Abortion and neglect of the elderly were condemned by Pope Francis in his homily at mass at the Phoenix Park on Sunday. Speaking to a crowd of several hundred thousand people, with many more watching on television, the pontiff asked people to acknowledge the difficulty and reluctance they feel when it comes to doing what is right, especially for weaker and vulnerable people in society.

“How inconvenient to protect the rights of the most vulnerable, the unborn or the elderly, who seem to impinge upon our own sense of freedom”, he said.

The Taoiseach welcomed Pope Francis to the country in a diplomatic reception at Dublin Castle on Saturday where both set out the outlines of Church-State cooperation. He also criticised the Church over the abuse scandals.The Pope in turn had words to say about Ireland’s current trajectory away from Christianity and toward a consumerist, materialistic society.

Mr Varadkar told the Pope his visit had prompted reflection “on the relationship between Ireland and the Roman Catholic Church, a faith brought to Ireland centuries ago.” He noted the ongoing contribution of the Church to providing a social net for the poor, especially during the decades when the State provided none at all. He also mentioned where that shared cooperation had failed: “Magdalene Laundries, Mother and Baby Homes, industrial schools, illegal adoptions and clerical child abuse are stains on our State, our society and also the Catholic Church.  Wounds are still open and there is much to be done to bring about justice and truth and healing for victims and survivors.”

He then asked the Pope to use his “office and influence to ensure this is done here in Ireland and across the World.”

In his response, the Pope said he was very conscious of those women and children and orphans who in the past endured particularly difficult situations.  “With regard to the most vulnerable, I cannot fail to acknowledge the grave scandal caused in Ireland by the abuse of young people by members of the Church charged with responsibility for their protection and education.”

Francis said that true peace “requires constant conversion on our part, as the source of those spiritual resources needed to build a society of authentic solidarity, justice and service of the common good.  Without that spiritual foundation, our ideal of a global family of nations risks becoming no more than another empty platitude.” He continued:  “Can we say that the goal of creating economic or financial prosperity leads of itself to a more just and equitable social order?  Or could it be that the growth of a materialistic ‘throwaway culture’ has in fact made us increasingly indifferent to the poor and to the most defenceless members of our human family, including the unborn, deprived of the very right to life?”

‘Day-care is too expensive, Children’s Minister, Katherine Zappone has said. Minister Zappone wants State subsidies to day-care centres increased even though CSO data show only a small minority of parents want to put their children into full-time day-care. Minister Zappone was responding to a new survey which shows the high cost of full-time day-care.

A Newstalk survey found that the average national monthly cost is now €745. That is an increase of €40 from back in 2013.

The county with the highest costs is Dublin, which has now climbed to an average of €1,047 per month – an €84 increase from five years ago – when Newstalk conducted a similar survey. The county with the lowest costs is Longford with an average monthly charge of €650.

Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, Minister Zappone said: “It’s too much for parents to pay, I accept that.”

In 2016, the share of babies born to unmarried mothers in the US fell below 40%, the first time it has been that low since 2007 while a rising share of kids are being born into two-parent homes. It isn’t just about the share of births to unmarried mothers that has declined. The absolute number of such births is falling. Since the recession, unmarried births have fallen, while births within wedlock have risen slightly.

According to Lyman Stone, a Research Fellow at the Institute for Family Studies, this is important for the child, as having two parents in the home is good for child outcomes, but also for adult parents, as being able to share childrearing and work reduces the economic and personal burdens of parenting.

Nonetheless, a deeper dive into the figures shows that unmarried childbearing is actually rising within each educational sub-group of US society. The society-wide move away from a married two-parent family norm is continuing: for each educational group, more kids are born outside of marriage.

The Rwandan Catholic bishops’ conference urged the government of President Paul Kagame to preserve religious rights after government officials closed thousands of churches and mosques. The buildings remained locked because of what the government said were health and safety issues, including lack of toilets, plastered walls and paved access roads. “Most Catholics are shocked and disappointed; they don’t understand what’s happening and why there’s been no explanation,” said Father Martin Nizeyimana, the Kigali-based bishops’ conference secretary-general.

“If measures are taken to protect the safety of people, this is good, but they should be explained, so people don’t just arrive and find their church closed,” he said. “It was all very badly handled,” he told Catholic News Service Aug. 14. He said the sudden closures had “deeply affected” Rwanda’s Catholic Church, especially in rural areas, forcing the suspension of Masses and priestly ordinations.

“Certainly, religious freedom is proclaimed under our constitution. But if they start closing churches without any warning, we quickly see a gap between law and reality. What’s most important now is to ensure our church’s mission can continue here,” he told CNS.

A pastor had to escorted out of a conference and back to his church under police protection, a Roman Catholic Cathedral sustained heavy damages during a night-time attack, a Christian radio station was vandalised, and prolife activists have endured “slander and abuses”. These are some of the incidents involving the Green Kerchief militants who most recently led the drive to introduce an extreme abortion law to Argentina and who have also been to the forefront in promoting the legal imposition of a radical redefinition of sex and gender. A bid to liberalise Argentina’s abortion law was defeated in the Senate last week.

The NGO “Pro-Life Unity Neuquén and Alto Valle” has condemned the incidents. Pro-abortion and LGBT activists “should not shut down the freedom of speech they themselves preach,” they said in a statement. The group denounced “the sequence of events which attempt against fundamental freedoms of the pro-life sectors”. A “religious worship service had to be cancelled after the attack of Green Kerchiefs, with stones and Molotov cocktails”. But also “attacks in the media against an educational institution just because it teaches values which are part of its vision” are not acceptable. The NGO refers to the campaign against the faith-based school AMEN, run by a Baptist church. These kind of public pressures have also been frequent in the social media in the last weeks, during the social debate around the Argentinian abortion law. The pro-life group in the province calls for “tolerance, freedom and justice, because we live in a democracy.”

A Colorado State Commission has launched a new legal action against a Christian baker who refuses to make cakes that promote beliefs contrary to his own. The baker had previously refused to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding and now refused an order to bake a case celebrating a ‘gender transition’. The same baker, Mr Jack Philips, had been previously targeted by State officials for his original action. The case was fought all the way to the Supreme Court which narrowly found in the baker’s favour.

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing Phillips and his cake shop filed a federal lawsuit late Tuesday against those officials for doubling down on their ‘anti-religious hostility’.

“The state of Colorado is ignoring the message of the U.S. Supreme Court by continuing to single out Jack for punishment and to exhibit hostility toward his religious beliefs,” said ADF Senior Vice President of U.S. Legal Division Kristen Waggoner. “Even though Jack serves all customers and simply declines to create custom cakes that express messages or celebrate events in violation of his deeply held beliefs, the government is intent on destroying him—something the Supreme Court has already told it not to do. Neither Jack nor any other creative professional should be targeted by the government for living consistently with their religious beliefs.”

Scottish women will still be allowed to take abortion drugs at home after a legal challenge against the move was thrown out.

Last year, Scotland became the first part of the UK to let women take the abortion drug misoprostol at home. The decision was made by Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer – not by legislation — who wrote to all health boards to say the abortion drug could be taken by women outside of a clinical setting.

The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) challenged the decision at the Court of Session. They argued that such a move contravenes the 1967 Abortion Act. It said abortions could only legally be carried out in a medical facility, and argued that allowing women to take the tablet at home could put their health at risk.

However, Lady Wise rejected this, saying that patients who self-administer medication at home, “may still be described as being treated by their medical practitioner, who remains in charge of that treatment.”

Drawing an example to diabetics injecting themselves with insulin, she added: “Regardless of place, there is no need for a doctor to hand the medication to the woman personally.”

SPUC said it was “extremely disappointed” with the decision and that it would appeal against the ruling.

A private member’s bill that would have cleared the way for assisted suicide to be legalised across Australia has been defeated. The bill was voted down by 36 to 34 after two days of impassioned debate in the Senate. The final push to defeat it came from Liberal senator Anne Ruston and Nationals senator Steve Martin who were persuaded to vote against the bill, after initially leaning in favour of it.

“I cannot in good conscience offer my support to this bill which will provide the territories the ability to legislate in the area of voluntary euthanasia, certainly without ensuring that appropriate safeguards were in place,” Senator Martin told the Senate on Wednesday.

Labor senator Pat Dodson, opposing the bill, argued that “paving the way for euthanasia and assisted suicide” would leave Indigenous Australians “even more vulnerable, when our focus should be on working collectively to create laws that help prolong life and restore their right to enjoy a healthy life”.

Senator Leyonhjelm who championed the bill said he was disappointed at its defeat, vowing to continue fighting for “the rights of all Australians to decide how and when to end their lives”.