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News Roundup

Sperm donor app ‘denigrates fatherhood’

30th September 2016

On online app which allows women to select sperm donors by education and eye colour has been denounced as a “denigration of fatherhood”. The London Sperm Bank, believed to be a world first and already legal in Britain, allows users to peruse a ‘wish list’ of desired characteristics such as skin tone, height and race. The company behind the app says the aim is to make sourcing a sperm donor just like any other online purchase. The app has been criticised as “reproduction via the mobile phone” by medical ethicist and pro-life campaigner Josephine Quintavalle who added that it was another step in the “trivialisation of parenthood”.

Big majority of US Catholics pray regularly

29th September 2016

An overwhelming majority of self-identified Catholics in the United States still believe in God and pray regularly, a new study has revealed. Conducted by the US-based CARA group, and building on the same study carried out in 2008, the study found that 96% of Catholics believe in God, which includes 74% who do so without doubt. Covering numerous areas of faith and practice, CARA’s research further revealed that in the eight years since 2008, there has been no change in Mass attendance figures. Of those polled, 40% stated they pray at least once a day, 19% once a week, 17% once a month. One interesting finding was an increase in the numbers of children baptised after their first birthday, with 23% of those born in 1982 or after being baptised this way, as against just 13% of those born before 1943. CARA states that the reasons behind this shift “remain an open question” at this point.

Surrogate child made ward of court

29th September 2016

A child born through surrogacy but with no genetic link to its parents has been made a ward of court. The case now before the courts involves an Irish couple who used a surrogate outside the State and subsequently sought to bring the child back to Ireland. However, genetic tests carried out as part of the application process showed that the infant had no genetic link to the couple. Describing the case as “unique”, High Court Judge Michael Moriarty ordered the child to be made a ward of court until a second hearing in November. He also ordered that the couple at the heart of the case be appointed interim guardians of the child.

American closely divided on current moral and religious liberty issues

29th September 2016

Americans are closely divided on current issues of religious liberty and non-discrimination, according to new research undertaken by the Pew Research Centre. On issues of ongoing debate researchers found respondents divided 49% in favour to 48% against requiring wedding related businesses to serve same-sex couples intending to marry. The figure in favour dropped to 31% when confined to those who attend church services regularly. Similarly, while 51% say transgender persons should be allowed to use toilet facilities of their preferred gender, 46% were against. Respondents were less evenly divided on the question of health insurance schemes and contraception, with 67% believing that all employers should be forced to supply birth control coverage, against 46% opposing. The widest division was on abortion, with 44% expressing reservations about it, against 19% who have no reservations.

Divestment process ‘taking too long’ – Archbishop Martin

28th September 2016

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin has said the provision of greater choice in Irish schools is taking too long. Speaking on the ongoing project to divest Catholic schools, the prelate said: “The demand for Catholic schools is strong. The demand for other forms of patronage is growing. The process of diversification is still too slow. We live in an era of change. It is no time for believers to sit and bemoan or to be side-lined into the irrelevant. Believers must regain confidence and courage to face new things in new ways…It is time for tolerance and respect for diversities.” He added: “A pluralist society has every day to learn what being pluralist means and how we communicate while maintaining the language of our dearly felt values.” The Archbishop insisted that “Catholic schools have played and continue to play a vital role in the educational context of this country, and will continue to do so in the future.”

Divorce linked to decline in religion – study

28th September 2016

Divorce rates are leading to a decline in religious observance, a new study has found. According to research conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute, 35% of the children of divorced parents told pollsters they are now nonreligious, compared with 23% of people whose parents were married when they were children. We wanted to focus on the way millennials were raised, which is different from any previous generation,” said researcher Daniel Cox. “And part of that is they’re more likely to have grown up with parents who are divorced.” Cox said his team found that even children of divorced parents who are religious are less religious than their peers. Thirty-one percent of them go to services every week, compared with 43 percent of religious people whose parents were married when they were growing up.

First ‘three parent baby’ born in Mexico

28th September 2016

The first baby with DNA from three parents has been born in Mexico it has been revealed. Now five months old, the baby was delivered to a Jordanian couple by US doctors. The procedure was undertaken to prevent the mother, whose DNA contains genetic mutations leading to a nervous disorder called Leigh syndrome, from passing the mutated genes to her offspring. The procedure saw doctors remove the nucleus from one of the mother’s eggs, insert it into a donor egg which had its nucleus removed, which they then fertilised it with sperm from the father. Ordinarily, the procedure can lead to the destruction of embryos, making it a controversial treatment. In the case of the Jordanian couple, medics worked to avoid this as they are Muslims and voiced concerns.

Mexico City hosts massive ‘March for the Family’

27th September 2016

Mexico City has witnessed a massive march in support of traditional marriage and against gender ideology. Somewhere between 400,000 and 450,000 are estimated to have taken to the streets to participate in the ‘March for the Family’. A manifesto published by the march organisers stated: “We manifest our profound disagreement with gender ideology; an ideology that, lacking an objective foundation, seeks to impose itself in the laws, in schools, in families, in the media.” The march had the backing of Mexico’s Catholic Bishops and Pope Francis.

Saudi Arabia deports Christians for ‘unIslamic worship’

27th September 2016

Saudi Arabia has deported 27 Christians for celebrating the feast of the Assumption of Our Lady. Despite the event taking place in a private home, Saudi authorities ordered the immediate removal of the group, all Lebanese Maronite Christians which included children, for engaging in “unIslamic prayer”. The Christians’ defence that no insult to Islam could be caused as the Koran lauds the Virgin Mary was ignored. The arrests and deportations come despite a commitment offered by Saudi Arabia in 2006 not to interfere with private worship by non-Muslims.

Call for change on contraception ‘misguided’ – Theologian

26th September 2016

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).