Rates of births, marriages and adoptions continue to fall in Ireland while the death rate increases.
The 2019 annual report of the Civil Registration Service, published on Tuesday, says there were 60,173 births in 2019, a drop of 1,728 on the 61,901 births registered during 2018, itself a decrease of 2.8 per cent on the 2017 figure. This steady decrease has continued from a peak in 2008, when more than 75,000 births were registered. Births registered in 2019 were a fifth less than in 2008.
In 2019, 20,335 marriages were registered in Ireland, a drop of 3.4 per cent on the 2018 figure and 7.7 per cent lower that the average for 2016-2018.
Meanwhile, Irish death rates continue to increase, with 32,084 registered in 2019. Of these, 52.5 per cent were male and 47.5 per cent female. Numbers dying in Ireland have shown a slight increase every year since 2016. In 2018 the figure was 31,232, in 2017 it was 31,385 and in 2016 it was 32,029.
The US Senate on Monday voted to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.
Barrett is a Catholic mother of seven children, including two adopted from Haiti. She is a member of the ecumenical charismatic group People of Praise.
During confirmation hearings to an Appeals Court in 2017, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) questioned Barrett on her personal faith and values, saying that “when you read your speeches, the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you. And that’s of concern.”
Barrett has said repeatedly that she would interpret the law according to the original meaning of the text of the Constitution, and would not impose her own moral or political preferences.
In 2006 she added her signature to an advertisement in her local newspaper that quoted the late Justice Byron White calling the Supreme Court’s 1973 Federal imposition of abortion an “exercise of raw judicial power.”
“It’s time to put an end to the barbaric legacy of Roe v. Wade and restore laws that protect the lives of unborn children,” the text stated.
In 2015, she signed a letter from Catholic Women to the Synod of Bishops in Rome that said the Church’s teachings, “on the dignity of the human person and the value of human life from conception to natural death; on the meaning of human sexuality, the significance of sexual difference and the complementarity of men and women; on openness to life and the gift of motherhood; and on marriage and family founded on the indissoluble commitment of a man and a woman—provide a sure guide to the Christian life, promote women’s flourishing, and serve to protect the poor and most vulnerable among us.”
The outgoing Bishop of Ferns has hit out at the closure of churches for daily and weekly religious services.
Bishop Denis Brennan says the country is at odds with the rest of Europe in this situation.
Speaking on South East Radio, Bishop Brennan called on the government to revisit the decision.
He expressed his disappointment that the churches were closed so quickly, something which had already been ordered during phase 3 of the coronavirus restrictions.
Among those who opposed that move was the Irish Council of Civil Liberties.
On Oct 9th, they tweeted: “It’s not often we find ourselves in agreement with the bishops, but we too think socially-distant religious gatherings could go ahead under level 3 restrictions. Government needs to protect our fundamental rights, including freedom of religion, during the pandemic.”
Meanwhile, over the weekend the Oireachtas passed and the President signed into law the legislation creating a criminal offence for breaking the phase 5 restrictions. The prohibited events subject to fines and arrest includes the holding of a public mass.
A group of 70 pastors attached to evangelical Christian denominations in Ireland have written to the Government warning of “severe” consequences if their churches are not opened up.
The letter, which has been sent to Taoiseach Micheál Martin and all TDs, says the continuing closure of places of worship is “counterproductive during a season when people desperately need the hope and community that so many find in church life and public worship”.
Pointing out that churches in the State are the only ones in Europe to remain closed, the pastors said the closures are “unwarranted” given the steps these churches have taken to ensure the safety of their congregations amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The letter warned of “severe, unintended consequences [from the closures], particularly with regards to . . . [the] mental health” of people who attend these churches.
Christian leaders have taken legal proceedings against the Welsh Assembly, arguing that closing churches as part of the two-week lockdown is “both unlawful and unnecessary”.
Arguing for the lockdown on Monday, Mark Drakeford, the First Minister of Wales said the NHS would fail unless action was taken but Christians say including the public celebration of religious services is “an extreme interference with Article 9” [of the Human Rights Act].
Churches will not legally be permitted to open their doors to the public from this evening, except for weddings and funerals.
Rev. Peter Greasley, Senior Pastor at Christchurch, Newport, said it is vital for a church that serves on the front lines of a community in need to be able to meet and worship together.
“For 25 years we have served the people of Newport and beyond materially, emotionally and spiritually. We run the Newport Foodbank, which local people need urgently at this time. We also work extensively with social services, the police and the local health board who use our facilities at a reduced cost. If our church is not able to function properly then neither can these important services.”
The letter was also signed by leaders of English churches who are concerned that the forced closure could easily set a precedent in the rest of the UK.
Legislation for the current phase five lockdown includes a criminal offence for conducting public worship, according to an Independent TD for Clare who chairs the Oireachtas Covid-19 Committee.
Deputy Michael McNamara was speaking yesterday as the Dáil debated the extension of public health emergency legislation restricting individual rights from November 9th until June 9th, 2021.
He appealed directly to Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly to not go arresting priests:
“I do not know whether the Minister is aware of one measure in the motion but he must be because he signed it. Priests will be committing a criminal offence if they open the doors of their churches for mass. I know that lots of priests do not want to say mass and do not believe it is appropriate. That is their prerogative. I am not a mass goer, but I know how important it is in the community I represent for people to go to mass or to a church or mosque. The Government is denying them that. Is the Government is going to send gardaí after priests who decide to say mass? If the Government is thinking of that, I have one word to say, “Don’t”.”
Poland’s constitutional court ruled Thursday that a 1993 law permitting abortion for foetal abnormalities is unconstitutional.
Approximately 1,000 legal abortions take place in Poland each year. The majority are carried out in cases where the unborn child has a severe and irreversible disability or a life-threatening incurable disease. Polish pro-life campaigners describe the legal provision as “eugenic.”
Hundreds of thousands of Poles had supported a citizen-initiated bill to ban abortion in cases of fetal abnormality earlier this year.
Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, president of the Polish bishops’ conference, expressed delight at the outcome.
“With this decision, it was found that the concept of ‘life not worth living’ is in sharp contradiction to the principle of a democratic state ruled by law. The life of every human being from conception to natural death is of equal value to God and should be equally protected by the state,” he said.
He added: “While rejoicing in this epochal change of law, let us now remember that children — who are directly affected by today’s decision of the Constitutional Tribunal — and their families should be surrounded with special kindness and real care on the part of the state, society, and the Church.”
In Poland, abortion continues to be legal in cases of rape, incest, or risk to the mother’s life.
A two-week “firebreak” to slow the spread of COVID-19 in Wales has “disappointed” the Archbishop of Cardiff, since it will close churches to public worship.
“Since their re-opening at the end of the first lockdown, our churches have been places of safety and security as well as tranquility and peace, so much needed in these turmoil-ridden days,” said Archbishop George Stack of Cardiff in an Oct. 20 statement.
“Ours is an incarnational religion. The ‘Eucharistic Famine’ of the recent months of lockdown has been painful to us in so many ways – known and unknown. Churches are not just places in which we worship God but with which we worship God,” the archbishop said.
Stack said the Catholic Church is continuing to dialogue with the Welsh government “in the hope” that churches will be allowed to remain open for private prayer at specified times during the “firebreak.”
Wales joins the Republic of Ireland as the only nations in Europe to have reimposed bans on public worship due to the spike of COVID-19 cases.
Politicians in the European Parliament want the vacancy of Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion and Belief filled as soon as possible.
In a letter, 48 MEPs have written to Ursula Von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, asking for the re-appointment of an Envoy who will specifically work on defending the freedoms of religious people.
It was announced back in July that the position would be renewed, having previously been held by only one person – Ján Figel – since the creation of the role in 2016. The role has been vacant for almost a year.
The signatories say promoting freedom of religion is an essential aim of the EU.
“Targeted attacks on religious freedoms in recent years have demonstrated the need for a more targeted and urgent response,” they say.
The Government has increased the number of people who can attend funerals to 25 under Level 5 restrictions.
The move follows criticism of the new lockdown rules which permitted 25 people to attend a wedding but only 10 attend a funeral.
At a Cabinet meeting yesterday, the Taoiseach and his ministers agreed to increase the number who can attend a funeral to 25.
Former Agriculture Minister Barry Cowen yesterday said he planned to write to the Taoiseach to ask him to increase the number who can attend funerals.
Micheál Martin initially defended the decision to keep it at 10 for funerals and 25 at weddings.
