A resolution on the protection of freedom of religion and belief in the workplace was passed by the Council of Europe last week. The Council is the continent’s leading Human Rights body uniting 47 member states, 27 of which are also members of the EU.
The resolution calls on member states to “take all necessary measures to combat discrimination based on religion or beliefs in all fields of civil, economic, political and cultural life”. It also asks them “to promote the work of national human rights institutions on combatting discrimination, including indirect discrimination based on religion or belief, and encourage them to develop training activities for both public and private employers”.
Thousands of Irish people continue to avail of the services of the marriage agency of the Catholic Bishops, but the number is falling.
Bishop Denis Nulty of Kildare and Leighlin unveiled the 2019 figures for Accord Catholic Marriage Care Service on Tuesday.
Nearly 15,000 people attended their Sacramental Marriage preparation courses, and 24,000 sessions of marriage and relationship counselling were provided for individuals and couples. However, both figures show a decline from previous years.
The number of Catholic weddings has been dropping steadily in Ireland for decades, with next year due to be the first on record where non-religious weddings outnumber Catholic ones. Under 4 per cent of marriages were non-religious in 1990, whilst over 93 per cent were Catholic. By 2018, the number of couples choosing a non-religious ceremony had climbed to 39 per cent, with only 48 per cent choosing to enter into a Catholic marriage.
The French Senate has adopted a draft bioethics law by a relatively small margin of 10 votes. Among other things, the bill enables the use of donor sperm by single women and female couples to create children who would be raised without a father. Some of the more extreme elements of the bill have been moderated and it now goes back to the lower house, the National Assembly, where President Macron’s Government command a majority.
The bill has faced significant public protests with tens of thousands of people marching against it in Paris. A nationwide “consultation” through official public meetings and via an internet platform found 80 percent of the participants were against its signature elements. It has also been attacked by the National Academy of Medicine in France which said the deliberate conception of a child deprived of a father constitutes a major anthropological break, which risks the psychological development of the child.
A female same-sex couple took part in the first same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland since MPs in Westminster imposed a redefinition of marriage on the North while the Northern Assembly was not sitting.
Robyn Peoples, 26, and Sharni Edwards, 27, made the legal contract at a ceremony in a hotel in Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, Monday.
The day marks their sixth anniversary as a couple and they had booked a civil partnership ceremony at the Loughshore hotel months before Westminster MPs passed the legislation last summer.
Women who have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to abusive ex-husbands if they stay in their family home after a divorce say the law is retraumatising domestic violence victims. A lawyer says New Zealand’s ‘no-fault’ 50-50 divorce settlements do not reflect the damage inflicted by family violence.
One woman had been married for more than 40 years before her violently abusive husband divorced her in 2016. She described the legal process as an abomination. “He refused to contribute, but now he’s using the court as his weapon of choice to force me to pay property division of 50-50,” she said.
Divorce lawyer Jeremy Sutton said there’s a no-fault principle that underpins the Property Relationships Act so there is no difference to a settlement whether there’s been domestic violence or not.
“There’s been calls for them to focus on fault and misconduct so that a party who has committed serious or gross domestic violence may get less than for example 50 percent of the property pool,” he said.
“There’s a growing awareness that family violence has ongoing economic consequences for the victim of any violence, and by not penalising violence in division, the law effectively transmits the message that the behaviour’s got no impact on the contributions to the marriage of each spouse.”
A County Council in the UK is on the brink of a legal challenge over a controversial policy for implementing Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) in primary schools under its care.
Lawyers acting on behalf of The Christian Institute have written to Warwickshire Council contending it has failed to “take into account and give proper weight” to its duties under the Equality Act 2010, the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Education Act 1996.
The Council’s RSE Policy for primary schools incorporates and promotes the All About Me programme. Among its assertions are that gender identity “can be best understood as being a spectrum” and “transgender children have the right to use whichever toilet or changing room they feel most comfortable using”.
It encourages schools not to inform parents if their children are sharing rooms with transgender pupils and to conceal a child’s transgender status from their own parents – contrary to parental rights which are protected under the Human Rights Act 1998.
Whilst making no reference to marriage, it is claimed that lesson materials encourage masturbation and include “gratuitously graphic” sexual images, contrary to the Education Act 1996 and despite the lessons not being classed as sex education.
The letter warns the Council that it cannot lead schools to evade their duties under the Act “by teaching sexually explicit materials under the heading of another subject”, pointing out that “if the content is sexually explicit it must be sex education” however it is labelled.
All 15 TDs who voted against the radical abortion regime of the outgoing Government last December 2018 have been re-elected to Dáil Éireann.
On the other hand, some of the most vocal supporters of that law have lost their seats or failed to be elected as TDs.
Denise Kelly of the Pro-Life Campaign welcomed the news as “truly uplifting”.
“Some had their chances of re-election completely written off by the media, others had to overcome huge opposition within their parties because of their pro-life stance – all of them deserve our heartiest congratulations for standing up for life and prevailing”, she said.
“It is important to mention that other candidates were also elected who are solidly pro-life. Together, they have shown the leadership of the main political parties that the electorate appreciate people who stick to their principles and don’t waver under pressure”.
The pro-life TDs who voted against the abortion law and were returned to their seats are Michael Collins, IND, Cork South West; Michael Fitzmaurice, IND, Roscommon/Leitrim; Peter Fitzpatrick, IND, Louth; Noel Grealish, IND, Galway West; Michael Healy Rae, IND, Kerry, and his brother Danny Healy Rae, IND, Kerry; Michael Lowry, IND, Tipperary; Mattie McGrath, IND, Tipperary; Carol Nolan, IND, Laois-Offaly; Peadar Tóibín, Aontu, Meath West; Mary Butler, FF, Waterford; Eamon O Cuiv, FF, Galway West; John McGuinness, FF, Carlow/Killkenny; and, Marc MacSharry, FF, Sligo/Leitrim.
Pro-abortion candidates who lost election included Kate O’Connell FG; Lisa Chambers, FF; Ruth Coppinger, PBP; Minister for Social Protection, Regina Doherty, FG; Minister for Children, Katherine Zappone, Ind, and Senator Catherine Noone, Joan Burton and Jan O’Sullivan of Labour. Timmy Dooley, FF, and Noel Rock, FG.
In particular, in a new five seat constituency that amalgamated two previous three seaters, Marcella Corcoran Kennedy in Laois/Offaly, who was a outspoken supporter of repeal lost her seat to Carol Nolan who resigned from Sinn Fein due to her principled opposition to abortion. In Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael’s Mary Mitchell O’Connor (‘pro-choice’ and pro-repeal’) failed to hold her seat, which went to pro-life TD, Cormac Devlin of Fianna Fáil.
Swiss voters agreed on Sunday to criminalise public speech considered homophobic. It is not clear exactly what the law will cover.
Voters were asked in a referendum whether laws that prohibit discrimination and incitement to hatred on the basis of religion or ethnicity should be extended to also include sexual orientation. On Sunday 63.1 percent voted in favour of the proposal. Under the amended law, ‘homophobic’ comments made in public would be punishable with fines and up to three years in prison.
The new law does not criminalise comments made in a family circle or among friends but outlaws the public denigration or discrimination of gay people or fomenting hatred against them in text, speech, images, or gestures.
This includes comments made on television, messages posted on social media, and discrimination in public venues like restaurants or movie theaters.
Lawmakers initially included wording in the bill to protect transgender people, but the Council of States, Switzerland’s higher parliamentary chamber, rejected it on the basis that the criteria were too vague.
Interior Minister Alain Berset said in a video message to voters that jokes about gay men and lesbians would still be allowed “as long as they respect human dignity.”
Pope Francis has denounced ‘gender theory’ as evil, saying the ideology seeks to erase all differences between men and women.
In an interview for a forthcoming book, Father Luigi Maria Epicoco asked Pope Francis where he sees evil at work today.
“One place is ‘gender theory,'” the pope said. It has a “dangerous” cultural aim of erasing all distinctions between men and women, male and female, which would “destroy at its roots” God’s most basic plan for human beings: “diversity, distinction. It would make everything homogenous, neutral. It is an attack on difference, on the creativity of God and on men and women.”
Pope Francis said he did not want “to discriminate against anyone”, but was convinced that human peace and well-being had to be based on the reality that God created people with differences and that accepting – not ignoring – those differences is what brings people together.
Britain should “turn the taps off” on aid to countries that fail to protect their Christian populations from persecution, a former trade minister has said.
During a Commons debate on Christian persecution, Tory Sir Edward Leigh singled out the Nigerian government and said it should be “held to account” for growing levels of targeting of worshippers and churches in parts of the country.
He added: “How are we helping when we are sending hundreds of millions of pounds to Governments that completely fail to protect their Christian citizens?
Earlier in the debate, shadow Foreign Office minister Fabian Hamilton questioned whether Britain should be beholden to countries that abuse religious groups for trade deals.
Mr Hamilton also asked for confirmation on whether the Prime Minister or Foreign Secretary has ever raised the persecution of Christian minorities within China with the authorities there.
Labour MP Lyn Brown (West Ham) said: “The protection of these rights needs to be at the heart of UK foreign policy.
“We need to do everything possible to ensure that people have the right to pursue their beliefs without fear.
