A call on the Church to change its prohibition of contraception is outdated and misguided, a leading Irish theologian has said. Reacting to the recent Wijngaards Statement, Fr Vincent Twomey, emeritus professor of theology at St Patrick’s College Maynooth said the call is based on a purely biological or physicalist understanding of sexuality that has long been surpassed”. He added that the statement ignored the fact that Natural Family Planning has been perfected in recent years, and further, overlooked “the devastation caused by the widespread rejection of the Church’s teaching” (in terms of sexual permissiveness, breakdown of marriages, and increase in abortion).

The lower House of the Polish parliament has rejected a Bill calling for abortion on demand. Legislators were asked to consider three separate Bills, one for abortion, one to ban all forms, and one to define an embryo as a child. While the Stop Abortion Bill passed 267-154, the abortion on demand Bill (the Save Women Bill) was struck down 230-173. The Stop Abortion Bill would give legal protection to all children from the moment of conception, thereby outlawing all abortions in Poland. The Bill specifically states that the doctor who causes an unborn child’s death trying to save women’s life will not be punished.

Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone has called for an acceleration of the divestment of Catholic schools, it has been reported. Having learned that just five schools were transferred from Catholic patronage in 2015, the minister said that at this rate, the process could not meet its target of more than 400 such transfers nationwide by 2030. “I agreed that figure on the basis of my negotiations (to support the Government),” she said, adding, “We are now increasing the pace and I am going to work with [Minister Richard Bruton] as well as with other advocates to ensure that goes as quickly as possible.”