Experts have warned that many children believe that marriages are not meant to last because of the number of professional footballers reported having high profile affairs. Prominent footballers such as John Terry, Ashley Cole and Wayne Rooney, whose alleged infidelity was widely reported in the media, are admired by millions of teenage boys, according to...
The British legal system is becoming anti-Christian according to Church of England bishop, Rt Rev Michael Scott- Joynt. He said that the Human Rights Act was protecting minority groups at the expense of Christians and that part of the reason for this was growing religious illiteracy. Bishop Scott-Joynt told Radio 4’s World This Weekend show:...
The first Civil Partnership ceremonies for same-sex couples will take place in April after Justice Minister, Dermot Ahern, signed the Commencement Order for the Civil Partnership Act yesterday. It means that the Act will become part of the law on January 1 and from that date same-sex couples will be able to lodge the required...
Secularism isn’t a value neutral force in education and attempts to exclude faith from the classroom risk anti-religious indoctrination, according to a new report. The report, by Professor Trevor Cooling of Canterbury University, criticised opponents who claim that faith schools shouldn’t be able to consider religious criteria when selecting pupils. The report, entitled Doing God...
A London mental hospital has threatened to sack a Catholic worker for distributing a pro-life booklet among her colleague. The worker in question, Margaret Forrester, said she would do the same thing again even if it means losing her job. The leaflet, entitled Forsaken, contains information about the potential physical and psychological consequences of abortion....
The number of confirmed case of child abuse and neglect in the country rose by 20 percent from 2006 to 2008 according to the latest figures. According to the HSE there were 2,164 cases in 2008 compared with 1797 cases in 2006. Neglect accounted for 44 percent of cases, physical abuse 22 percent, emotional abuse...
Proposals to radically reform family law in order to give more rights to family relationships than marriage has been described as “flawed and misguided” by The Iona Institute. In a new report out today the Law Reform Commission recommends, among other things, that unmarried fathers be given automatic guardianship of their children along with the...
Senator Joe O’Toole has condemned Cardinal Sean Brady accusing him of ‘fundamentalism’ and of interfering in Irish affairs after the Cardinal criticised the decision of the European Court of Human Rights regarding Ireland’s abortion law. He said: “Ireland won’t be lectured to by any fundamentalist whether he is wearing a red hat in Armagh or...
A new study shows that it is participation in a religious group such as a church, rather than spirituality or theology, that produces the beneficial effects of religion. The research paper is written by Professor Robert Putnam of Harvard University and Chaeyoon Lim of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It counters the claim that the beneficial...
Pope Benedict has expressed deep concern over “hostility and prejudice“ against Christianity in Europe on Thursday, saying creeping secularism was just as bad as religious fanaticism. The Pope’s remarks are contained in his annual World Day of Peace statement, which is to be read on New Year’s Day. Entitled “Religious Freedom, the Path to Peace,”...
