Public sector chaplains in Scotland who disagree with same-sex marriage may face legal difficulties under plans to legalise it, a body of independent lawyers has warned. The Scottish Executive’s proposed Bill to redefine marriage has no provisions for protecting freedom of conscience, the Faculty of Advocates, has said. The Faculty of Advocates is roughly equivalent...
Two Christian groups in the UK are considering privately prosecuting two doctors who agreed to arrange abortions of baby girls purely because of their sex after the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to bring charges against them. The Christian Legal Centre, which provides legal advice to its supporters, said it was preparing for a...
People who grow up in non-intact families tend to have “ a significantly lower degree of participation in civil society later in life,” according to a leading European think-tank. Researchers for the Ifo Institute, one of Germany’s largest economic think-tanks, examined the extent to which people who were not reared in traditional family structures become...
A European Citizens Initiative (ECI) petition calling on the European Commission to introduce legislation to suspend EU-funding of embryonic stem cell research has reached one million signatures. When Micheal Martin was Health Minister, Ireland gave its backing to EU-funding of embryo stem-cell research. The one million signature threshold means that it has the same status...
Professor Robert George (pictured), one of America’s foremost champions of religious freedom has been confirmed as the chair of the Chairman of the U.S Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). He was sworn into office by the Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court John Roberts on Monday. The Commission is an independent, bipartisan U.S....
Governments and other public institutions should look at the value of people rather than economic productivity when measuring social progress, President Michael Higgins (pictured) has said. Speaking at Dublin City University last night, Mr Higgins said he strongly believed that a new approach, not focused on the markets and their values, was needed when looking...
Cohabiting mothers are more likely to be living below the US poverty line than mothers living alone, according to research from the University of Virginia. Researcher Annie Rorem, from the Centre on Education Policy and Workforce Competitiveness, said that much US research has previously overlooked unmarried mothers who are cohabiting with partners. She said that...
Marriage is no longer seen as the foundation stone of family life by a majority of people in Britain, a major study of public opinion suggests. The belief that couples should ideally get married before starting a family has effectively collapsed within a generation, according to the British Social Attitudes survey, the longest running and...
Christians, even nominal ones, are now a minority in the UK, according to a new survey. The decline in the number of self-identified Christians has taken place almost entirely among Anglicans. Findings from the British Social Attitudes survey show that just over half (52pc) of the population identify with any faith, while 48pc of people...
England and Wales’ leading family law judge has told social workers that the law can’t be allowed to stop parents naming and shaming of social workers. Sir James Munby, president of the Family Division of the High Court, rejected a legal bid to ban the father of a child, known only as J, from posting...
