Niall Gooch, Author at Catholic Herald

Niall Gooch

Will having kids make you happy? That’s not the right question

May 04, 2020

Even if the outcome of having children is greater happiness, that is not its purpose

Wodehouse, Herriot and travel literature: The best books for lockdown

April 09, 2020

Well, here we all are. Confined to quarters. Recluses, by order of HM Government. No Mass, no pub, no meals out, no sports matches, no public gatherings. The Sealed Knot return to barracks and summer fete committees draw stumps. West London will no longer have to endure its annual invasion by Oxbridge hearties for the

The strange twilight of British conservatism

March 12, 2020

Small Men on the Wrong Side of History By Ed West Constable, 352pp, £20/$20.70 Even before the death of Sir Roger Scruton in January, it was not unusual to encounter thoughtful people on the political right who were worried about the future of conservatism as a serious intellectual endeavour. Since then, the problem has only become

So what if the Nativity story is embellished?

December 19, 2019

Apparently there is some scholarly debate over whether Jesus was really born in a stable. Close textual analysis, and careful study of the expectations and practices of Jews in 1st-century Palestine, allegedly suggest that rather than the draughty lean-to or chilly cave of the traditional imagination, Our Lady in fact gave birth in the more

Christians have committed terrible crimes over the centuries. Why is that?

March 28, 2019

During the Siege of Jerusalem, at the conclusion of the First Crusade in 1099, a priest led devotions on the Mount of Olives, attended by hundreds of Crusaders. After the Christian armies had captured the city, a thanksgiving procession to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre took place, attended by dozens of priests. In the

Ignore the critics. ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ is a wise tribute to everyday heroism

December 20, 2018

It’s almost Christmas, which means that somewhere a critic is sharpening his pen for that staple of Yuletide contrarianism, Your Beloved Festive Film Is Actually Bad. One classic that often comes in for this treatment is a favourite of mine, Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life, and I’d like to offer the case for the

Cashing in on the politics of grievance

September 27, 2018

Niall Gooch on how ‘diversity’ dictates our moral climate The Tribe by Ben Cobley, Societas, 250pp, £15 Roger Scruton popularised the idea of “the culture of repudiation”, the tendency of educated people to treat with hostility any moral axiom, cultural artefact or custom redolent of what you might call Old Britain. Ben Cobley does not

Belgium’s euthanasia nightmare

August 03, 2018

As children are put to death, Belgium's experience shows the 'slippery slope' is real

End of life: Belgium’s shame

August 02, 2018

Three children were given euthanasia during 2016 and 2017 One striking thing about modern Western societies is how quickly bioethical practices that would once have been shocking quickly become unremarkable. It happened with abortion, it happened with embryo selection, and now it is happening with euthanasia. Last week it emerged that during 2016 and 2017

Niall Gooch: The triumph of the non-apology

November 29, 2017

In 1963, when it emerged that he had lied to Parliament about his affair with Christine Keeler, John Profumo apologised, resigned from the government and stood down as an MP. He then disappeared from public life. Despite being wealthy and well connected, he volunteered to do menial work for Toynbee Hall, a charity in the

The architects who ripped society apart

July 20, 2017

As part of my glamorous jet-setting lifestyle, I recently stayed for two nights at a Premier Inn near the intersection of the M57 and the M58 on the outskirts of Liverpool. To get to the hotel from the station was only a short walk, but with one enormous obstacle: a six-lane main road. There was

How modern architects ripped society apart

July 20, 2017

Towns across England have been marred by inexplicably bad planning, but the outlook is improving

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In support of Catholic integralism

September 08, 2020

The concept of Catholic integralism divides opinion. In the world of online Catholicism, one of the big ongoing debates of the moment is about integralism, which is the view that – as Wikipedia helpfully has it – “the Catholic Faith should be the basis of public law and public policy within civil society”. Leading contemporary

On the seamless garment

September 02, 2020

Is everything a “life issue”? A little while ago, Fr James Martin SJ made a few waves at the US Democratic Party’s national convention by including an intercession for the unborn child in the prayers he was invited to offer there. This was a courageous and impressive act. The unborn child was just one of

Greatness is achievable

August 25, 2020

The power of social media dictates that people often feel greatness is unattainable. A few years ago I wrote an article for the Catholic Herald in praise of the film It’s A Wonderful Life. One of the points I made there was that the hero of the film, George Bailey, excelled in the heroism of

Sugar and spice, and all things nice?

August 20, 2020

When it comes to children, the transgender debate is concerning. The transgender moment is an unsettling one. Just last week I began reading Enid Blyton’s Famous Five stories to my children, and was struck by the character of Georgina, the tomboy who hates being a girl and is very keen to do things that boys

What do we send our children to school for?

August 04, 2020

Could we do without schools? Since the coronavirus pandemic took hold early this year, countries all over the world have been grappling with whether, when and how to get children back into the classroom. Different countries experimented with different approaches: Dutch schools, for example, have returned to more or less business as usual for children

Reflections on St James the Great

August 01, 2020

The 25th of July was the feast of St James the Great. It’s a date that I always remember: one of the most important influences in my conversion to Catholicism was walking the ancient pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain. The great cathedral there is said to be built over the relics

The power of silence

July 21, 2020

One of the best books I have read in recent years was Akenfield, a beautifully written history documenting the stories of people living in Suffolk in the late 1960s. One of those featured was an Oxford-educated poet, a Londoner by birth, who had sought out country life: he believed it gave him a more authentic and

Where next for Catholic politics?

July 18, 2020

Where next for Catholic politics? This question has often occurred to me in recent months, as the stark divisions in our society become ever-more entrenched. We need a worldview that not only talks about human dignity, peace and justice, but has a clear pathway to achieving them. This need is becoming ever more pressing. Historically,

The politicisation of virtue

July 10, 2020

Last year I discovered the delightful books by James Herriot. Herriot was the nom de plume of James Wight, who worked as a vet in North Yorkshire for decades. In the 1970s and 1980s, he wrote a series of books about his experiences. They are not memoirs exactly, but recollections – in some cases, one

Catholicism is the only hope

June 30, 2020

Equality cannot be explained by science, but by basic Christian philosophical framework. Catholicism is the only hope. This is what I keep thinking, when I watch the news or look through my Twitter feed. In the midst of all this broiling racial antagonism, what we need is a coherent and persuasive account of human equality

The Blame Game

June 24, 2020

Where does responsibility lie? Was British wealth built on slavery? Do modern-day British people only enjoy a pleasant lifestyle because of the exploitation of the British Empire’s subject peoples? Are our institutions rotten because the people who created and maintained them were part of an unjust economic system? I’m not trying to answer these questions.

How happy families protect from the perils of groupthink

June 17, 2020

Family life is on the decline – it’s no wonder the young are revolting Why does our political culture seem so antagonistic and brittle? Why are people so quick to take offence and experience disagreement as attack? I find these questions particularly pressing in times like these, when streets are full of protest and counter-protest;

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