Columnist Carl Trueman takes to task the former president of Ireland, Mary McAleese, a canon lawyer who declared the practice of paedobaptism to be “a long-standing, systemic and overlooked severe restriction on children’s rights with regard to religion.”

Trueman points out McAleese’s history of dissent from the Catholic Church, her misreading of the problems of modernity, and her hypocrisy regarding abortion.

For further reading: First Things is a sort of Cassandra for the Republic of Ireland. Of this genre, John Waters wrote “Ireland: An Obituary” in 2018 and John Duggan wrote “Catholic Ireland’s Dead and Gone” last year.

From the February issue: Matthew Schmitz reviews a new history of Roe v. Wade and religion. The conservative side of this story is well known: the Catholics held strong—at least institutionally—and evangelicals solidified in their opposition to abortion after the court’s decision. Here, though, Schmitz tells the rarely heard story of how the liberal mainline helped pave the way for America’s deeply divisive abortion regime. The legal divisions between trimesters enforced by the court were virtually identical to statements by mainline churches.

“In 1973, when Roe v. Wade was decided, it was still possible to imagine that liberal Protestant views could govern the country. Twenty-eight percent of Americans were members of mainline churches, the institutional home of liberal Protestantism. So were sixty-­five of the Senate’s one hundred members and eight of the nine justices on the Supreme Court. Today, by contrast, only 11 percent of Americans, twenty-seven members of the U.S. Senate, and one Supreme Court justice are mainline Protestants.

Only in retrospect is it ­possible to see how distinctive—and ­fragile—the liberal Protestant approach to abortion was.”

For further reading: Perhaps no other journal has been so dogged in the pursuit of pro-life principles as First Things. A year before the Dobbs decision, Robert P. George wrote “Roe Must Go,” a rallying cry that helped to bring down the precedent.

The Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., invites a Protestant to serve as the McDonald Agape Visiting Scholar each year. This year’s scholar, Matthew Barrett, writes about the House of Studies, its commitment to Thomism, and its spiritual footprint on the nearby Catholic University of America campus.

“If real ecumenism is to have a future, it must oscillate around the perennial metaphysics of Aquinas. First, Protestants must learn from the Dominican rule of life. . . . Second, talking across battle lines is not enough; real partnerships must begin.”

For further reading: Another Protestant wrote an appreciation of a Catholic saint, doctor of the Church, and co-patron of education, Carl R. Trueman: “Newman for Protestants” (October 2015).

Listen: Jaspreet Singh Boparai joins Rusty on the Editor’s Desk podcast to talk about his recent essay, “Caravaggio and Us,” from the January 2026 issue of the magazine. It’s a fascinating discussion that ranges wideley from the origins of the renaissance to the evolving taste of today’s art viewers. I highly recommend tuning in.

Upcoming Events

• February 1, 2026: Second Annual Neuhaus Lecture at the New College of Florida: “Recovering the University’s Soul” ft. Bishop Robert Barron | Sarasota, FL. Register here.

• February 3, 2026: Second Annual Angelicum Aquinas Lecture: “A Conversation with the Theologian of the Papal Household” ft. Fr. Wojciech Giertych, O.P. | New York, NY. Register here.

• March 5, 2026: Annual D.C. Lecture: “Our Crisis is Metaphysical” ft. Mary Harrington | Washington, D.C. Register here.

Until next time,

JACOB AKEY

Associate Editor