Mary Kenny, Author at Catholic Herald

Mary Kenny

Mary Kenny: What would Mother Teresa do?

September 08, 2016

We heard sermons on slavery last Sunday, following St Paul’s short epistle to Philemon, which is interpreted as a plea against slavery. We’re told to deplore the historic (or current) practice of slavery, and to bear in mind that the White House in Washington was built by slaves. But as most of us have little

Mary Kenny: The marvel of a long marriage

August 25, 2016

Isn’t science wonderful? Research scientists – by name David Buss, Cari Goetz, et al – inform us in a paper that women are programmed by evolution to be sexually unfaithful to their mate, as a “back-up” marriage plan. The boffins say that females have always been aware that they might break up with one partner

I was snobbish about Mrs Brown’s Boys, until I watched it

August 23, 2016

The corny but hilarious Irish sitcom depicts the Church as a natural part of everyday life

Mary Kenny: Lebanese choirgirls united by Mary

August 18, 2016

The most uplifting news I heard over the past week was that a choir of Lebanese young women – Christian and Muslim – are planning to sing together for the Feast of the Annunciation, on March 25 next year. Since Mary is honoured both in the New Testament and the Koran, it is a common

Mary Kenny: Leonard Cohen and the art of saying goodbye

August 11, 2016

Leonard Cohen is surely one of the greatest poet-balladeers of our time. His voice may be gravelly, but his lyrics are inspirational. Now it has emerged that the muse to whom he dedicated “So long, Marianne” has died in Norway. She was Marianne Ihlen – and he sent her a beautiful valediction, wishing her a

Mary Kenny: Why the Clintons need each other

August 04, 2016

The nomination of Hillary Clinton as the Democratic candidate to be President of the United States has been celebrated as a great advance for women. It is very likely – given the dismal alternative of Donald Trump – that she will duly be elected to the most powerful office in the world. I’m all for

Mary Kenny: The one thing Harry gets wrong

July 28, 2016

Prince Harry has been doing a lot of good works in recent times – he’s very dedicated to the cause of injured soldiers – and now he has joined his brother and sister-in-law in a mental health charity, Heads Together. In promoting mental health, Harry has referred to his regrets in not talking about his

Mary Kenny: Turkey’s terrifying lurch east

July 21, 2016

You don’t need to have a PhD in Ottoman studies to grasp the fact that what’s happening in Turkey is a reflection of what is occurring through so much of the world: a cultural tension between a religious concept of society and a secularist one. As the best commentator on Turkish affairs, the historian Professor

Mary Kenny: Leadsom in the lion’s den

July 14, 2016

When we were young feminists we used to chant the slogan “the personal is political”, but now I’ve come to believe that the personal shouldn’t always be so. Isn’t it time that anyone who participates in political discourse is reminded of Oxford Union debate rules? It’s about the argument, not the person. Or as they

Mary Kenny: Iceland’s moral victory

July 07, 2016

It is claimed that the French philosopher Albert Camus once said that “what I’ve learned about morality I’ve learned from football”. The actual quotation is a little more complex. Camus, who played in goal for an Algerian team called RUA, said: “After many years during which I saw many things, what I know most surely

Mary Kenny: A time to heal

June 30, 2016

There’s a chapter in the Book of Ecclesiastes which is often read at funerals and the committal of ashes, and which begins: “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to

Mary Kenny: How I dealt with Freud’s advances

June 23, 2016

We were given to understand, in our schooldays, that Sigmund Freud’s work was a source of Vatican disapproval – because Dr Freud was “obsessed with sex”, and had peculiar theories that even young children had sexual impulses. This was regarded as scandalous and immodest. This may not have been an orthodox interpretation: Freud was an

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