Cavan-Monaghan TD Brendan Smith has said that the global persecution of Christians is “not an issue that gets near enough widespread coverage as it should” and that he was shocked by the contents of a recent report.

Speaking to The Irish Catholic newspaper, Fianna Fáil TD Brendan Smith said that he thinks “the vast majority of people would not be aware of the extent of the persecution of Christians”.

He added that he thought people of all faiths or no faith, “would be equally horrified by the reports and the extent of the persecution”.

Church in Chains recently launched their 4th Global Guide which lists 60 countries where 200 million Christians face varying degrees of persecution because of their faith.

Deputy Smith commented: “what I read outlines very, very clearly how deplorable these activities are, and how they need to be addressed and stamped out as much as is possible”.

There has been a sharp decline in the number of people who are married in the North of Ireland from 61% in 1971 to 46% in 2021. A similar decline has taken place in the Republic.

The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency released data this week showing that 693,000 adults (aged 16 and over) are married or in a civil partnership. In contrast 577,000 adults – 38% – were single (never married/civil partnered). An additional number are divorced or separated.

The agency found that in the last 50 years there has been a decline in the number of adults who were married and an increase in the number of people who are single, up from 31% in 1971.

During the same period the percentage of adults who are ‘Separated, widowed or divorced’ has risen from 9% in 1971 to 16% in 2021. The number of divorced adults has risen from 3,000 in 1971 to over 90,000 in 2021.

Of the adult population who live in households, just more than half lived as part of a couple within the same household (53% or 794,000 people in a married, civil partnered or co-habiting couple).

The remaining 695,000 adults (47%) did not live as part of a couple within the same household.

To that end, the bishops wrote, “Catholic health care services must not perform interventions, whether surgical or chemical, that aim to transform the sexual characteristics of a human body into those of the opposite sex or take part in the development of such procedures.”

“They must employ all appropriate resources to mitigate the suffering of those who struggle with gender incongruence, but the means used must respect the fundamental order of the human body.”

The statement, titled “Doctrinal Note on the Moral Limits to Technological Manipulation of the Human Body,” is intended to provide moral criteria for discerning which medical interventions promote the authentic good of the person and which are injurious. The statement was developed in consultation with medical ethicists, physicians, psychologists, and moral theologians.

A national campaign on consent will begin today.

The ‘We Consent’ campaign, will be run by the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre.

It will be funded by the Department of Justice and the Community Foundation Ireland.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of the DRCC, positive values of consent can help reduce levels of sexual violence.

Noeline Blackwell said that a greater understanding will make society more equal, happier and healthier – as well as safer.

A European-wide advocacy group for Catholic families and the representative agency of the Catholic Bishops to the EU have signed a memorandum of understanding to enhance their cooperation in the field of family policies at the EU level.

The agreement was signed by H. Em. Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich SJ, President of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), and Vincenzo Bassi, President of the Federation of Catholic Family Associations in Europe (FAFCE).

With this understanding, both organisations will benefit from each other’s expertise. FAFCE will tighten its relationship with the representatives of the Catholic Church in the European Union, participating as observer member to the meetings of the COMECE Social Affairs Commission. The Bishops of the European Union will gain from the grassroot experience in the field of family policies offered by the many national organisations that are part of FAFCE.

Modern forms of hormonal contraceptives increase the risk of breast cancer by around one quarter, research by Oxford University has found.

The study of almost 30,000 women below the age of 50 tracked cases of the disease among those taking a range of contraception.

The included new generation drugs which people hoped would carry fewer health risks, with evidence suggesting they are less likely to cause strokes and blood clots.

But researchers found that progestogen-only drugs and coils carry at least equal risks as the combined pill, when it comes to breast cancer, in women below the age of 50.

Overall, the increased cancer risk for women taking progestogen-only drugs was 26pc, compared with 23pc for those on combined pills.

This rose to 32pc among those with progestogen-releasing intra-uterine devices, while those with hormonal implants experienced an increased risk of 25pc. Scientists stressed that the overall risks of breast cancer among young women remain low.

Homeschooling has potential for “keeping school refusers engaged in education, and improving the experiences for some students with special educational needs”, according to a leading expert in education research.

Dr Selina McCoy was speaking after Tánaiste Michael Martin said he was “not a great fan” of homeschooling, adding that in-class tuition was important for socialisation.

Mr Martin, who worked as a teacher before entering politics, was referring to the recent publicity around the Burke family from Castlebar, all of whom were homeschooled, and who he described as having a “very isolated perspective in life”.

“I don’t want to comment too much but I think it does speak to the importance of socialisation, particularly in education, the idea that people should be educated in schools. I’m not a great fan of homeschooling. I think children need to socialise,” he told The Irish Examiner.

A senior Conservative MP has said stay-at-home motherhood is being undermined by the government’s push to get parents back into work, saying women’s “natural nurturing role” should be valued. His comments were echoed by rising Tory MP, Miriam Cates.

Last week’s budgets includes huge new subsidies for day-care but neglects stay-at-home mothers.

George Eustice, the former environment secretary, said he believed the chancellor Jeremy Hunt had focused too much on encouraging mothers of young children into employment and not enough on incentivising them to stay at home.

Eustice, 51, is one of a number of Tory backbenchers who are now pushing Hunt to cut taxes for families at the next fiscal statement, likely to come in the autumn.

Miriam Cates commented: “What is best for baby in the early years?”

“The bond between mother and child is probably the strongest human relationship there is.

“It’s not just a soppy feeling, it’s a highly evolved survival mechanism.

“And strong attachment in the early years pays dividends in later life.

“There’s many great people in the childcare sector, but no one replaces mummy.”

Eustice said: “Stay-at-home mother’ is now almost used as a derogatory term. We should respect the choice that women make.”
He said that he was focused particularly on encouraging women to stay at home rather than men because mothers have a unique bond with young children.

“Many women do want to spend those first few years with their child,” he said. “It’s a short period in life where they can perform that natural nurturing role. We shouldn’t belittle it, we should value it.”

He added: “I think [motherhood and fatherhood] are different and we should be honest about that.

Chinese authorities have released a Uyghur Christian pastor who spent 15 years in prison accused of “inciting separatism” and “leaking state secrets to overseas organisations,” charges termed as “baseless” by rights groups, says a report.

Alimujiang Yimiti, 49, a Protestant house church pastor was reunited with his family after being released from prison in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang region, China Aid reported on March 15.

Yimiti was a Muslim before he converted to Christianity in 1995. He became a pastor for Uyghur Christians who belonged to a Protestant house church in the city of Kashgar in Xinjiang.

In 2007, Chinese security agencies started scrutinizing Uyghurs, a Muslim-majority ethnic Turkic group who make up the majority of the Xinjiang population amid a rise in violence in the region.

At that time, Christian Uyghurs who account for about two percent of the region’s estimated 26 million people, also came under pressure, reported papal charity Aid to the Church in Need.

Yimiti was first accused of using his business as a front to spread Christian ideology and was arrested on Jan. 12, 2008, for “inciting separatism” and “unlawfully providing state secrets to overseas organizations” due to a conversation he had with an American Christian friend, China Aid reported.

This could result in changes to the law to enable an even more permissive abortion regime.

A spokesman for Mr Donnelly said he would consider its findings and bring a memo to Cabinet within weeks. It will then be published in mid April.

The Pro Life Campaign has argued that the review must take into account “the urgent need to provide women in unplanned pregnancies with positive alternatives to abortion”. They also said the report “must consider the issue of foetal pain relief”.

The National Women’s Council (NWC) however has said the ‘criminalisation’ of doctors, the mandatory three-day waiting period and the 12-week limit are “all limiting access to abortion for those who need it and this review must lead to evidence-led legislative reform”.