The president of the Swedish Association for Home Education (ROHUS) Jonas Himmelstrand has been forced to leave his native Sweden for Finland after authorities fined him and his wife for choosing to educate their children at home. Mr Himmelstrand, an international speaker who took part at an Iona Institute conference, ‘Women, Home and Work’ last...
Marriage and the Church in Ireland face “existential crises” and the country has become “a colder place for Catholics” according to Obudsman Emily O’Reilly (pictured). Speaking at the 50th anniversary conference of ACCORD, the Church’s marriage counselling service, Ms O’Reilly said that legal divorce and civil partnerships and “official unease at discriminating in favour of...
A letter opposing David Cameron’s plans to legalise same-sex marriage is to be read out in 2,500 churches across England and Wales this weekend, according to a report in today’s Daily Telegraph. The letter by the Archbishop of Westminster, Dr Vincent Nichols (pictured), and the Archbishop of Southwark, Dr Peter Smith, said the Cameron proposal...
The number of teenage pregnancies in England and Wales fell by almost 10 per cent in 2010, according to new figures. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show conceptions in under-18s fell to 34,633 in 2010 compared with 38,259 in 2009, a drop of 9.5pc. Pregnancies in under-16s also went down – by...
Catholic hospitals and universities may be forced to close in two years because of President Obama’s controversial health mandate, a leading US Cardinal has warned. The mandate in question will force religious institutions to put their employees in insurance schemes that cover abortion-causing drugs, contraception and sterilisation. Writing in his diocesan newsletter, Cardinal Francis George...
The Government has proposed that two thirds of the membership of its proposed constitutional convention be chosen from the electoral register in a meeting with Opposition parties. The Convention is set to look at proposals to legalise same-sex marriage, removing the clause which refers to women in the home and removing the offence of blasphemy,...
Marriage should not be redefined in law, the Archbishop of Canterbury warned yesterday in a speech about human rights. Dr Rowan Williams said that some religious communities “feel that alien cultural standards are somehow being imposed – particularly in regard to inherited views of marriage and family.” He added: “If it is said, for example,...
Children’s rights must “obviously now be a guarantee”, President Michael D Higgins said at a conference sponsored by children’s charity Barnardo’s. He added that if Ireland were to build children’s rights into a version of a real republic, there needed to be a change”not only in the Constitution, not only in the legislation, not only...
Two Catholic midwives in Scotland have lost a legal battle for their entitlement to conscientious objection over supervising staff in abortions. Mary Doogan and Concepta Wood claimed their right should extend to refuse to delegate, supervise or support staff looking after women having their unborn children aborted. They maintained the stance of Greater Glasgow and...
Couples under 45 without children are more likely to be cohabiting than married according to a new report from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) The report also reveals that cohabiting couples are very likely to marry once their first child is born, confirming the link in the public mind between marriage and children....
