What many Catholics really miss in the current election is something like the Labour Party as it once was: caring about working people, the unemployed, the homeless and the poor, but also supportive of the family, the community and pro-life.
Such a type of politician is the now retired Seamus Mallon, one of the most prominent political figures in Northern Ireland, and deputy leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). His memoir, published this year, A Shared Home Place (written with the journalist Andy Pollak), is a well-told reflection of life in Northern Ireland over the course of his lifetime (he’s 83). His outlook is Catholic, humane, tolerant, and strongly committed to peace and justice.
