The majority say their faith hasn’t changed much (47%) or that the question isn’t applicable because they were not religious to begin with (26%).

Christians are more likely than other religious groups in this analysis to say their faith has grown stronger as a result of the pandemic, a feeling that is reported by 56% of Protestants in the historically black tradition, as well as by four-in-ten evangelicals (42%) and roughly one-quarter of Catholics (27%) and mainline Protestants (22%).

Germany’s top court has overturned a blanket ban on religious services, which authorities introduced as part of restrictions to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

The constitutional court ruled on Wednesday evening that exceptions should be granted in certain cases and if sufficient precautions are taken to lower the risk of infection, as banning religious services represents a major infringement on the right to religious freedom.

The ruling comes in response to an appeal from a Muslim association in the federal state of Lower Saxony, which planned to hold Friday prayers during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which started last week, under strict measures.

The association’s mosque, which has space for 300 people, wanted to allow only 24 worshippers to enter for prayers at a time, German broadcaster ARD reported. Mosque-goers would have to comply with social distancing rules and wear a mask.

The constitutional court’s ruling sets a nationwide precedent, and will apply to mosques as well as churches and synagogues.

There is “absolutely no way” Confirmations or First Holy Communions will take place in Dublin in May and June, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has said.

“We can only begin to speak of a time frame for these sacraments when schools have been fully reopened and when it is possible once again to hold large indoor gatherings of people, especially children. This will not be the case for some months ahead,” he said.

Archbishop Martin said he was “pleased” to see that the bereaved were being offered funeral services in churches within the confines of the current pandemic restrictions.

“In many cases the funeral Mass is also being live streamed so that a wider range of relatives and friends can join, even in different parts of the world,” he said.

“Where possible people might line the streets, respecting social distancing, or stand at the doors of their houses as a local funeral passes by. This can be a much-appreciated tribute to the deceased and a comfort to the bereaved.”

Archbishop Martin and other bishops had recently been in touch with the Irish Association of Funeral Directors to remind its members that church services remain an option for the funerals of those who have died from Covid-19.

14 countries have been identified as “countries of particular concern” for their “systematic, ongoing, and egregious” violations of religious freedom in the latest annual report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. The report recommends 15 other countries as needing special monitoring for their severe violations.

Kelsey Zorzi, Director of Advocacy for Global Religious Freedom for ADF International said nobody should be persecuted because of their faith. “The persecution of Christians and other religious minorities across the globe has not only been an ongoing concern for a long time but has also risen in intensity and scale. Christians in countries like Pakistan, Iran, and Myanmar are regularly victims of violence, false or unjust accusations, and imprisonment. USCIRF’s Annual Report continues to draw attention to the worst abusers against people of faith and even no faith, and stands as one of the key resources for advocates and governments. We welcome the new report and hope the United States Government will follow its recommendations,” she said.

A court in the UK has refused a transgender person who gave birth to a child to be registered on the birth certificate as the father rather than the mother.

Freddy McConnell appealed against a decision made by a High Court judge that a person who carries and gives birth to a baby is legally a mother.

Three Appeal Court judges sitting in London upheld a ruling by the President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane.

Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett said the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) required Mr McConnell to be registered as the mother, and the requirement did not violate his rights to private and family life, as set out in the European Convention on Human Rights.

“There is no incompatibility between the GRA and the Convention,” he said. “In the result, we dismiss these appeals.”

Mr McConnell, from Kent, said he was disappointed by the Court of Appeal ruling, adding that his fight was “just not over”. He plans to appeal to the Supreme Court.

There were 19,673 male-female marriages in Ireland in 2019 according to figures published by the CSO yesterday. This was down from 20,389 the previous year.

Same-sex weddings also decreased slightly from 663 to 640.

The average age of grooms in complementary-sex marriage was at its highest to date at 36.8 years, while the average age of brides was 34.8.

In 2019, religious ceremonies accounted for the highest proportion of such marriages (60.2%).   There were 8,863 (45.1%) Catholic marriage ceremonies, 289 (1.5%) Church of Ireland ceremonies, 53 (0.3%) Presbyterian ceremonies while The Spiritualist Union of Ireland performed 1,512 (7.7%) marriage ceremonies in 2019.  The remaining 1,131 (5.7%) couples opted for other religious ceremonies.  Civil marriage ceremonies were the most popular choice for non-religious marriage ceremonies accounting for 6,012 (30.6%) of all opposite-sex marriages.  In recent years the Humanist Association has also risen in popularity with 1,813 (9.2%) such marriages in 2019 compared to 1,766 (8.7%) in 2018.

Pope Francis called for people to exercise prudence and obedience to Governmental restrictions on churches.

“In this time in which dispositions are beginning to be made for exiting from the quarantine, let’s pray to the Lord that he gives his people, all of us, the grace of prudence and obedience to those dispositions, so the pandemic does not return,” Francis said.

He spoke after Italian bishops had reacted testily to media reports that a ban on public masses would not be included in the first phase of easing lockdown restrictions.

The Conference of Italian Bishops (CEI) put out a note saying they “cannot accept seeing the exercise of freedom of worship compromised.”

One Italian bishop, Giovanni D’Ercole of Ascoli Piceno, issued a video message in which he declared, “This is a dictatorship, to impede access to worship, which is one of our fundamental freedoms.”

Some media in Italy interpreted the Pope’s remarks as a rebuke of the Italian bishops, while others felt that Francis was currying favour with the Prime Minister so as to achieve a more favourable return for the celebration of public mass.

This is the second time Francis has intervened in such a way. Previously he criticised the Rome diocese for closing churches beyond what was required by the Government. His own personal almoner, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, flouted the rules by opening his own church. Within 24 hours the diocese reversed itself.

The Italian bishops have reacted with dismay that the lifting of restrictions after the COVID-19 coronavirus will not include the celebration of public Masses.

The Bishops called Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s week-by-week plan for returning to normal life “arbitrary” and threatened to take matters into their own hands.

Their move follows the Catholic German bishops’ conference who voiced disappointment at Chancellor Angela Merkel’s announcement April 15, that the ban on public church services should remain until further notice, while thousands of shops were being allowed to reopen.

Bishop Georg Batzing, president of the German Catholic bishops’ conference, said he could not understand why the ban should remain in place while restrictions were being eased in other parts of public life, especially given a recent decision by the Federal Constitutional Court on the matter. The court had ruled that the ban constituted a serious encroachment on the fundamental right to religious freedom and should therefore be reviewed continuously.

Meanwhile, in Paris, Archbishop Michel Aupetit sharply criticized the police for conducting an armed raid on a church to shut down a celebration of mass after a tip-off erroneously claimed it was open to the public.

He said it is formally prohibited for armed policemen to enter into a church, unless there is a “threat to the public order.” In the case of Saint-André, the parish priest had been careful to close the door so that no public would enter.

“They [the Police] need to keep their heads and stop this nonsense,” the Bishop added. “Otherwise, we will speak out and, in case of confinement, bark very loudly.”

Booksellers with an online presence are reporting an unexpected increase in sales of religious books.

Nielsen BookScan said the Bible and liturgical texts had climbed the charts in recent weeks.

The increase in sales of religious material was “an unusual pattern in comparison to the same period in recent years”, according to Nielsen, although it said the Bible was still some way off the top of the bestselling charts.

“One imagines this is a result of churches closing, but perhaps people are turning to scripture for comfort in these abnormal and melancholy times,” said Nielsen.

Tomás Kenny of Kennys bookshop in Galway, one of the largest independent bookshops in the country, said its current sales were “totally different to normal”.

“We have seen a big increase in religious and spirituality titles, particularly the Bible,” he said. “Fiction, education, baking books and the big literary classics people were always trying to get around to are selling totally out of proportion to normal.”

Last week An Siopa Leabhar, an Irish language bookshop on Harcourt Street in Dublin, tweeted that it had noticed an increase in sales of its Irish version of the Bible. The shop, closed because of the coronavirus, sells copies of An Bíobla Naofa for €19.

The Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis exceeded his powers in introducing abortion regulations, Stormont’s chief legal adviser has said.

It is doubtful whether the legislation gives adequate European Convention on Human Rights-based protection to the rights of those opposed on religious or philosophical grounds, attorney general John Larkin QC added.

He gave written evidence to a House of Lords committee which published its report last week.

Mr Larkin was also critical of disability provisions in the regulations which allow for abortions for disabilities including cleft lip, club foot and Down’s syndrome right up to birth.

Former Police Ombudsman Baroness Nuala O’Loan also told the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee of peers the regulations contained “grave flaws”.

She wrote: “It is both deeply controversial in Northern Ireland because of its implications for people, doctors, nurses and midwives, and because it is my submission that the Secretary of State has acted beyond his competence and the regulations ‘imperfectly achieve the policy objective’.

“It was also preceded by a flawed consultation process.”

Baroness O’Loan added: “It is my further contention that regulation 12 discriminates against individuals on the grounds of their religious belief or political opinion.” Regulation 12 provides limited legal protection for medical practitioners who object to abortion.

The Committee’s Report also highlighted a number of concerns with the new regulations.