Author Archives: Quentin

It’s Christmas — so lets have a bit of leisure. This week I am repeating a poem I wrote in 2013 when the Jesuits left the parish after many years. It was a sad occasion — although I have an … Continue reading →

The last execution in the UK took place in August 1964. The following year, Parliament passed a law suspending the death penalty across Great Britain (this did not extend to Northern Ireland) for all crimes except high treason, “piracy with … Continue reading →

“Adam and Eve and Pinchmetight went down to the river to bathe. Adam and Eve were drowned, who do you think was saved?” We all know the rhyme, but I was interested in the treatment of Adam and Eve in … Continue reading →

Who is reading this? I am confident that you are a human being, and that means that you are rational. And I also know that you can distinguish right and wrong in your decisions through ‘love of self and love … Continue reading →

Today I want to think about the thoroughly unpleasant subject of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. I just take a paragraph from a 2020 study: The 162-page report said, in summary, “the church’s neglect of the physical, emotional and … Continue reading →

There has been considerable discussion In the US on the question of abortion. It was triggered by  a new Texan law which prohibits abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, roughly the sixth week of pregnancy – before many women … Continue reading →

Today I want to look at God — that’s quite a subject. I want to talk about creation. The best figure I have for the total of all human beings is 116,761,402,413 (a). The current total of human beings is … Continue reading →

“Research showing that less than a third of US Catholics believe the Church’s teaching that Jesus is really present in the consecrated bread and wine caused alarm among Church leaders” opens the article The real thing in the Tablet, 14 … Continue reading →

Yes, a sad story: my old cat, Nyche, has had to be put down. She has appeared from time to time on these pages so some of you will know that she, and her erstwhile brother, have been with us … Continue reading →

How old are you? I am guessing that the age of most of you who regularly use this site, are younger, perhaps very much younger, than me. I am approaching 87, and I find that my mental capacities have changed … Continue reading →