Philomena Quotes

He has big hands too, I say, swigging cider. I should know. Big beautiful hands. I daresay big feet as well.
You mean that ... ? Philomena asks.
Fanny whispers in her ear, and she giggles.
I do find unclothed men interesting, I must admit.
Which one do you think has the best arse? I ask before I can stop myself. ~ Janet Mullany

There was a patient who sat with her family in a circle around her, all holding hands. Sister Philomena asked if they would like to join her for prayers and they said yes, they would. They closed their eyes as Sister Philomena whispered the words and I thought this must be the nearest humans get to whatever God is, when they hold hands and listen. ~ Rachel Joyce

Gender and sexual behaviour [are] things that are neither individually intended nor biologically determined, but culturally embedded; pressured […] before birth, a child is already treated as gendered […]. If gender is performed and imposed by reiteration – "citationality" – the imposition is violent, precisely because no "natural" reality or truth supports it. ~ Philomena Essed

This is just the loveliest news. I'm so happy for everybody involved, and so proud to have been part of the wonderful experience that Philomena has been. ~ Judi Dench

Christ died to free us from the burden of our sin, but he never, so far as [Sister Philomena:] could see, lifted a finger to free us from our stupidity ~ Hilary Mantel

Philomena spun a tale about a butterfly that turned back into a caterpillar - saying that the butterfly would rather live in the cocoon for years than fly under the sun for only a few short days.
"Butterflies don't last," said Philomena solemnly. ~ Anya Allyn

'Philomena' was even better than I had expected. I was so pleased to see the evil Irish nuns thoroughly exposed, and I thought Judi Dench gave a flawless performance, as did everybody else. ~ Claire Tomalin

The Church's obsession with sexual restrictions is and always has been wrong wrong wrong. Wrong to be contemptuous of naïve young women like Philomena and me. Wrong to ignore the men involved in creating "illegitimate" children. Wrong to demonize gays while knowing full well how many men and women of the Church are gay. Wrong to excuse and hide criminal priests, transferring them to new, unsuspecting parishes. Wrong to think that forbidding consensual human sexuality is more important than Christ's message of compassion and forgiveness. ~ Ann Medlock