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Mary Coughlan wants Church to give up some of its schools
~Speaking yesterday in the Dáil, she said this option was originally suggested by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin in the context of the overall number of primary schools in his Dublin archdiocese. The suggestion had actually been made by Bishop Leo O’Reilly on behalf of the Bishops’ Conference prior to that. Read more...
Conference hears about legal difficulties of surrogacy
~A seminar to promote surrogacy has been held in Dublin, organised by the Family Lawyers Association. The meeting discussed some of the legal difficulties with surrogacy which involves women agreeing to have children on behalf of third parties, a practice condemned by some critics as exploitative and for deliberately separating a child from its birth mother. Read more...
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Cross-party senators defend Church schools
~The clerical abuse scandals should not be used as a pretext to call into question the Church's role in education, senators from both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael said yesterday. Responding to a call by Senator Ivana Bacik that the clerical abuse scandals should lead to a debate on Church patronage of primary schools, senators from both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael condemned the call. Read more...
New guidelines on end-of-life treatment could threaten Catholic doctors
~Catholic doctors in the UK face being struck off the medical register there if they observe their conscience by ignoring the wishes of terminally ill patients who want to die by refusing food and water, the General Medical Council (GMC) is to announce. Read more...
Government amends Civil Partnership Bill for cohabiting couples
~The qualifying period before cohabiting couples can apply for property, maintenance, pension and other rights under the Civil Partnership Bill was extended from three years to five years at a meeting of the cabinet yesterday. The amendment was recommended by Justice Minister, Dermot Ahern (pictured). No consideration was given to a conscience amendment despite calls from the Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland as well as individual Protestant ministers. Read more...
Controversial cervical cancer vaccine roll-out begins
~The HSE has begun rolling out its cervical cancer vaccine for 12 year old girls. It will be administered in 21 schools this month with the follow-up injection in September. The HSE campaign plans to vaccinate over 30,000 teenage girls against the virus. Read more...
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Heterosexual couple want right to register as civil partners
~A heterosexual couple in Austria has taken the government there to court to have their relationship legally recognised as a "registered partnership" - a new form of civil union reserved only for same-sex couples. The couple, Helga Ratzenboeck and Martin Seydl claim not to want a traditional marriage and are arguing that the law should not discriminate on the grounds of gender and sexuality. Read more...
Survey claims a quarter of pupils received sex-ed last year
~A survey of 200 second-level pupils found that a quarter of respondents said they received relationships and sexuality education last year. Minister Barry Andrews said he is concerned about the finding. However, the survey contradicts other work which says that there are high levels of participation in RSE programmes. Read more...
Build marriage to build civilisation says Pope
~Initiatives designed to defend marriage and oppose abortion are essential elements in the building of the civilisation of love, Pope Benedict has said. Read more...
Fathers who help with the kids divorce less: study
~Marriages where husbands are involved in childcare and chores are at less risk of divorce than marriages where men do minimal housework, new research has found. The study, from the London School of Economics, found that the greater the fathers' contribution to looking after children and doing household chores, the lower the risk of divorce. Read more...
Lib-Dems force Tories to drop marriage plan
~Conservative plans to cut taxes for married couples have been the first casualty of the coalition betweeen Tories and the Liberal Democrats. The tax break, which had been a centrepiece of Tory plans to promote marriage as a means of tackling “Broken Britain” had been championed by David Cameron since he was elected leader of the party. Read more...
Transsexuals to gain right to marry in proposed new law
~The Government is planning legislation which will give those who have ‘acquired a new gender’ the right to marry. In response to a Dáil question from Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó'Snodaigh, Minister for Social Protection Éamon Ó'Cuiv (pictured) said that the Government was committed to to introducing “legal recognition of the acquired gender of transsexuals”. Read more...
Law banning sex between minors to be relaxed in Scotland
~New guidelines issued by the Scottish government will mean that children over the age of 12 found to be having ‘consensual’ sex will not automatically be referred to the police. Professionals working with children should respect “the freedom of young people to make decisions about their own lives”, the new guidelines say information. Read more...
Church of Ireland cleric rejects one-size-fits-all school system
~A “one-model-fits-all secular system” is not appropriate for Irish education, a leading Church of Ireland cleric has said. Read more...
Marriage "an instrument of salvation for society", says Pope
~Marriage is “an instrument of salvation” for society as well as for individual couples, the Pope has said. Read more...
Families face double "couple penalty": report
~A report by a leading UK think tank has shown the British families face ‘couple penalties’ of up to double what they incurred in 1997. The report, compiled by the widely respected Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) shows that the size of couple penalties have increased since 1997-98. Read more...
Preacher arrested over beliefs on homosexuality
~Police in the UK have arrested and charged a Christian street preacher for expressing his religious beliefs about homosexual conduct. Dale Mcalpine, of Workington in Cumbria, appeared before a court last Friday and pleaded not guilty to breaching section 5 of the Public Order Act. Read more...
Conscience rights of doctors must be protected, says article
~An article in a leading Irish medical journal has hit out at the decision of the Fitness to Practice committee of the Medical Council to charge fertility expert Dr Phil Boyle of professional misconduct. Dr Boyle, who operates a fertility practice in the Galway Clinic, was accused with the charge because he refused to treat an unmarried couple, in line with his Catholic beliefs. He was acquitted on a technicality. Read more...
Evangelical leaders call on Ahern to protect freedom of conscience
~The Government's Civil Partnership Bill is “a direct attack upon freedom of conscience and religion”, Ireland's top evangelical leaders have said. In a letter in yesterday's Irish Times, 19 evangelical leaders across the country expressed profound concern about the Bill. Read more...
New tax on stay-at-home mothers planned
~The Government is planning to target stay-at-home mothers with a new Revenue charge that has been condemned as being like 'a tax on mothers', according to a report in the Irish Independent. This is on top of tax individualisation, which can cost single income families up to €6,240 more than a family with two incomes taking in the same amount of money. Read more...
Lawyers file second lawsuit for US nurse
~Lawyers for a Catholic nurse in New York who was forced to participate in an abortion under threat of disciplinary action filed a second lawsuit against the hospital on Friday. The lawyers, funded by the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a US group which assists in cases where religious freedom is threatened, filed the lawsuit against Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York state court. Read more...
Radical gay rights report passed by Council of Europe
~A radical gay rights motion was passed on Thursday by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). However, the motion was moderated somewhat by a number of amendments tabled by pro-religion groups and parliamentarians. Read more...
Banks and politicians more mistrusted than Church says survey
~The percentage of people who no longer have any trust in the Catholic Church has risen from 13 per cent in 2004 to 32 per cent, a new survey says. However, the survey found that even fewer people have any trust in the Government or the banks. Read more...
UK judge blasts religious freedom
~A UK judge has launched an assault on attempts to protect the conscience rights of religious people in law as “irrational” and “capricious” and attacked religious belief dismissing it as “subjective” with no basis in fact. Lord Justice Laws said that laws aimed at protecting people of faith could turn Britain into “theocracy”. His critics say he is imposing secularism. Read more...
Unmarried father loses bid to stop children being moved to UK
~A challenge by a father to the legality of the removal of his three children to the UK by his former partner has been rejected by the High Court because he did not have guardianship status over the child. Read more...
Ogra Fianna Fail backs gay adoption
~Ogra Fianna Fail has come out in support of adoption by gay and lesbian couples in a new policy document called ‘Equality for same-sex couples and their families’. The document praises the Government’s Civil Partnership Bill but notes that no allowance is made in the Bill for adoption. It “calls on the Minister for Health and Children to introduce legislation to allow registered same-sex couples to be considered for adoption.” Read more...
Church has right to preach its message, Pope says
~The Church has a right to proclaim its teaching and message publicly, Pope Benedict has said. In an audience with the new Belgian ambassador to the Holy See, Benedict said that the Church finds it necessary "to stress that it has, as an institution, the right to express itself publicly." Read more...
Argentinian bishops defend marriage
~Marriage is a “gift of creation” which lawmakers should not tamper with, the Catholic bishops of Argentina have said. Speaking during their 99th plenary assembly last week which, they said that a bill currently being discussed in Argentina's parliament would contradict natural law. Read more...
Senator Mullen rejects ‘one-size-fits-all’ schools
~Education reform should stress genuine pluralism over a ‘one size fits all’ model of religious education , Independent NUI Senator Rónán Mullen has said today. Read more...
Scottish children given sex ed lessons by 14 year olds
~Critics have attacked as “flawed” a new scheme in which Scottish children as young as eleven receive sex education from 14-year-olds. The Health Buddies pilot project, which is taking place in Dundee, involves pupils as young as 14 teaching younger children about issues such as contraception and puberty in a bid to cut teen pregnancy rates. Read more...
Parties condemned after ban on candidates signing Christian document
~The decision of the three main UK political parties to ban their candidates from signing up to a declaration of their Christian beliefs has been condemned by the Scottish Catholic Church. Read more...
Anti-prayer day ruling attacked
~A ruling last week by a federal judge which held that the US National Day of Prayer was unconstitutional, has been attacked by a politicians and legal experts. President Barack Obama supports the national prayer day. U.S. Federal Judge Barbara Crabb ruled in favor of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which argued that the government setting aside a day of prayer violates the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution, saying the government cannot call for religious action. Read more...
Union wants end to compulsory religion courses for teachers
~The union representing university lecturers, the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) is to discuss a motion to remove compulsory religious courses on teacher education programmes at their annual delegate conference in Dublin this weekend. Read more...
Catholic bishop attacks Lib Dems over schools policy
~A leading Catholic bishop in the UK has said that Catholics should “think very carefully” before deciding to vote Liberal Deomcrat in next month’s election. He attacked a key election pledge of the Lib Dems, suggesting it would damage the right of parents “to bring up their children according to their consciences”. Read more...
Lesbian couple named on birth cert as child’s parents
~A lesbian couple has become the first gay parents in Britain to use a controversial new provision which allows same-sex couples to jointly sign a child’s birth certificate. Natalie Woods and Betty Knowles countersigned the document after the birth of Lily-May Betty Woods. The father is not named. The biological mother is Miss Woods. Read more...
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