People have been gripped by the devastating scenes coming out of earthquake stricken Haiti. Many people have looked on helplessly moved by the immense suffering of fellow members of the human family.

Within hours of the quake and with no regard for their own personal safety thousands of heroic missionaries and volunteers from every corner of the globe were en route to Haiti carrying tonnes of valuable medicine and aid as well as their expertise.

Governments and ordinary individuals moved by the plight of the Haitians began digging deep and, despite current economic woes at home, Irish people have donated millions of euro in emergency aid to agencies such as Trócaire who are working on-the-ground to distribute vital food and medicine.

We live in a cynical age where, we are told, people care less about one another than in previous generations. More than a decade of rapid economic progress, according to conventional wisdom, has made people more materialistic and less generous towards the needs of others.

These twin myths, often repeated by Church people, have not for the first time been powerfully exploded by the evident generosity of Irish people in parishes and communities across the country.

When shocking human tragedies strike, one might often be tempted to ask the legitimate question 'where is God in all of this?' While theologians and philosophers have struggled for centuries to answer the deeper question of who God allows such human suffering, the reaction of Irish people to Haiti offers one very simple answer to the elementary question: God is in the response of the heroic aid workers and people who have given so generously moved by the plight of their fellow human who are in need.

Civil unions

The Civil Unions Bill is currently progressing through the Oireachtas. At present, there is no so-called conscience opt-out that would allow people of deep religious conviction to refuse to facilitate a civil union by providing goods and services. Religious groups are concerned that in the absence of such an opt-out a parish hall could be forced to provide itself for the reception following a gay civil union.

One can understand the desire by legislators to avoid discrimination in the provision of goods and services. There is also the right of religious people and religious organisations to have their beliefs and ethos free from being undermined.

The Government insists that if it adds a conscience clause there would be all kinds of unintended consequences for example a gay couple could be refused service in a bank.

However, a narrowly targeted amendment could easily be devised that would protect people from unjust discrimination based on their sexual orientation (such discrimination has been condemned as a sin by the Church) while at the same time protecting the consciences of people who conscientiously object.