Civil wedding ceremonies outnumbered church weddings in Scotland last year, according to new official figures. The figures, produced on Thursday by the General Registrar’s Office for Scotland, showed that just over half of all marriages (52 per cent) were civil ceremonies, carried out by a registrar. Just over half of these civil ceremonies took place...
The row over the US fast food chain Chick-fil-A due to its support for traditional marriage continues to grow with gay rights campaigners declaring they plan a “kiss in” at various outlets of the chain. However, supporters of the chain are flocking to its restaurants in solidarity, with long queues forming outside some branches. After...
A British judge has ruled that a 10-year-old Jewish girl can convert to Christianity after a judge rejected her mother’s claims that she had been “brainwashed” and instead agreed with her father that she can change her religion. The girl’s parents, who are divorced were in dispute over the girl’s wish to be baptised...
A controversial mandate introduced by the Obama Administration, which insists that religious employers place their workers in insurance schemes that provide them with free abortifacient and sterilisation services, went into effect yesterday. Opponents of the measure seemed willing to let the landmark date pass without much comment as they prepare for future court battles. Despite...
Almost one-third of all marriages in Northern Ireland were celebrated by a civil ceremony, according to new figures from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). In 2011, 2,732 out of 8,366 marriages were by civil ceremony. Meanwhile, only 89 civil partnerships between same-sex couples took place last year compared with 116 in 2010....
The latest Census figures released by the CSO show a huge ‘marriage gap’ between the social classes with marriage being much stronger in middle class areas than in more disadvantaged areas. The new Census figures allow for analysis at the level of electoral districts and lower. They show, for example, in the electoral district of...
Cardinal Francis George of Chicago (pictured), has come out in defence of fast food chain Chick-fil-A, after the company was condemned by the mayors of Boston, Chicago and San Francisco because its owner supports traditional marriage. The owner of the chain, Mr Dan Cathy was asked about same-sex marriage and he reiterated his support for...
The first Church-run secondary schools in over 20 years have been approved by Education Minister, Ruairi Quinn (pictured). Le Chéile Schools Trust, a Catholic organisation, will have responsibility for a school in Mulhuddart, Dublin 15, which is set to open in September 2014. The Department also announced that a new Church of Ireland school was...
An Irish academic has called for male circumcision, which is a central religious practice in Judaism and Islam, to be banned, calling it “a gross breach of the bodily integrity of baby boys”. Writing in today’s Irish Times, politics lecturer Dr Kenneth Houston says the practice is “barbaric” and termed it “male genital mutilation” (MGM). ...
The British Court of Appeal has ruled that a mother who denied a father’s access to his children for three years breached his rights. The court, made up of three judges, that it was not acceptable for the mother to block the father’s reasonable efforts to see his two daughters. The judges urged all separated...
