A new US survey has found that 1 in 5 Catholic likely voters say they accept everything the Church teaches, with young adults being more likely than older generations to say they agree with Catholic doctrine.

RealClear Opinion Research, in partnership with EWTN News, conducted an Oct. 5-11 poll, surveying 1,490 likely voters who self-identify as Catholic.

One significant shift in the data is an increase in young adult Catholics who say they believe everything the Catholic Church teaches.

Twenty-five percent of 18-34 year olds in the latest survey said they accept everything the Church teaches, compared to 21% of those ages 35-54 and 16% of those 55 and older.

Teenagers did not do as badly as feared during the quarantine in America according to research by the Institute of Family Studies.

While adults in spring 2020 were three times more likely to experience mental distress, anxiety, or depression, most teens fared relatively well during the pandemic, mainly due to more time with family and additional sleep. However, teens in two parent families fared better than their peers.

Among the report’s key findings are that depression and loneliness were actually lower among teens in 2020 than in 2018, and unhappiness and dissatisfaction with life were only slightly higher.

They spent less time on social media and gaming than in 2018. However, they did increase their consumption of TV and videos.

 These patterns were not uniform across all teens. Overall mental health was significantly better for teens in two-parent families, both before and during the pandemic. Teens who spent more time with their families during the pandemic and who felt their families had grown closer were less likely to be depressed. Thus, it appears that one of the primary foundations for teen resilience during the pandemic is family support and connection.

The study concluded that the results reveal “a nuanced picture of teens during the pandemic quarantine: They were resilient yet worried, isolated yet connected to family, and well-rested yet concerned”.

Groups of hooded protesters entered two churches in Chile’s capital city Sunday and set them ablaze.

Both churches are among the oldest in Santiago.

The spire of the Church of the Assumption collapsed as the church burned, drawing cheers from demonstrators protesting outside the building. The interior of the St. Francis Borgia Church was gutted by the fire, and both buildings may be beyond repair.

On the wall of one of the burnt out churches, protesters wrote “Muerte al Nazareno” which translates as “Death to the Nazarene”.

At least five people have been arrested for setting one of those churches ablaze, with one detained inside the church and four outside.

The attacks came as demonstrators across the country called for a constitution, and marked the one year anniversary of large anti-government protests that took place across Chile last year, during which riots destroyed supermarkets and other businesses, and reportedly caused more than 30 deaths.

The Archbishop of Santiago de Chile condemned the arson attacks and called on Catholics to carry out acts of reparation for them.

The Welsh government appears to see Catholic schools as a “problem,” a Church education adviser said Monday as officials press ahead with plans for a radical shake-up of religious education.

Angela Keller, Wales Adviser of the Catholic Education Service (CES), made the comment in an Oct. 19 press statement after giving evidence against the changes to a Welsh parliamentary committee.

She said: “It’s hurtful that the Welsh government appears to see Catholic schools as the problem because we teach Catholic RE. The Welsh government needs to start trusting Catholic schools and the professionals who work extremely hard in them.”

The authorities are moving forward with plans to rename Religious Education as “Religion, Values and Ethics” in a new curriculum, despite widespread opposition.

Catholic educators argue that the new proposals would place additional legal burdens on Catholic schools, obliging them to teach an additional secular RE curriculum.

The Diocese of Brooklyn has attacked the state of New York, charging that a new additional set of restrictions that further reduce church capacity violates freedom of religion.

Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn said that the measures were “not reasonable.”

“We’re not asking for full capacity,” he said, noting that churches in the diocese “are very large” and can safely accommodate far more than the 10-or-25-person limit the state is effectively ordering.

The 10-person restriction is one of the lowest caps on religious services in the country. San Francisco had been limiting outdoor religious services to 12 people, with indoor services prohibited, until early this month when San Francisco’s mayor announced that places of worship will be permitted to hold services indoors at 25% capacity, up to 100 people.

The archbishop of San Francisco performed an exorcism on Saturday at the site where rioters ripped down a statue of 18th century missionary, Father Junipero Serra last week.

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone conducted the ceremony in front of approximately 150 people outside the St. Raphael Catholic Church in San Raphael, which is north of San Francisco. The group later conducted a scheduled march to a nearby Planned Parenthood clinic.

Five people were arrested for alleged vandalism regarding the Serra statue in San Raphael, which was torn down on Columbus Day, according to the San Raphael Police Department. The statue is reportedly being repaired and will be returned to the site, according to a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of San Francisco who spoke to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Serra, who was canonized by Pope Francis in 2015, has repeatedly been a target of protesters who see him as a ‘symbol of colonialism’ over his missionary efforts to Native Americans.

The Health Minister has been accused of supporting the option of assisted suicide for all who are terminally ill, while restricting medical cards for the dying to those in the final year of their life, according to Ógra Aontú.

Currently, it is possible for patients who are terminally ill to get an emergency medical card, but only those with 12 months to live qualify for them.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly had given assurances that reform would be forthcoming, but Budget 2021 included no such provisions.

Aontu’s Becky Kealy says the Minister recently voted for socialist TD, Gino Kenny’s assisted suicide bill which empowers doctors to administer a lethal substance to consenting, terminally ill patients. The bill contains no restriction on how long someone has left to live to qualify for the procedure.

However, she said the Minister has failed to extend medical cards to many of the same individuals.

The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland have updated their position paper on assisted suicide reaffirming their opposition to the measure.

Last published in December 2017, the College officially opposes the introduction of any legislation supportive of assisted suicide because it is contrary to best medical practice.

The RCPI says it promotes a considered and compassionate approach to caring for, and proactively meeting the needs and concerns of patients who may be approaching the end of their life.

That RCPI also commits itself as a body to promote adherence to the Medical Council’s current Guide on Professional Medical Conduct and Ethics for Registered Medical Practitioners guidance on End of Life Care.

Research into the paper brought together representatives from a range of medical specialities within RCPI, including Geriatric Medicine, Neurology, Palliative Medicine, Respiratory Medicine, Rehabilitation Medicine, and Psychiatry, to review the matter of Assisted Suicide. The group reviewed arguments on both sides of the debate and examined international evidence from jurisdictions where assisted suicide had been introduced. The group also looked at the positions of medical professional bodies throughout the world on this issue.

The group considered the arguments and the literature in the context of RCPI’s emphasis on principles of medical ethics in medical training and the Medical Council’s Guide on Professional Medical Conduct and Ethics for Registered Medical Practitioners.

The Archbishop of Dublin has appealed for people to be allowed to attend mass, saying they are being deprived of their worship.

Speaking to Pat Kenny on Newstalk, Diarmuid Martin said Ireland is the only country in Europe with a blanket ban on public worship from level three onwards.

On Thursday, while speaking at an online gathering of the Dublin Council of Churches, he said “There can be a justification for the closing of churches, especially at crucial moments or to protect vulnerable people”. But, he warned that “such measures should however be limited to the minimum period necessary”

“For Catholics, the celebration of Mass and the sacraments is at the very heart of what it means for us to be a Christian community. These are not simply ‘gatherings’ of people, but profound expressions of who we are as a Church.

“For parishes and individual Catholics the loss of these spiritual supports can be a source of great anxiety and fear and can have a detrimental impact on their overall health and well-being,” the archbishop said.

The four catholic Archbishops wrote to Taoiseach Micheál Martin last week expressing concern at the ban on public worship. They requested a meeting with the Taoiseach and are still awaiting a reply.

The latest coronavirus restrictions in Northern Ireland preserve the celebration of public mass and religious services.

For regularly scheduled worship, the only limit on numbers is that there be room for social distancing.

But weddings and funerals will be limited to 25 people.

The Catholic diocese of Clogher covers both sides of the border, with some parishes straddling the border itself.

Bishop Larry Duffy said the conflicting regulations means public mass can continue in the North, but is banned in the south: