The new Bishop of Kilmore has been urged to take a strong stance on life issues like abortion and euthanasia.
The Archbishop of Armagh, Eamon Martin, gave the homily at the Episcopal Ordination Mass of Father Martin Hayes.
Addressing the new Bishop he said it would be his duty “to correct error and proclaim the truth of the Gospel – whether it is welcome or unwelcome – to proclaim fearlessly, as Saint Paul did to the Philippians”.
He encouraged him to “not be afraid to speak up strongly for the dignity of the human person and for the protection of all human life, especially against public policies that fundamentally contradict the moral law – like abortion and euthanasia”.
He also urged him to to support marriage and the family and promote respectful care for the Earth.
The former Bishop of Hong Kong, Cardinal Joseph Zen, has said that the Catholic Church’s efforts to negotiate an extension to the 2018 provisional agreement with China are harming the evangelisation of that country.
In an interview with CNA, Cardinal Zen said that the Church’s silence on Communist human rights abuses, including the detention of more than 1 million Muslim Uyghurs in a network of concentration camps in Xinjiang Province, was damaging the ability of the Church to play a role in shaping the future of the country.
“The resounding silence will damage the work of evangelisation,” the cardinal said. “Tomorrow when people will gather to plan the new China, the Catholic Church may not be welcome.”
While Cardinals Zen, Charles Muang Bo of Burma and Ignatius Suharyo of Indonesia have repeatedly denounced China’s human rights violations, the Vatican, including Pope Francis, have remained silent on what human rights groups have called a “genocide” and campaign of “ethnic cleansing” against the Uyghurs as diplomatic talks continue on the future of the Vatican-China agreement.
The personal importance of religion was related to lower levels of cheating, according to new research out of the US.
National data collected in late 2019 by the survey research group YouGov—the iFidelity Survey— examined 1,282 ever-married individuals using both demographic, attitudinal, and relational predictors of extramarital affairs.
As with nearly all studies of extramarital affairs, the iFidelity data suggest that men are more likely to report ever having engaged in an extramarital affair. In the survey, 20% of ever-married men and 10% of ever-married women reported cheating on their spouse in the past.
The study also found that the personal importance of religion was related to lower levels of cheating, whereas religious worship service attendance was not.
Having a strict definition of infidelity, feeling that religion is very important in one’s own life, and perceiving one’s relationship as stable were all less associated with reporting an extramarital affair.
Speaking on Monday, Sinn Féin TD Eoin O’Broin said the party will support the Bill of socialist TD, Gino Kenny, moving to the next stage in the Dáil when it comes up for debate.
“Our view is that we think we should allow the Bill to pass through second stage so that you can have that full and frank proper discussion in the committee before we decide how to proceed.”
He said it is a significant issue which merits a national debate.
The Government has been urged to allow its TDs a free vote on the legislation. The legislation has gone into the Dáil lottery system where private members Bills are chosen on a random basis for debate in the House.
It is therefore not yet known when it will be debated.
An ‘Active Consent Toolkit’, developed at NUIG, was launched today by the Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris.
The toolkit will be rolled out at colleges and universities around the country to improve students understanding of sexual violence, harassment, and consent.
It also address consent education on campus, and provides practical resources and research for colleges to create their own plan to address the issue.
The Toolkit has been developed based on the finding of the ‘Sexual Experiences Survey’ released in June 2020.
Minister Harris said that the results of this survey show that there is much work to be done about educating people on consent.
“We have to do more to raise awareness and support students, and the Active Consent Toolkit will greatly assist institutions in a really practical way.
The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin has called the new covid-restrictions for the city “appropriate” and has warned parishes against attempting to hold first communion or confirmation ceremonies. Dublin is currently the only place in Europe where a Government has forbidden public worship.
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said churches would remain closed “except for private prayer, weddings and funerals”. Attendances at these would be limited to 25 with religious services going online only.
In a statement on Saturday, the archbishop said he was seriously concerned that many people “may be underestimating the seriousness of the current situation in Co Dublin”.
While there was no evidence of the virus being spread in worshipping communities, the measures in Dublin were appropriate at this time, he said.
He also noted that some parents and grandparents were unhappy with the cancellation of First Communion and Confirmation ceremonies because of the restrictions. However, he warned against “parishes taking initiatives to ‘get First Communions and Confirmations done’.
“We have to remember that First Communions and Confirmations are sacramental acts and must be celebrated in an appropriate liturgical context and catechetical preparation. The idea that sacramental acts have to be done quickly and can be done outside the normal liturgical situation is false. There is no urgent need to celebrate these sacraments just because they fit into the school calendar.”
The archdiocese of Dublin has released a preliminary statement in anticipation of a new set of restrictions in the capital city. Dublin will be the only capital city in Europe not permitting public worship currently.
The statement says it now seems most likely that the entire County Dublin will be placed on Level 3 of the Governments COVID-19 Resilience and National Recovery Plan, beginning at midnight tonight for a three-week period.
“It is likely therefore that places of worship will remain closed from midnight tonight, except for private prayer, weddings and funerals. Attendance at wedding liturgies and funerals would be limited to 25. Religious services can be transited online with no public presence”.
It adds that effectively this places Churches in the position they were before the reopening earlier this summer, or as the situation was in counties Kildare and Laois early this month.
“Confirmation and First Communion services will therefore not be possible during this period and will have to be postponed. Permission already granted for Confirmations remain valid for the new date”.
A Canadian man suffering from an incurable neurological disease has released audio recordings that he says are proof that hospital staff offered him assisted suicide, despite his repeated requests to live at home.
In one audio recording from September 2017, Roger Foley, 42, is heard speaking to a man about what he has described as attempts at a “forced discharge,” with threats of a hefty hospital bill.
The man is heard saying that the hospital does not use “this conversation in every situation.”
“It is only in situations where somebody has a plan in the community that is feasible that they’re not going to accept and that’s OK,” the man says.
Foley then says that he hasn’t been informed of a plan for his care and that his rights as a patient are being violated.
“Roger, this is not my show,” the man replies. “I told you my piece of this was to talk to you about if you had interest in assisted dying.”
In a separate audio recording from January 2018, another man is heard asking Foley how he’s doing and whether he feels like he wants to harm himself.
Foley tells the man that he’s “always thinking I want to end my life” because of the way he’s being treated at the hospital and because his requests for self-directed care have been denied.
The man is then heard telling Foley that he can “just apply to get an assisted, if you want to end your life, like you know what I mean?”
Severe restrictions on indoor worship services because of COVID-19 protocols has meant the most basic religious freedom, the right to worship, was being “unjustly repressed”, according to the Catholic archbishop of San Francisco.
Writing in The Washington Post, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said that for months now, the city of San Francisco has limited worship services to just 12 people outdoors, while worship inside churches is banned.
The city recently announced it will allow 50 for outdoor worship, with a goal of permitting indoor services up to a maximum of 25 people by October 1st, less than 1 per cent of the capacity of the city’s Catholic Cathedral.
“This is not nearly enough to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of Catholics in San Francisco,” he added.
The archbishop’s op-ed came a few days after he called on parishes to hold eucharistic processions to the main square in front of the City Hall “to witness to the city that faith matters.”
After reaching the plaza, the entire group will process together to the Cathedral of St Mary of the Assumption for the celebration of multiple outdoor Masses. Participants will be wearing masks and following “proper social distancing,” he added.
He also asked priests to encourage all of their parishioners to go to the website FreeTheMass.com and sign a petition calling on San Francisco mayor London Breed to lift her “unfair restrictions” (over 3,500 people signed it the first week it was posted); and to display prominently at their churches a banner with the motto “We Are Essential: Free the Mass!”
An assisted suicide bill has been described as a massive change to law and culture that would impose upon doctors the task of killing adult life for the first time ever.
Aontú Leader Peadar Tóibín has called for an honest, open and fair debate on the so-called “Death with Dignity Bill” of Socialist TD, Gino Kenny, that was introduced in the Dáil on Tuesday.
The Meath West TD said the bill would make it legal for one person to kill another. “Once this Rubicon has been crossed as in other countries, they have found it impossible to limit the further broadening of criteria for the ending of life”.
He said countries such as Canada, Netherlands and Belgium initially introduced assisted suicide for a small number of really difficult cases but have now seen the numbers increase nine and 10-fold. Likewise, while this Bill sets 18 years as the minimum age to avail of Assisted Suicide, “In countries that have made the major cultural change the age limit has been dropped to include children. Belgium did this and children as young as 9 and 11-year-old have been killed”.
He added that in countries that have introduced Assisted Suicide pressure starts to grow on older people and people with severe disabilities.
It likewise makes it harder to reduce suicide rates. “How can a country tell people that suicide is never the right decision when it makes it legal and says to some people that it is the right decision”.
