In a new interview, Pope Francis included abortion in a condemnation of a culture of waste in which “people who are not useful are discarded.”

Speaking to Italian television channel Tg5 in an interview that aired Sunday night, Francis said even children “are discarded if they have some disease or if they are unwanted, as are the elderly, the sick and migrants”.

Speaking of abortion, he said it is a problem of human ethics, where religion enters later, and one “that even the atheist must resolve in their conscience.”

Whenever the issue of abortion comes up, the pope said a question comes to mind: “Do I have the right to do this?” the scientific answer to which, he said, is that “in the third week, almost the fourth, there are all the organs of the new human being in the womb of the mother, it’s a human life.”

“Is it right to eliminate a human life to solve a problem, any problem? No, it’s not right. Is it okay to hire a hitman solve a problem? Someone who kills human life? This is the problem of abortion. Scientifically and humanly,” he said.

The main churches in Northern Ireland have voluntarily closed their doors to public worship in view of the worsening public health crisis.

In a statement on Thursday, the North’s Catholic bishops said that for a limited period (7 January to 6 February), the celebration of the Eucharist should take place without the physical presence of the faithful – with the exception of marriages, funerals, and baptisms.

Drive-in services will however continue.

The Catholic Church was joined by the Church of Ireland, Presbyterian Church, and Methodist Church in making the move.

Meanwhile, the Diocese of Westminster insists Catholic churches are safe in the British capital after the Mayor of London called for the closure of places of worship in the city.

Bishop John Sherrington, an auxiliary in Westminster, issued a letter on Friday explaining why churches in England should remain open.

“This decision is based on two factors: The recognition that our churches are safe, and that the service they offer is essential. The safety of our churches has been affirmed by Public Health England (PHE) in its current advice to the Government,” the bishop wrote.

A post by China’s US embassy that described measures against Uigher women in progressive political terms has been removed by Twitter.

The post linked to an article by state mouthpiece China Daily denying allegations of forced sterilisation in Xinjiang. It said: “Study shows that in the process of eradicating extremism, the minds of Uygur women in Xinjiang were emancipated and gender equality and reproductive health were promoted, making them no longer baby-making machines. They are more confident and independent.”

Twitter said the post had “violated the Twitter rules” but did not provide further details.

In recent years, China has escalated its crackdown on ethnic Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region, including the mass internment of an estimated one million people, intense human and digital surveillance, re-education programs, suppression of religious activity and destruction of religious sites, forced labour, and enforced sterilisation of women. Experts have said the policies amount to cultural genocide. China rejects the accusations, and says the camps are vocational training centres necessary to combat religious extremism and terrorism.

The positive contributions of religious sisters and priests in helping women in unplanned pregnancies has been “largely forgotten”, according to a retired teacher who specialised in Relationships and Sexuality Education.

Stephanie Walsh and her husband gave refuge to many pregnant girls and women in the 1970s at the request of Limerick Diocesan social services.

Writing in the Irish Times, she said it was her experience that “church women and men provided more assistance to women in need in the ’70s than did the secular community. Most of the social workers who contacted our family were religious Sisters; many of the women in trouble were referred by priests”.

“Is it counter cultural to feel sympathy for those who provided a service in an area of life that then was unpopular only to find their work so little appreciated and frequently reviled now?,” she concluded.

In a statement, RTÉ said the review found that the sketch did not comply with several provisions.

These included Section 39 (1) (d) of the Broadcasting Act 2009 and the BAI Code of Programme Standards in relation to material that causes “undue offence”.

It also did not comply with provision of Principle 5 in the above Code (Respect for Persons and Groups in Society) regarding “due respect” for religious beliefs.

RTÉ Director General, Dee Forbes, accepted the findings and offered a full apology.

The station will report itself to the BAI and has taken down the clip from the RTE player.

Minister Josepha Madigan has repeated her call for a referendum to remove Article 41.2 on protecting mothers working at home.

The Article states: “In particular, the State recognises that by her life within the home, woman gives to the State a support without which the common good cannot be achieved. The State shall, therefore, endeavour to ensure that mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour to the neglect of their duties in the home.”

Minister Madigan said the article, “which refers to a woman’s life within the home, is wholly discriminatory. It is also completely at odds with this Government’s policy regarding equality of opportunity and gender equality.”

She continued: “The Constitution does not seek to define the place of men. It therefore follows that it should not seek to define the place of women. Our Constitution should not narrowly define our roles in society.

“In today’s modern Ireland, both mothers and fathers carry out important family duties in the home, as well as grandparents, siblings, carers, and others. While many parents do choose to stay at home to raise their families, we should not discriminate against working parents, and working mothers in particular, who make an invaluable contribution to Irish society. Therefore, I would like to see this anachronistic Article consigned to history. It does not represent the values and lives of modern Irish women and modern Irish families.

The chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Media Niamh Smyth has called on RTÉ to remove a controversial sketch from its media player that portrayed God as having raped Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Ms Smyth, who is also Fianna Fail’s party’s spokeperson for Arts and Culture, described the sketch which has prompted almost 6,000 complaints to RTÉ as “deeply offensive and blasphemous”.

She acknowledged that RTÉ had apologised but she said the apology did not go far enough.

“An apology is meaningless while the clip remains available. I implore the RTÉ Editorial Standards Board who are due to make recommendations this Friday after reviewing the broadcast to remove the offending clip immediately,” she said.

An auxiliary Bishop in Nigeria and his driver were released by their abductors Jan. 1 after being kidnapped five days earlier.

Bishop Moses Chikwe of Owerri was “looking and feeling very weak from the traumatic experience”, according to Archbishop John Obinna.

He said the bishop’s driver had been taken to the hospital for treatment of a deep cut to his hand, received from the kidnappers.

Chikwe’s kidnapping came less than two weeks after the kidnapping and release in Imo state of Father Valentine Oluchukwu Ezeagu, a member of the Sons of Mary Mother of Mercy Congregation. The priest was stopped and taken by armed men Dec. 15 as he was driving to his father’s funeral in Anambra state, north of Imo. He was released unharmed the next day.

Chikwe remains the first Catholic bishop to be kidnapped in Nigeria since the Boko Haram insurgency began in 2009. Over the years, several priests and hundreds of others have been kidnapped. These included cases involving groups of school students.

Former RTÉ news presenter Aengus Mac Grianna has issued a fulsome apology over a sketch which has angered believers and ran as part of the station’s New Year’s Eve countdown show.

The piece has generated almost 5,000 complaints to RTÉ.

The mock bulletin stated that God had been arrested on charges of sexual harassment for “forcing himself on a young Middle Eastern migrant and allegedly impregnating her against her will”.

Mr Mac Grianna posted the following message on social media: “Personal apology: I wish to apologise concerning my participation in the Waterford Whispers News item on the NYE show on RTE 1 on New Year’s Eve. Truly I am deeply sorry for the offence, distress and hurt caused. It was wrong for me. It was wrong of me. Aengus Mac Grianna.”

Meanwhile, RTÉ has said that the station’s Editorial Standards Board is “reviewing the broadcast with regard to compliance with RTÉ’s Journalism & Content Guidelines 2020, as well as RTÉ’s statutory and regulatory obligations under the Broadcasting Act 2009 and the relevant codes of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland”.

RTÉ said that recommendations by the board are expected by this Friday.

There were also calls for the segment to be removed from the RTÉ Player, however RTÉ said a decision on this will be dependent on the recommendations of the editorial board.

A 25-year-old Edmonton man was charged with a ‘hate crime’ after he allegedly disrupted Mass at a church and briefly posted an obscenity-laden video online.

On Dec. 13, three men attended the 11 a.m. Mass registering under false names. Shortly after Communion, the suspect went to the podium just as the pastor, Father George Puramadathil, was clearing the sacred vessels from the altar.

The man’s speech was incoherent at first, but “as this person continued his rant, we began to understand the profanities, the extremely, extremely vulgar language that he was using,” said one mass attendee.

After Fr Puramadathil asked him to leave, the man left the altar “and right there, in front of the first pew, he dropped his pants, exposed himself, front and back, right in front of the family with two babies,” said a member of the parish council.

The suspect also filmed himself. The video was uploaded online and has since been taken down.

At a Mass at the parish Dec. 20, Edmonton Archbishop Richard Smith called the incident a criminal act and a sacrilege.

Police report there were 37 hate-related charges laid in Edmonton in 2020.

Nationally, ‘hate crimes’ abated slightly in 2018, with a 13 percent drop in police-reported incidents, according to Statistics Canada. Religion is a significant motivator, with 36 percent of hate crimes directed at religious targets.