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Viewpoint

Personal opinion pieces on a wide range of Catholic issues by different writers.


Ian Linden - President Trump: Defender of the Faith?

President Trump visits St John's Episcopal Church June 2020 after removal of protestors - Wiki Image

The crisis in America is many-sided. One aspect is to be found within the Christian Churches. At a prayer breakfast last Thursday, President Trump announced a Task Force on "anti-Christian bias" within the Federal Government, a new Commission on religious liberty and a 'Religious Office' in the White House. He had changed his mind about religion, he explained; God had saved him from an assassin's ... Read More


Ian Linden: Trump's Second Coming: Why and how did he win?

Donald Trump

Answers abound. But, after barely two weeks of President Trump's executive orders, the nagging question still persists. Why and how did he win for a second time? This isn't idle speculation if he is to be resisted. The most frequent explanation of Trumps' victory is economic: the consequences of spectacular inequality, not least three super-billionaires earning as much as fifty percent of the Amer... Read More


Episcopalian responds to Trump's comments on Bishop Budde

Peace Window, Washington National Cathedral

President Trump, 1. Much like those who do not want you to be president, you do not get to decide whether a bishop's office is legitimate. She was chosen by the people of her diocese to be their bishop. Then, she was granted consent to be a bishop by other bishops and standing committees of our church's dioceses. Beginning by calling her a "so-called" bishop is an obvious low blow to discredit her... Read More


Ian Linden: Will Trump "preserve, protect and defend" the American Constitution?

Photo: Caleb Fisher, Unsplash

Now that President Trump has taken office, Jo Biden's parting shot warning of the danger to American democracy posed by an oligarchy of the super-rich - assembled by President-Elect Trump -seems all the more timely. But it is not the only threat. The rule of law is the institutional foundation and safeguard of democracy. Once it is undermined democracy crumbles. There is now a real danger that pol... Read More


Ian Linden: Down to earth after Christmas

Professor Ian Linden

A down to earth liturgical battering awaits us after Christmas. No more "Away in the Manger". Nor sweet, and posh, little voices from King's College Chapel. The wrapping paper in the bin, we hear about a stoning (St Stephen on 26th December) and more killings, on the Feast of the Holy Innocents ( 28th December). Both have resonances today. In the Acts of the Apostles St Luke describes how Stephen,... Read More


Hungry babies and political decisions

Photo by Lucy Wolski on Unsplash

In the coming days many MPs will be attending a carol service or Nativity play in their constituency. As they hear the Christmas story of a baby born two thousand years ago, we must hope that they will consider how babies born today in their own communities are faring. It is a distressing fact that, no matter how much their parents love them and strive to do the best for them, many infants in the ... Read More


Ian Linden: The Pope, Genocide & the War in Gaza

Pope with peace dove - Image Vatican Media

On Sunday, the Italian daily La Stampa quoted Pope Francis, in excerpts taken from a book shortly to be published, saying that some international experts have declared that "what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide". "We should investigate carefully to assess whether this fits into the technical definition (of genocide) formulated by international jurists and organisations,"... Read More


Women's ordination a 'niche issue'?

Bishop Anthony Randazzo.  Image: Diocese of Broken Bay

Professor Dr John Wijngaards writes: During these opening days of the latest Roman session of the synod, Bishop Anthony Randazzo of Broken Bay, Australia, has given a press conference. He denounced what he said is an overly western agenda obsessed with 'niche issues' such as women's ordination. In his view it diverts attention from more pressing topics. Bishop Randazzo, who is president of the Fe... Read More


Dr Swee Ang on anniversary of Sabra Shatilla Massacre

Dr Swee Ang. Screenshot

Dr Swee Ang, orthopaedic surgeon, author and founder of Medical Aid for Palestinians, gave the following speech to medical staff and aid workers in Beirut last week, on the 42nd Anniversary of the Sabra Shatilla Massacre - in between operating on patients injured in the pager attacks. Your Excellencies. Dear brothers and sisters. Before I start I would like to pay tribute to one of the patients I... Read More


Prayers4Peace - Palestinians: A Struggle for Survival in a World Turned Away

The Palestinian people, like many nations throughout history-Americans under British rule, the French during Nazi occupation, Indians under British imperialism, Algiers under French occupation, and others-find themselves under the iron grip of ruthless military occupation. Israel, the occupying power, imposes a regime of oppression and apartheid that denies Palestinians all their fundamental right... Read More


Viewpoint: Seeping Complicity

On the surface, life in Britain goes on much as it ever did, with periodic political or media eruptions which disappear as quickly as they erupt. Organisations at micro (families) and macro (institutions, companies) pursue their enduring priorities with their ups and down, pleasures and frustrations. But beneath the surface, unnoticed by many, a deadly stain is spreading, a stain that is inexorabl... Read More


Ian Linden: Dad's on Kamala's ticket - is Trump toast?

The sigh of relief on 21 July when Jo Biden stepped down as Democrat presidential candidate was deafening. Within less than a fortnight the Democrats nominated Vice-President Kamala Harris to replace the outgoing President with ratification to take place at their 19 August National Convention. After intense consultations, at a Philadelphia rally on 6 August Harris presented Minnesota Governor, Ti... Read More


Is poverty the problem - or wealth?

David Benjamin Blower

David Benjamin Blower writes in Passio: For many centuries, voluntary poverty was the mark of revolutionary movements of all kinds, not just religious orders "Have courage, poor of Jesus Christ, since paradise is yours! How unfortunate are the rich, since their riches, if they refuse to share them, will only torment them more and more in hell!" (St Paul of the Cross) This sounds like a rallying ... Read More


Ian Linden: British democracy - no time for complacency

Houses of Parliament  -  Image: ICN/JS

After the general election, in the House of Commons, the former and present Prime Minister laughed together and said nice things about each other. This occasioned a note of self-congratulation in the media about the state of British democracy. Peaceful change of government. No-one disputing the vote count. A gold medal for GB in electoral conduct. Well, up to a point Lord Copper. There is evidenc... Read More

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