A quarter of a million abortions took place in England and Wales in 2022, the highest number ever recorded. It means there was one abortion for every 2.6 births.

The 252,122 total represented an increase of 37,253 (17.34%) from the previous year’s figures according to a release from the Department of Health and Social Care.

Commenting on the figures, Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said it is a “national tragedy” that so many lives were lost to abortion.

“Every one of these abortions represents a failure of our society to protect the lives of babies in the womb and a failure to offer full support to women with unplanned pregnancies”.

“Ahead of the General Election, we are calling on the next Government to urgently bring forward new protections for unborn children and increased support for women with unplanned pregnancies. Polling shows these changes are backed by the public and this would ensure we are working together as a society to reduce the tragic number of lives that are lost to abortion each year”.

A Catholic diocese will appeal after New York’s highest court ruled the Empire State can continue to require employers with health insurance plans to cover what it called ‘medically necessary’ abortions.

The Diocese of Albany, and other faith-based groups, challenged the regulation, arguing its exemption for religious employers was too narrow and could force some employers and church-run organisations such as hospitals and food-banks to violate their religious beliefs.

At stake, they argued, “is regulatory action by a state to require religious organizations to provide and pay for coverage of abortion in their employee health plans.”

“We believe this is unconstitutional since it involves government entanglement in the fundamental rights of free exercise of faith and conscience,” the statement said. “The final decision on constitutionality will be by the United States Supreme Court.”

The challengers argued that the original regulation was intended to exempt employers with religious objections, but that it was later narrowed to cover religious groups that primarily teach religion and mostly serve and hire only those who share their faith. In effect, groups such as Catholic Charities, which seek to serve those in need regardless of their faith, wouldn’t qualify.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has announced the creation of a new government ministry to tackle the country’s extremely low birth rate, which he has called “a national emergency,”.

The new ministry will “establish policies that span education, labour and welfare” to address the problem, Suk-yeol said.

South Korea saw a 0.72 fertility rate in 2023, the lowest in the world and far below the 2.1 that is required to maintain its population.

Just 230,000 babies were born last year in the country, which has a population of 50 million.

South Korea has spent more than $200 billion over the past 16 years to address the declining birth rate with no success. Initiatives have included extended paid paternity leave, social campaigns encouraging male participation in child care and housework, and even “baby vouchers” that offer monetary incentives.

A Catholic cardinal condemned a grenade attack on a village chapel during a Bible service that left two wounded in the southern Philippines on Sunday.

The grenade attack happened on Pentecost Sunday at Santo Niño Chapel in Cotabato City at about 10:30 a.m.

Cotabato City is in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao an area that has experienced religious freedom challenges in recent years.

Cardinal Orlando Quevedo, the archbishop emeritus of Cotabato, denounced the grenade attack, calling it a “dastardly bombing,” according to the news site of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

Of the about 20 people in attendance, the two churchgoers injured in the attack were Maribel Abis, 46, and Aniceta Tobil, a senior citizen. Initial reports revealed the attack was by two men riding a motorcycle.

Quevedo called the attack a “horrendous sacrilegious act that cries out to heaven.”

Revenue officials warned of potential tax law changes arising from the family referendum before Ministers claimed the proposal had no tax implications, according to newly-released files that raise fresh questions about the truthfulness of the Government.

Commenting on the revelations, Michael McNamara, TD, said the government, “on the recent referendum, on immigration and how they have labelled the response of communities, and throughout this Dáil term, have been the greatest purveyors of misinformation in this State”.

Campaigners for No warned before the vote of “long-term consequences” for tax law. But when the Government was asked, it stated in unambiguous terms that there would be no tax impact.

“In relation to your specific question, the proposed amendment will not affect taxation, succession or family law,” the Government said during the campaign.

Now Revenue files – released by the Department of Finance under the Freedom of Information Act – show how the tax authority noted a lack of clarity “on the extent and scope” of how the proposed Constitutional change would “interact” with tax law.

A well-known catholic priest in Nigeria has been abducted at gunpoint on his way to a prayer ministry.

Fr Basil Gbuzuo was captured along Eke Nkpor in Ogidi, Idemili North in the South-Central part of the country.

So far, his kidnappers have not contacted his church with any ransom demands according to a statement by the Onitsha Archdiocese. Fr Basil is the fourth cleric to be captured in five months.

Three other hostages taken earlier in the year– two Claretian missionaries and a parish priest from Benin City Archdiocese – have already been released. Though three other priests kidnapped in the country – one in 2019 and two in 2022 – are still missing.

Aid to the Church in Need, a catholic charity which supports persecuted and suffering Christians worldwide, has called for the immediate and unconditional release of Fr Basil and has demanded the government step up security and protection of Christians in the African nation.

A Catholic hospice in Canada is fighting a law that would force it to offer assisted suicide to its residents.

Archbishop Christian Lépine of Montreal has submitted an appeal to the Quebec Superior Court demanding a stay of the application of a law that specifies that “no palliative care hospice may exclude medical aid in dying from the care they offer”.

Besides interference with the exercise of the right to freedom of religion and conscience, the lawsuit argues that the practical effect of the amendment is the state appropriation of a church building to administer euthanasia.

Moreover, lawyers for the archdiocese are clear in their view that if their case fails then the Church will have to withdraw from palliative care provision because euthanasia is directly contrary to Catholic teaching on the moral impermissibility of killing.

Canada will then run the risk of countries with older euthanasia laws and which have already seen the shrinking, and sometimes the collapse, of palliative care services.

Religious orders have made dozens of properties available to accommodate refugees since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine more than two years ago, the Association of Leaders of Missionaries and Religious of Ireland (Amri) has said.

The statement follows an appeal from the Government to the dioceses to offer up vacant land and buildings in an attempt to ease the strain on State services attempting to find beds for almost 1,700 international protection applicants who have been left without accommodation following their arrival in Ireland.

AMRI, which represents religious institutes, societies of apostolic life and lay missionary organisations, said that since February 2022 “some 41 religious orders, congregations and societies in Ireland have made a range of properties available, including convents, retreat centres, former student houses, houses, apartments and individual rooms”. It said most of these had been provided “at no cost to the Government”.

A spokesman said “individual members of congregations/orders also provide pastoral care and various other supports such as English-language classes, counselling etc to integrate those newly arrived in the local community”.

A leading Catholic bishop has warned politicians that “divorce weakens the fabric of society” as the Philippines moved closer to legalising divorce.

“I urge members of Congress to reconsider the proposed divorce bill and instead focus on promoting policies and programs that support marriage, strengthen families, and protect the well-being of all members of society,” said Bishop Alberto Uy of Tagbilaran of the central Philippines, in an interview with Catholic-run Radio Veritas.

The bishop said a “society that values strong, stable families is a thriving society”.

“Divorce weakens the fabric of society by eroding the foundation of the family unit. It leads to social fragmentation, increased poverty, and a host of other societal ills. By promoting divorce, we are contributing to the breakdown of social cohesion and the erosion of moral values,” Uy said.

Among the grounds for divorce will be an already existing legal separation. That can be based on various fault grounds including abandonment without cause by a spouse for more than one year.

Divorce had been legalised in the Philippines in 1917 under the American occupation. The grounds were expanded under the Japanese occupation during World War II. This was rescinded soon after the country became independent. In 1977, a law recognising some Islamic practices allowed muslims to divorce. This also allowed ‘early marriages’ or ‘child marriages’ which allowed girls who had reached puberty to marry with the permission of a Sharia court. This latter element was not reversed until 2021 under legislation signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte.

Explicit age limits will appear for the first time in statutory guidance issued to schools in the UK covering relationships, sex education and health.

Children in primary school will not be taught sex education until they are in Year 5 — aged nine — while discussion about explicit sexual acts will not take place until children are 13.

Teachers will also be banned from giving children lessons about gender identity — the idea that children can have a sexual identity unrelated to their biological sex, adopt different pronouns, names and wear uniforms of the opposite sex.

The move represents an attempt to deal with concerns that some children are being exposed to sensitive information when they are not ready for it.

When children are first taught any sex education, in Year 5, when nine years old, it should be in line with the science curriculum, with a factual approach teaching children about conception and birth.

Parents will need to be consulted about anything that children are taught. The guidance is explicit that primary school children should not be taught about pornography.