In the debate about the National Maternity Hospital, Catholic health care, and the role of the nuns in particular, are being constantly demonised. We are led to believe that secular healthcare is far better, something that does not hold up to scrutiny. Among those attacking Catholic healthcare and the religious sisters has been Sinn Fein...
Robust new research confirms that religiosity is linked to well-being, particularly when there is a match between personal beliefs and the surrounding culture. The newest research took an unusual approach. As the interpretation of data can sometimes be affected by researcher bias, the authors of the study invited 120 different analysis teams to answer the...
David Quinn spoke last week in University Church on the topic, ‘Taking Stock: assessing the last two years and the road ahead’. You can now watch the talk by clicking here. In the first part of the talk, David addressed how the pandemic impacted the Churches. He then discussed the review of the operation of Ireland’s...
Violence against Christians in Europe is both unrecognised and underestimated, says a major new report. Secular intolerance and Islamist physical violence are two main threats to religious freedom, but they often downplayed by media. The Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC) looks at five European countries where the rights of Christians...
In many countries, Christian women and girls suffer abduction, rape, forced conversion and forced marriage, according to a new report. But social stigma and fear of reprisal from perpetrators keep their stories mostly unheard. The “Hear her cries: Kidnapping, forced conversion and sexual victimization of Christian women and girls” report addresses the appalling problem of...
State restrictions on religion are at the highest level ever, according to a new world-wide study. The Pew Research Center, a non-partisan social science institute, has monitored religious freedom since 2007. Their latest report found that the interference of government in religious activities is at a new peak. In 2019, the last year for which...
The benefits of religion to mental health are well documented and its positive impact during the pandemic has been confirmed by a number of recent studies. Covid-19 has had a profound effect on our lives. Significant moments such as baptisms, first communions, weddings, were postponed due to the restrictions imposed by the government. Many could...
David Quinn of The Iona Institute and Michael Nugent of Atheist Ireland discuss the place of religion in Irish society and the world and whether we are better off without religious belief. David argued that secular humanism is based on Christian foundations it either won’t acknowledge or takes for granted. The debate took place on...
In many ways, atheism is based on the big bluff that you can have your cake and eat it too. In the latest paper from The Iona Institute, Dr Gerard Casey, former head of the Department of Philosophy at UCD, calls this bluff. The bluff is that you can deny the existence of God, and...
How many Catholics were attending Mass before the pandemic began? How many have returned in the meantime? How many will come back when this is all over? These were some of the vital questions asked in a new Iona Institute poll conducted by Amarach Research. The results of the survey can be found here.
