Inter-faith marriages are three times more likely to experience break-up compared to single religion marriages, according to a story in The Washington Post. The report cites a Religious Identification Survey which 2001, which showed that people who had been in mixed-religion marriages were three times more likely to be divorced or separated than those who...
A new study purporting to show that children raised by lesbian couples fare better than those in other families has been described as “inherently unreliable”. The study, authored by Nanette Gartrell and Henny Bos, examines outcomes in teenagers who were raised from birth by lesbian mothers who used donor insemination. The 78 lesbian-raised children were...
Contrary to beliefs that the march of secularism is unstoppable, religion is set to make a comeback in Europe and strengthen in the rest of the world, an audience in Dublin heard last night. Speaking at a lecture hosted by the Iona Institute and the Irish Catholic, Dr Eric Kaufmann (pictured) said that higher birthrates...
The West is facing a “Civil War” over values and religion, according to a leading Spanish academic. Professor Francisco Contreras, of Seville University, said that in both Europe and the US the big issues of the 21st century would be family structure, bioethics and the role of religion in society. He was speaking on Wednesday...
Northern Ireland church leaders believe that the Charity Commission’s draft guidance could threaten the charitable status of churches. The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (CCNI) is due to publish its final ‘public benefit’ guidance soon, but its draft guidance suggests that the charitable status of churches and Christian charities might be threatened if their membership...
Government ministers and HSE officials are set for a crisis meeting today to discuss newly released figures showing that at least 188 young people in HSE care, or in contact with social services, have died in the past decade. The HSE released the figures on Friday, but acknowledged the number could rise further if social...
Ireland has opted out of a new EU family law scheme, approved by European justice ministers, under which a group of member states can recognise each other’s divorce laws. The new arrangement will allow couples where the spouses are from different countries to choose the legal system under which they wish to divorce or separate,...
President Barack Obama has called for the repeal of the Defence of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage as being between a man and a woman. The legislation, passed under President Bill Clinton in 1996, also provides that no state (or other political subdivision within the United States) needs to treat a relationship between persons...
A group of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael senators have called for a conscience clause to the added to the Civil Partnership Bill. They were joined by other senators who called on their parties to allow a free vote on the issue. Speaking first, Fianna Fáil Senator Labhras O’Murchu said that people who hold traditional...
A record 10 States, not including Ireland, have joined the case against a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights ruling last November that Italian state schools were breaching religious freedom by having crucifixes in classrooms. The ruling, known as the Lautsi case, was made last year, but Italy is appealing the case to...
