A report claiming the Government had scrapped promised laws to introduce so-called “safe access zones” outside maternity hospitals and clinics providing abortion was quickly denied by the Health Minister, Stephen Donnelly.

A group of university staff have objected to the use of a Catholic resource for relationships and sexuality education (RSE) recommended for Catholic schools mainly because it reiterates Catholic teaching that marriage is between a man and a woman.

They have called on the Government to stop its introduction.

‘Flourish’ was developed by the Irish Bishops’ Conference for Catholic primary schools to supplement the National RSE program.

In a letter to Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Education Minister Norma Foley, the group of university staff argue that Flourish “conflates” education on relationships and sexuality with a religious perspective on the topics.

They say it could form and shape negative views among children towards some sexualities and identities, and in some cases towards themselves.

Introductory documents published earlier this year set out that while RSE in Catholic schools should affirm that every human being “is loved by God as they are”, the “Church’s teaching in relation to marriage between a man and a woman cannot be omitted”.

More Catholic bishops have given the go-ahead for First Holy Communions and Confirmations to take place later this month.

Bishop Fintan Monahan of Killaloe said parishes in his diocese could proceed with these sacraments from mid-August, as also did the diocese of Ferns.

Previously, the Catholic Archbishops of Dublin, Armagh, and Tuam, announced that the sacraments could take place in their diocese locally as also did the Bishops of Clogher, Meath, Elphin, Raphoe, and Waterford and Lismore.

In a statement to Tipp FM, Bishop Monahan said that the fears surrounding Communion and Confirmation after-parties were “overplayed”.

He said he understood the State’s point of view but he thought the sacraments had been “singled out” for restrictions.

Separately, Bishop Denis Nulty of Kildare and Leighlin has declined to follow suit, and instead has asked parishes is his diocese to abide by current official guidelines.

Meanwhile, the Irish Times is reporting that the Cabinet’s Covid sub-committee has recommended a resumption of First Communions and Confirmations from next month.

Cuban authorities are threatening a Christian with prison if he doesn’t take down a Bible verse from outside his home.

Yuri Perez Osorio, from Havana, put up the sign with a powerful quote from the book of Isaiah on injustice and tyranny.

He was interrogated by local police and given 72 hours to remove the scriptural verse.

The sign reads: “Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless. Isaiah 10: 1-2,” and finishes with a call to repentance

Last month, there were massive, anti-government protests against the island nation’s communist regime.

The Catholic archdioceses of Dublin and Tuam have said First Holy Communion and Confirmations can go ahead again despite Government guidelines advising against them. The archbishops join at least six other dioceses giving their priests permission to do so.

Tuam archbishop, Michael Neary told priests last week that First Holy Communions and Confirmations may proceed from mid-August. He said: “It’s important that the guidance and protocols be followed, and that priests would encourage parishioners to take every precaution outside of the ceremony itself”.

Archbishop Dermot Farrell said there has been no engagement from the Government with Church representatives regarding revision of public health guidelines.

He said the grounds for the restrictions appear to be that they may lead to family gatherings, which could breach public health guidelines on household mixing.

“This is perplexing, as no such prohibitions are applied to other events, such as sporting of civic events, or other family occasions, such as the celebration of birthdays and anniversaries, or indeed to weddings or funerals.

“Many have concluded that, in the absence of appropriate justification, these guidelines are discriminatory,” Archbishop Farrell writes.

Yesterday afternoon, he commented on the news that former Minister, Katherine Zappone, held an outdoor event for a large crowd of patrons at a swanky hotel: “You know it’s okay to have a bash in the Merrion Hotel with 50 people present. But yet, it’s not possible for a parent to take their child along to receive the sacrament,” he told RTÉ Radio One.

Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Dermot Farrell, has paid tribute to the bravery of the priest killed in the Co Cork bus crash, who he said sacrificed himself to save his secretary.

Locals told media that Fr Con Cronin was having lunch with a woman in Monkstown, and pushed her out of the way of the Bus Éireann bus as it lost control and veered towards them on Tuesday.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1, Archbishop Farrell said it was a “very sad day”.

“Could I sympathise with Fr Con Cronin and his family on the tragic death of Fr Cronin and pay tribute to his bravery, where he sacrificed himself to save his secretary.

“But also just pay tribute to all my priest colleagues on this feast day of St John Vianney, the patron saint of priests.”

More than 75 amicus briefs have been filed at the US Supreme Court supporting the state of Mississippi’s ban on most elective abortions after 15 weeks, the state’s attorney general said last week. Many of the briefs were filed by Catholic or pro-life organizations.

The National Catholic Bioethics Center was one of the amici curiae in the case. Its president, Joseph Meaney, told CNA on Tuesday that the case presents “a remarkable opportunity” for the court to substantially alter or overturn its previous rulings that claimed a right to abortion.

Expressing optimism that the court will reevaluate or possibly overturn its Roe v. Wade decision as a result of the Dobbs case, Meaney said “there’s a real light at the end of the tunnel here.”

“There’s a growing cultural momentum that people have had enough of abortion-on-demand,” Meaney said, adding the Supreme Court overstepped its authority in the Roe case by imposing legal abortion on the nation.

The abortion of babies simply because of their gender should no longer be allowed in Ireland, according to the leader of Aontú.

Peadar Tóibín was responding to a report published in the British Medical Journal that there could be 4.7 million fewer girls born globally in the next ten years because of sex-selective practices.

A preference for boys in many countries and cultures means that girls are far more likely to be aborted.

The authors of the study say it could lead to a “marriage squeeze” in affected countries and elevated levels of anti-social behaviour and violence. This could include an increase in trafficking of girls and child marriages and affect long-term stability of societies.

The Meath West TD tabled an amendment in the Dáil in 2018 to ban gender selection abortion but FF, FG, SF, Labour and PbP voted against it.

He now intends to bring a new Bill in the next Oireachtas term that would again attempt to ban the practice.

In a statement, he said: “We need a society that protects everyone’s life especially those who are the most vulnerable. We need to have compassionate society where human welfare is considered important. We can no longer tolerate a law in this country that blatantly allows for the targeting of baby girls”.

The Government has defended the presidential oath’s mention of God as those taking a court case against it are not victimised by it.

In submissions to the European Court of Human Rights seen by The Irish Times, the Government said the case taken by Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall and four co-litigants should be dismissed because their rights to freedom of thought, conscience and religion were not breached.

Directly citing the European Convention on Human Rights, the Government also made the claim that the declarations were “necessary in a democratic society in the interests of public safety, for the protection of public order, health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others”.

The American Medical Association Board of Trustees has passed a resolution calling for an end to the designation of sex in all future birth certificates.

The resolution distinguishes between the “Certificate of Live Birth” — which is used for simple data collection and vital statistics — and a “Birth Certificate,” which is proof for the born person that he or she was indeed born.

The AMA wants biological sex recorded for the former as a private matter of record-keeping. But it will now urge that birth-certificate forms carry no designation of sex to prevent future discrimination based on identity and to allow the person to decide later what sex they really are.

The resolution says “Existing AMA policy recognizes that every individual has the right to determine their gender identity and sex designation on government documents. To protect individual privacy and to prevent discrimination, U.S.  jurisdictions should remove sex designation on the birth certificate”.

The AMA is a professional association and lobbying group of doctors and medical students. Founded in 1847, it is the largest such association in the US with over 240,000 members and the only national one. Its mission is to promote the art and science of medicine and the betterment of public health.