The point about the new Texas abortion law which few commentators seem to grasp is that Roe v. Wade divided America disastrously, and should never have formed a nationwide ruling on the subject of abortion. It was passed by the Texas state legislature, in both upper and lower houses, by a democratic vote, and with…
Category: Opinion
The real story behind the repeal of the Eighth Amendment
The View Next week, a compelling new documentary Ireland’s Fall: The Abortion Deception will tell the inside story behind the repeal of the Eighth Amendment. That account will differ, of course, from the narrative that has been so widely spun by abortion campaigners and their media allies who would have you believe that Ireland’s abortion law…
The Gospel not the law must reign supreme in the Church
Mary McAleese’s remedy for greater lay involvement is undermined by the legalism with which she wants to save the synod process writes Prof. Massimo Faggioli It is always wise to pay attention to the statements that former president Mary McAleese makes on the Catholic Church. They always reveal something on this moment in the life…
Pope John Paul II was right about the ‘war on terror’
The world is a messy place and often the only realistic choices are between bad and even worse writes David Quinn Everyone remembers where they were on September 11, 2001. I was still the editor of this newspaper and had gone into a pub for lunch with some other staff and on the television set…
Blesseds abound in Church in Poland
Letter from Poland Sunday saw the beatification of two blesseds with very different, but equally holy, missions in the Church in Poland. Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, declared the ‘Iron primate’, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski and Mother Elzbieta Róza Czacka blessed at Mass and a service September 12, at…
From Flanders to Sicily, contradictions abound on Europe’s religious scene
Having spent most of my adult life and career living in western Europe and covering Catholicism, I’ve developed three broad observations about the cultural landscape here vis-à-vis the Church. – First, the Church is undergoing a long-term transition from a culture-shaping majority to an optional subculture, sometimes in harmony with the broader majority and sometimes…
Catharsis doesn’t bring about closure
Twenty years ago this week, struggling to digest the events of September 11th, I wrote this column. Two decades later, my reaction is the same. Here’s the column. Iris Murdoch once said that the whole world can change in 15 seconds. She was talking about falling-in-love. Hatred can do the same thing: On September 11…
Sport has the ability to show us at our best
Being born and raised in Tyrone, I can hardly be taken as an impartial commentator when it comes to Gaelic games. I was delighted to be in Croke Park on Sunday to see the senior footballers crowned All-Ireland champions. It’s hard not to have sympathy for Mayo as their long wait for elusive All-Ireland success…
9/11 anniversary renews call of sainthood for Franciscan priest
Notebook Mark Pattison The 20th anniversary remembrances of the 9/11 terror attacks in the United States is renewing a canonisation push for the first identified casualty: Franciscan Fr Mychal Judge. Fr Judge, a New York Fire Department chaplain, was at the World Trade Centre site praying with and ministering to attack victims when debris falling…
Pat Hume’s death concludes era of successful SDLP
Dear Editor, This is a sad time for older supporters of the SDLP with the passing of Pat Hume, just over a year after the death of her husband and Nobel Laureate John. That more or less concludes the era of the more successful SDLP with John’s votes continually maintaining a healthy lead over Sinn…

Mary Kenny


David Quinn

John L. Allen Jr.
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Michael Kelly

