A noble end cannot justify an evil means, otherwise morality would be a simple matter of having good intentions, writes Dr John Murray   Many people, including practising Catholics, might be motivated by compassion for women in crisis pregnancy situations to vote ‘yes’ in the upcoming abortion referendum. Such women and their difficulties feature often…

For centuries, suicide was considered as an act of despair and despair itself was seen as the most grievous sin of all.  In many religious circles, despair was seen as the most sinful of all acts and ultimately unforgiveable. Sadly a strong residue of that remains, suicide is still seen by many as an act…

Emily Keyes   When I was growing up, my parents taught me that being a feminist meant believing that women have the right to do whatever they want. I was never pressured into doing something just because I was a girl, and I was never dissuaded from doing something just because it was associated with…

The referendum is in reality about abortion on demand, writes David Quinn   This abortion referendum is not primarily about the hard cases such as rape and ‘fatal foetal abnormality’. Under the planned law, the vast majority of abortions will take place on the healthy babies or healthy women. That is what we are really…

The View   Martin Mansergh   A wisely governed country strives to maintain social cohesion, particularly when it is under strain. Sometimes it is about how difficult and divisive decisions are taken. The experience of civil war over the Treaty and the limits of parliamentary authority contributed to a provision for referendums in the 1937 Constitution…

Letter from America   Claire Giangravè   Not everyone’s got it. For that matter, not all of those previewing the May-October Met exhibit on the Catholic imagination bought the curator’s pitch that the show was building a bridge between culture and faith. Not everyone, but some, looked at the opulent vestments on loan from the…

Inés
 San
 Martín   Typically, Pope Francis and German Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich are considered allies. Recently, however, the two men offered contrasting takes on the legacy of one of the modern world’s most influential social and political movements – ironically enough, ‘Marxism.’ While the Bavarian cardinal said in a recent interview that the father of…

Dreaming is sometimes the most realistic thing we can do. Or, is there still something else we might do, like public protest, or something else? In his book on prophecy, Commandments for the Long Haul, Daniel Berrigan offers this advice. Prophetic gestures aren’t always politically effective. Often they accomplish nothing that’s practical; but he adds:…