A Catholic priest in England is facing a legal battle after he was charged for breaching an exclusion zone by silently praying near an abortion clinic after it had closed for the day, in addition to holding a sign with the words “praying for free speech,”

A further charge related to parking his car, which for some time has had on it a small “unborn lives matter” bumper sticker, within the same area. The area surrounding the facility has been covered by a local Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO), in force since November, which prohibits prayer, distributing information about pregnancy help services, and other activities deemed as “protest”.

For peacefully supporting free speech within the censorship zone, Father Sean Gough was charged with “intimidating service-users” of the abortion facility. This was despite the fact that all this happened while the abortion facility was closed.

“I pray wherever I go, inside my head, for the people around me. How can it be a crime for a priest to pray? I often pray in my head near the abortion facility, but at the time in question, I was praying for free speech, which is under severe pressure in our country today. At all times, I believed my actions to be lawful – freedom of expression, especially when peaceful, is protected in domestic and international law. It is deeply undemocratic to censor public streets, particularly those spaces where we know that many women have benefitted from peaceful offers of help about services available,” said Father Sean Gough.

A Canadian widower is sounding the alarm over what he calls a shocking and dangerous bias in the medical system toward the promotion of euthanasia for sick and elderly patients.

Richard Leskun, 75, made the charge after he said medical staff at the Abbotsford hospital “pressured” and “badgered” him to allow his wife of 50 years, Marilynn, to be euthanised.

Leskun remained at his wife Marilynn’s side nearly 24 hours a day after she was admitted to Abbotsford Regional Hospital, the result of a fall from her wheelchair.

Staff asked him five times over eight days whether they could place a Do-Not-Resuscitate (DNR) designation on his wife.

As his wife’s condition continued to deteriorate, a ‘hospitalist’ — a specialist physician assigned to the case — asked Leskun if he would agree to medical staff euthanising Marilynn.

Eventually, as his wife’s condition worsened further, a nurse informed him that a doctor had already given a DNR order without his consent.

A leading voice in sex education wants children at junior cycle level taught gender ideology, the controversial theory which says your ‘gender’ and biological sex are unrelated.

Dr Siobhan Higgins is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the School of Psychology, NUI Galway and describes herself as a “sexual health promoter” from a “sex positive” perspective.

Asked on Newstalk’s Breakfast show yesterday whether it was prudent to bring a matter of “heated public debate” into schools, she said, “Isn’t that a safe place to actually discuss these things, where we give our children a space, with information, non-biased information, to make informed decisions for themselves”.

She continued: “Our SPHE curriculum as it stands is outdated and our children are finding information about how to explore their sexuality which includes their gender identity from other sources. And unless we provide from the school and from parents, non-judgemental information so that they can make informed decisions, they are going to follow people like Andrew Tate.”

God could be referred to in ‘non-gendered’ terms during Church of England services for the first time, despite Jesus using words like ‘Father’, ‘Lord’, ‘He’ and ‘Him’ to describe God.

Bishops have announced they are launching a major ‘project on gendered language’ this spring.

It may suggest that priests can stop using the male pronouns ‘He’ and ‘Him’ when referring to God in some prayers, or even that they can drop the famous phrase ‘our Father’ from the start of the Lord’s Prayer.

The Bishop of Lichfield, the Rt Rev Michael Ipgrave, said: “We have been exploring the use of gendered language in relation to God for several years, in collaboration with the Faith and Order Commission. After some dialogue between the two Commissions in this area, a new joint project on gendered language will begin this spring. In common with other potential changes to authorised liturgical provision, changing the wording and number of authorised forms of absolution would require a full Synodical process for approval.”

France will become the first country to introduce a “digital certificate” for anyone seeking to view online pornography to prove they are not under age. Critics say violent porn is having a detrimental effect on both sexes.

People wanting to visit pornography websites will have to install a government application on their mobile phones proving they are at least 18 years old as part of the plan announced by Jean-Noel Barrot, France’s digital minister.

Websites that do not comply with the order risk being banned from France.

The certification process will remain anonymous and be enforced by September this year, the French government said.

While children are banned from accessing porn in France, current laws only oblige people to click on a button indicating they are over 18, with no other checks on whether they are actually adults.

The lack of other oversight is a major factor behind children accessing online pornography for the first time at an average age of 11, according to French studies.

Marriage has been linked with better overall health as a new study has been published specifically linking it to healthy blood-sugar levels.

The research, which analysed the blood-sugar levels and relationship status of thousands of people aged over 50, concluded that “marital relationships, regardless of the quality of the relationship, are associated with lower HbA1c [blood sugar] values for male and female adults aged over 50 years”.

“Overall, our results suggested that marital/cohabitating relationships were inversely related to HbA1c levels regardless of dimensions of spousal support or strain. Likewise, these relationships appeared to have a protective effect against HbA1c levels above the pre-diabetes threshold,” it said.

Citing previous research elsewhere, those behind the study said “marital relationships have been extensively associated with positive health effects”.

A Vatican cardinal told Europe’s synodal continental assembly yesterday that the biblical vision of man and woman created in the image of God should serve as a “precious beacon for our debates and discernments.” He said it as voices within the Church, including in Ireland, insist Catholic teaching on marriage and sexuality has to change and diverge from what Jesus taught.

Speaking on the third day of the week-long gathering in Prague, the outgoing prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, said that between God and the human person there is a resemblance that sets him apart from all other creatures on earth.

While this resemblance had been understood in spiritual terms, now the relational dimension is highlighted which recovers “the mediation of the body and its fundamental role in the life of the couple”.

He also warned against changing Church teaching on marriage.

As a result of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, at least 494 religious buildings, theological institutions, and sacred places were wholly destroyed, damaged, or looted by the Russian military.

The Ukrainian Institute for Religious Freedom presented this updated data on the impact of the war during the Summit on International Religious Freedom (IRF Summit 2023) held in Washington, D.C.

According to the IRF Ukraine, since the presentation at last year’s IRF Summit, in July 2022, the number of religious infrastructure facilities in Ukraine affected by Russian aggression has more than doubled.

The Institute for Religious Freedom also documented many cases of seizure of religious buildings in Ukraine and their further use as Russian military bases or to conceal the firing positions of Russian troops. This tactic of the Russian military provokes an increase in the scale of destruction of religious sites in Ukraine.

Also documented were targeted attacks on religious figures and believers by the Russian military and intelligence services, primarily in the occupied territories of Ukraine.

Sharp divisions over gender identity and the use of pronouns in schools are revealed in submissions to the State body updating how sex education is taught.

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) is finalising a new Social Personal and Health Education (SPHE) curriculum for Junior Cycle, 12-15 year olds. This incorporates Relationships and Sexuality Education.

It attempts to address issues such as gender identity, pornography and sexual consent. Gender theory is extremely controversial and says your biological sex is irrelevant to whether you identify as male or female or gender non-binary.

Newly disclosed submissions show several parents groups have complained about the “promotion of transgender ideology” to young students, while a number of Catholic bodies have insisted that schools must be allowed to teach any updated syllabus only in accordance with their ethos.

By contrast, State-funded NGOs have welcomed the focus of the draft specification on gender identity, with one arguing that use of pronouns should be specifically included and the term “biological sex” removed, as it is used to “demonise the trans community”.

The Children’s Rights Alliance said explicit inclusion of the concepts of gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation as being “core to our human identity” was “extremely positive and vitally important to ensuring an inclusive curriculum”.

A Charity volunteer who was arrested for praying near an abortion clinic is seeking a clear verdict in court after prosecution dropped charges, but suggested further proceedings.

Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, who was seen in a viral video being arrested and searched by three police officers after saying that she “might be” praying inside her head, was criminally charged with “protesting and engaging in an act that is intimidating to service users” in an exclusion zone around an abortion facility in Birmingham. This was despite her stating clearly that she was not protesting, and despite the clinic being closed, meaning no service users were in the vicinity while she prayed.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have now communicated that they have discontinued the charges against Vaughan-Spruce, yet also have made clear that the charges “may well start again” subject to further evidential review. This is a warning prosecutors can issue when they expect that further evidence will be received.

However, Vaughan-Spruce has now made known her intention to pursue a verdict in court.