Slovenian voters have affirmed the importance of man/woman marriage and motherhood and fatherhood in a national referendum last Sunday. Results from the vote, showed that 55.1 percent of voters rejected a proposed new family code which opponents say diminished the importance of motherhood and fatherhood, while 44.9 percent backed it. Aleš Primc, head of the...
The Government’s treatment of Protestant schools is “a test case of the nation’s commitment to its citizens who are members of a religious minority”, Church of Ireland bishops have warned. They also warned that the Government’s proposed Education Bill, which would remove of the right of patrons to determine who teaches in their schools “could...
Having close family ties creates individuals with “stronger civic virtues” who are less likely to lie and cheat, suggests new research. Those from loving families were more likely to disapprove of fraudulent behaviour and “lying in your own interest”, the study, which looked at a wide range of social groups, showed. The data contradicted previous...
An appeal by two religious groups at San Diego State University who sought to limit their membership and leadership to those who share their beliefs has been refused by the US Supreme Court. The university told the groups that they must allow themselves in theory to be headed by atheists or else they would be...
The distinctive identity of Catholic schools must be allowed to thrive, or they will lose the ability to maintain their identity, Dr Diarmuid Martin, the Archbishop of Dublin (pictured), has said. Dr Martin noted that the Catholic schools system “was one that was marked in its overall openness to children of different cultural and religious...
The Government has reiterated its committment to holding a referendum on children’s rights this year. Speaking yesterday in the Dáil, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Frances Fitzgerald (pictured) said that the referendum was a Government priority. In response to a question from Fianna Fáil’s Charlie McConalogue, she pointed out that the Government had decided...
The freedom of conscience of health care providers in Australia is threatened by aggressive secularism, the Archbishop of Melbourne has said. Archbishop Denis Hart, preaching at Mass to open the clinical year at Melbourne’s St Vincent’s Hospital, warned that an increasing number of Australians were beginning to believe that a person’s right to any form...
Serious and sustained failures by the State to properly protect 115 vulnerable children in its care are set to be revealed in an independent report into the deaths of children in care over 10 years, The Irish Times reports. The report is to be published in the next few weeks, and comes after a series...
Young children cared for by their grandparents frequently develop better than those looked after in nurseries, a study has found. Children’s vocabulary and emotional security can be markedly improved by more time spent in a loving family environment, it found. And the study concluded that while more formal environments such as a nurseries may prepare...
Anti-Christian prejudice is placing unnecessary obstacles in the path of religious groups who are doing vital work in the community according to new studies. Research into the involvement of faith groups in social and charity work says that “inaccurate and out-of-date assumptions” is still hindering the work of such groups, the Daily Telegraph reports. The...
