The Pope yesterday warned of a growing threat to freedom of religion and conscience in a speech delivered in Westminster Hall before a gathering of the civic, political and religious leadership of British society. In recent years, new British laws have forced the closure of Catholic adoption agencies, nurses have been suspended for offering to...
Ninety-five percent of Irish people still identify with one or another religion according to a poll in The Irish Times. It finds that only 2.5pc describe themselves as atheist, and another 2.5pc as agnostic. A total of 13pc said they were not religious at all, with 87pc saying they are loosely to strongly religious. The...
Pope Benedict has criticised aggressive secularism as he began his British visit in Edinburgh today. He also recalled Britain’s Christian roots. In an address before Queen Elizabeth II, he said: “Today, the United Kingdom strives to be a modern and multicultural society. In this challenging enterprise, may it always maintain its respect for those traditional...
Irish attitudes to sex and relationships are becoming more liberal according to a new Irish Times/Behaviour Attitudes survey published today. Among its findings is that 57pc of respondents believe living together before marriage results in more stable marriages; 67% believe gay couples should be allowed to marry; 48% admire those who choose celibacy for moral...
Pope Benedict XVI is expected to warn of a growing threat to religious freedom in a speech he will deliver in Westminster Hall, London this Friday, While praising Britain’s role in establishing religious liberty, he is expected to warn that the country will suffer if it allows secularism to destroy its Christian heritage. Writing in...
Religious practice improves a child’s educational performance, according to a new report. The report, Religious Practice and Educational Attainment, by Dr. Pat Fagan of the US-based Family Research finds that “the direct positive effects of religious practice include “higher grade point averages, more time spent on homework, and a significant decrease in high school...
A new report on the experiences of children raised by same-sex couples in Ireland has been launched by by pro-gay marriage organisation, Marriage Equality. The report was launched as part of a wider push to legalise adoption by same-sex couples and the total number of participants in the study was 11. Called ‘Voices of Children’, the report...
Cardinal Keith O’Brien (pictured) of St. Andrews and Edinburgh has accused the BBC, the world’s largest broadcasting organization, of anti-Christian and anti-Catholic bias. In an interview with The Sunday Times last weekend he stated: “Our detailed research into BBC news coverage of Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular, together with a systematic analysis of...
Two- thirds of children suffering from consistent poverty live in lone parent families, according to a new report, even though the number of children being raised by lone parents is less than half that. The report, issued by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) shows that in the three years from 2004 to 2007,...
Giving mothers a so-called ‘birth bonus’ for every child, as distinct from giving tax relief to families has encouraged couples in Poland to have more children, a conference of Catholic politicians has been told. At the meeting in Rome last week, the former Polish Minister for Education Roman Giertych said that Poland had experienced a...
