Ireland’s Catholic Bishops have said that moves to water down the place of religion in schools will have no effect on Church-run schools. In a statement from the Bishops’ Council for Education, responding to Minister for Education Jan O’Sullivan abolition of Rule 68 of the Rules for National Schools, the Bishops stressed: “The Minister’s announcement concerning rule 68 does not change the teaching of religious...
Eight out of 10 primary school principals who took part in an online survey would like to see less time devoted to religious education in schools, a new poll has shown. According to The Irish Times, the poll, which was conducted by the Irish Primary Principals Network (IPPN), reveals that of 600 principals who took part...
A Catholic education is about “people, not ideas”, the head of the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association has said at the launch of Catholic schools week. Fr Tom Deenihan said, a Catholic school “is fundamentally not about ideas, or courses or even subjects or syllabi but, rather, it is about people. People are not clones, are...
Pope Francis has defended marriage between one man and one woman over all other living arrangements. As he addressed members of the Roman Rota, the Holy See’s tribunal which judges on marriage cases, the Pontiff stressed that “there can be no confusion between the family willed by God and any other type of union”. He...
Northern Ireland’s Attorney General has announced his intention to challenge a Court of Appeal ruling which declared the region’s abortion laws too restrictive. According to The Irish Times, the office of John Larkin QC has confirmed that an appeal to the ruling has been lodged. Last December, Mr Justice Mark Horner heard a case brought by...
A senior member of the Fine Gael party has dismissed as “legal fiction” the contention that it may be possible to simultaneously retain the constitutional protection for the unborn and allow for abortion in cases of children with life-limiting conditions. In so doing, he has given his backing to the retention of Ireland’s pro-life amendment also known...
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin has said it is wrong for parents to baptise their children only to gain access to Catholic schools. Speaking to The Irish Times, Dr Martin said canon law was clear that people “should only be baptised if there’s a reasonable probability that they will be brought up as Catholics”. The Archbishop added that the end result of...
The Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh, Richard Clarke has defended the role of faith-based schools in this country and also warned against the introduction of a form of ‘eugenic abortion’. Archbishop Clarke says in an interview with The Irish Catholic that faith-based schools play an important role, warning that the “notion that denominational education is no longer fit for...
The United Nations has revealed that Christians are being targeted in a “systematic and widespread” attempt by Islamic State to destroy their presence in the Middle East. According to a newly released report, based on Iraqi government records of civilian deaths and casualties together with eyewitness accounts of Islamic State atrocities, Christians, together with Yazidis, continue...
A Catholic Bishop in Canada has described plans for the introduction of new rules on transgender pupils in schools in Alberta as “the madness of relativism”. In a letter to parishes entitled ‘Totalitarianism is alive and well in Alberta’, Bishop Fred Henry of Calgary denounces moves by education chiefs in the province to enforce tailored policies...
