across the country declared the Legion to be an anti-revolutionary, subversive organisation in 1951, writes David Quinn In 1956, Ignatius Kung, the Catholic bishop of Shanghai, was brought before a crowd of thousands in the local dog racing stadium, bound and dressed by his captors in a pajama suit. He had been arrested…
Notebook Some weeks ago I watched a short American documentary about a remote part of the West of Ireland, filmed some time in the 80s. A packed church was shown, and an interview with the priest followed. The interviewer asked him some questions about his spiritual role, but he strikingly downplayed that aspect of his…
I had a conversation with an old rake the other day about past times and past sins, and their inclination to surface in the present. It occurred after a rather public accusation made by the Tory MP, Caroline Noakes, that she had been “groped” by Stanley Johnson – father of British prime minister Boris –…
The View As stated here before, there is an imbalance in public discourse between civil rights and civic responsibility, with not enough emphasis on the latter. Not just religion but community is about coming together and showing mutual support and consideration. St Paul’s Epistle to the Hebrews (10: 24-5) speaks about spurring one another to…
It is time to breathe new life into the traditional concept of the common good, writes David Quinn During the abortion debate we all became familiar with the slogan, ‘my body, my choice’. It is the ultimate expression of personal autonomy. Pro-lifers have always responded that the slogan is misapplied to the abortion debate because…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Michael Kelly
Mary Kenny
David Quinn