The US Catholic Bishops have described as ‘misguided’ an executive order of President Biden giving ‘gender identity’ and ‘sexual orientation’ a protected status equal to sex or race.

The order would allow boys and men, who identify as women, to access female only spaces, and compete in women’s sports.

The order is based in part on a Supreme Court ruling from last year which the Bishops’ say “needlessly ignored the integrity of God’s creation of the two complementary sexes, male and female, with reasoning that treated them as devoid of meaning”.

However, they say the executive order goes further than the Court and threatens “to infringe the rights of people who recognize the truth of sexual difference or who uphold the institution of lifelong marriage between one man and one woman. This may manifest in mandates that, for example, erode health care conscience rights or needed and time-honored sex-specific spaces and activities”.

A report for the Oireachtas justice committee on Kenny’s ‘Dying with Dignity Bill’ found a number of “issues” with the proposed legislation, such as a jail term of no more than one year for breaking the law, compared with the current 14-year penalty for assisting a suicide.

The paper from the Oireachtas research unit is expected to be published this week and to be debated by the committee next month.

James Lawless, chairman of the Oireachtas justice committee, pointed out that assisted suicide legislation endorsed by referendum last year in New Zealand ran to “several hundred pages”, whereas Kenny’s bill is just five pages long. “Without expressing anything about the merits of the bill before us, that in itself registers a note of caution as a very crude metric, and suggests it is likely to require significant checks and balances in a comprehensive legal framework,” said Lawless.

The Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco has issued a strong statement in which he accused US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of impugning the motives of pro-life voters.

“On the question of the equal dignity of human life in the womb”, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said in a statement, she, “speaks in direct contradiction to a fundamental human right that Catholic teaching has consistently championed for 2,000 years.”

“This is not the language of unity and healing,” he said. “She owes these voters an apology.”

While Cordileone noted that there are many issues Catholic must weigh when casting their vote in November, he said that “no Catholic in good conscience can favor abortion.”

“‘Right to choose’ is a smokescreen for perpetuating an entire industry that profits from one of the most heinous evils imaginable,” he said. “Our land is soaked with the blood of the innocent, and it must stop.”

Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has said he hopes that the new US president would seek an early review of the US decision to stop funding to the UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund on global population and reproductive health which critics say promotes abortion, something the agency denies.

Mr Coveney was speaking during a web-based public event hosted by the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA).

At its founding in 1969, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) had a core mission of restricting population growth in the name of ‘humanitarian and economic development’ for the developing world. In more recent years, its stated mission has shifted to focus on the advancement of human rights, specifically, ‘sexual and reproductive health and rights’. ‘Reproductive rights’ are often defined to include abortion.

The Trump administration cut the funding in 2017, because it had determined that UNFPA helps to support a Chinese government family planning program that forces people to get abortions and sterilisations.

In a statement, UNFPA countered that the claim was “erroneous,” asserting that “all of its work promotes the human rights of individuals and couples to make their own decisions, free of coercion or discrimination.” The statement added that U.N. member states “have long described UNFPA’s work in China as a force for good.”

US President Joe Biden’s statement backing legal abortion on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade drew swift reaction from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“We strongly urge the president to reject abortion and promote life-affirming aid to women and communities in need,” the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities head Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City in Kansas said Jan. 22.

“It is deeply disturbing and tragic that any president would praise and commit to codifying a Supreme Court ruling that denies unborn children their most basic human and civil right, the right to life under the euphemistic disguise of a health service,” he said.

The U.S. bishops’ conference responded to the statement from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision which mandated a permissive abortion regime nationwide.

The statement said “The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to codifying Roe v. Wade and appointing judges that respect foundational precedents like Roe.”

Although Roe v. Wade was a critical pro-abortion ruling, the statement did not mention abortion by name, preferring to use euphemisms such as “reproductive health” and “health care.”

All Churches in Northern Ireland have voluntarily extended restrictions on public worship until March.

The Catholic Primate and Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin has advised “on the basis of the clear and unequivocal public health advice that people should continue to stay at home” until March 5th.

Subject to public health advice, he said: “The celebration of the Eucharist and other liturgies should continue to take place without the physical presence of the faithful. Marriage, funeral, baptismal liturgies and drive-in services may continue (subject to strict safety guidelines and regulations).”

It follows a decision by the Northern Ireland Executive last Friday to extend the Covid-19 restrictions until March 5th, he said.

Church of Ireland Primate and Archbishop of Armagh John McDowell said they had also decided that in-person gatherings should remain suspended with the exception of weddings, funerals, as permitted by regulations.

He said that “this same step is also being taken today by the Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church, and the Roman Catholic Church”.

The majority of the public want to keep the Angelus on air, with most of complaints coming from “secular quarters”, according to the Head of Religious Content at RTÉ.

However, a poll conducted online of more than 31,000 readers by The Journal.ie last week found that 70.3% of people didn’t want the Angelus to be scrapped.

RTÉ’s Roger Childs said polls suggest there isn’t any great public clamour to scrap the Angelus.

He said he is yet to receive a complaint from a member of another faith community; rather, “it tends to come from secular elements of the community who remain a minority, albeit a significant one”.

“The few complaints, and there are very few complaints, seem to come from secular quarters and insofar as they’re ever organised then they’re from lobbies like Atheist Ireland and the Humanists Association of  Ireland who see it, perceive it, as a Catholic imposition and an anachronism. Sensitive to those complaints I’ve tried to update the treatment of it on television at least so that it’s more visibly all-inclusive, that it’s for people of all faiths and none.”

US President, Joe Biden has signed an executive order to end “gender-identity” discrimination that mandates allowing male-bodied persons who identify as women access to female-only spaces.

The order says: “Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports”, and, “People should be able to access health care and secure a roof over their heads without being subjected to sex discrimination.”

Ryan T. Anderson of the Ethics and Public Policy Centre said it means: “Boys who identify as girls must be allowed to compete in the girls’ athletic competitions, men who identify as women must be allowed in women-only spaces, health care plans must pay for gender transition procedures, and doctors and hospitals must perform them”.

In reality, he said “it spells the end of girls’ and women’s sports as we know them. And, of course, no child should be told the lie that they’re “trapped in the wrong body,” and adults should not pump them full of puberty-blocking drugs and cross-sex hormones”.

A best-selling author and journalist, Abigail Shrier, commented that, on his first day in office, Joe Biden “unilaterally eviscerates women’s sports”. She said “any educational institution that receives federal funding must admit biologically-male athletes to women’s teams, women’s scholarships”, and she added: “A new glass ceiling was just placed over girls”.

The Church of Ireland has urged parishes throughout the dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough to volunteer suitable churches and parish buildings for use as mass Covid-19 vaccination centres.

In a message to parishes, Archbishop of Dublin Michael Jackson said: “Those responsible for the programme will be looking for suitable venues to administer the vaccine. If you and your select vestry or other governance body decide that the church building or the halls are suitable and safe for this purpose please express your interest.”

St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin 8 has offered its services as a mass vaccination centre. Dean William Morton confirmed the offer was made in recent days.

“We are aware that in the surrounding areas of the Liberties and the Coombe, large buildings were in short supply and if the need is there, we would like to help,” he said.

He also acknowledged that the cathedral, currently undergoing major refurbishment of its roof, had received support from the State in recent times.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated the Gender Identity Development Service “inadequate” following an announced inspection in late 2020.

Investigators highlighted long waiting lists and insufficient record-keeping, prompting the CQC to take immediate enforcement action against the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust which runs the service.

In the two-year period to April 2020, 85 Irish children and teenagers were referred to the service, according to its website. The psychological services at Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) at Crumlin are provided by the Tavistock clinic and funded by the Treatment Abroad Scheme.

Meanwhile, psychotherapist and author, Stella O’Malley has said the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) have made a mistake on the document they released this week on trans health care as they state that puberty blockers are reversible. She said “the NHS and even the disgraced Tavistock no longer claim this. There will be lawsuits”.

She added that the inaccurate guidance for GPs “will cause real difficulties for young people with gender dysphoria #FirstDoNoHarm”.