A fifth attempt to pass a motion in favour of same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland will be made in the new Assembly term, it has been announced. According to the website of the Sinn Féin, which quotes its MLA Caitriona Ruane, the party intends to stick to its previously voiced commitment to see same-sex marriage...
Fewer people than ever in Britain are opting to marry, according to a new survey, prompting concerns for the wellbeing of children. The findings by the Marriage Foundation, reveal that in 2012, just 59% of middle income couples with children opted to formalise their unions, a figure which compares to 84% of the same category...
England’s former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord George Carey, has said he supports assisted suicide as people are “deciding the matter for themselves” and believes Jesus himself would support the measure. Writing in The Mail on Sunday newspaper ahead of this September’s debate in Parliament on the Assisted Dying Bill, Lord Carey acknowledges that “for years,...
A former biotech worker with links to a US abortion clinic operated by the Planned Parenthood group has alleged that not all foetal tissue harvested was done so with patient consent. In a newly released video, the sixth compiled by the anti-abortion body the Centre for Medical Progress, Holly O’Donnell, described as a former “blood...
The modern world needs the example of faithful marriage between a man and woman more than ever, a leading Irish Bishop has stated. As thousands gathered at the Marian shrine in Knock, Co. Mayo for the annual National Novena to Our Lady, Bishop Kevin Doran of Elphin chose the family as the theme of his...
An expert in Catholic education has warned against the Church in Ireland divesting its schools without first securing “cast-iron guarantees” on the issue of ethos for remaining institutions. Speaking to The Irish Catholic newspaper, Dr Rik Van Nieuwenhove, lecturer in theology at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, said the Church needed to fight the corner of...
A Christian baker in the US state of Colorado has lost his appeal against a discrimination ruling in a gay wedding cake row. Following the earlier ruling against Jack Phillips of Masterpiece Cakeshop by Colorado’s Civil Rights Commission that he had discriminated against a gay couple in 2012 for refusing to supply a cake for their...
Marriage is good for adults and their children, a new report from Canada has found. The report, ‘Sticking With It’, compiled by the country’s Institute for Marriage and the Family (IMFC) reports that stable, two-parent families score better across a range of topics than all other familial arrangements. Bringing together other studies conducted in Canada...
Switzerland’s Federal Court, the highest in the nation, has refused to recognise surrogacy. In a case centred on a same-sex couple, the court was asked to examine the circumstances under which the couple procured a child from a surrogate mother in the US state of California in 2011. Having entered into an agreement with the...
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is calling for more non-physician medical staff and pharmacists to be trained in abortion procedures and for restrictions to be enacted against allowing conscientious objection to abortion. In a newly released paper on ‘Health worker roles in providing safe abortion care and post-abortion contraception’, the WHO suggests that extending training...
