News Roundup

Ireland’s birth rate bounces back from Covid

Ireland’s birth rate increased by just over 16% to 16,131 in the first quarter of this year when compared with the same period in 2021 when the country was badly affected by Covid. The new total is just below the corresponding figure for 2017. However, it is still below replacement level.

The first quarter births in 2017 were 16,487; in 2018 it declined to 15,659; in 2019, the figure rose slightly to 15,893; in 2020, it declined to 14,371; in 2021, during the covid19 pandemic, it declined even more to 13,895.

Gerard Doolan, Statistician in the Vital Statistics Division, said: “We can see the number of births has increased by 2,236 when compared with the same quarter in the previous year, up from 13,895 in quarter one 2021 to 16,131 in quarter one 2022.

“Births to teenage mothers increased from 179 in quarter one 2021 to 194 in quarter one 2022.

“More than two in five of all births were outside of marriage/civil partnership, compared to the same quarter a year earlier when 40.1% of births were to mothers outside of marriage.

“Ten years ago, in quarter one 2012, this proportion was more than one in three births.”

Read more...

Court considers German regional prayer ban near abortion counselling facilities

An Appeals Court today will hear whether authorities can prohibit a silent prayer gathering on a public street in Pforzheim, Germany.

In May 2021, a lower court allowed a ban on groups praying “within sight” of an abortion counselling facility.

40 Days for Life group leader, Pavica Vojnović, however says that the prohibition constitutes an egregious violation of fundamental freedoms. The group hopes the court will lift the ban, recognising their rights to freedom of religion, expression, and assembly.

“What kind of society restricts prayer for vulnerable women and children? By prohibiting even silent prayer near an abortion counselling facility, the Pforzheim authorities have gone beyond what could be considered reasonable or proportionate. Whether or not people agree with the group’s views on the sanctity of life, everyone can support the fundamental rights to freedom of religion, expression, and assembly,” said Lidia Rieder, legal officer for ADF International, who has supported Vojnović’s case.

Read more...

Children born to married couple have odds ‘stacked in their favour’

Marriage benefits women and encourages men to care for their children, a pro-family advocate has told Good Morning Britain.

Harry Benson, Research Director at the Marriage Foundation, told hosts Robert Rinder and Ranvir Singh that a “happy wife, equals happy life,” and that children born to married couples have “odds stacked in their favour.”

He was discussing whether a money incentive would encourage younger couples to get married, at a time where marriage rates are at an all time low.

Benson argued that a married couple provides “the best environment to have children”.

“The reason why societies regulate marriage, and have done throughout history, throughout the world, it to encourage men to invest in their future children,” he said.

“That’s the reason behind marriage. And at the moment, we have a system that actively discriminates against that.”

He added that the low marriage rate is the reason why “50 per cent of babies are born without the dad living in the house.”

He went on to say that the commitment of marriage should be encouraged by the state.

Read more...

Spain: Gunman euthanised before he can stand trial

A man in Spain who was paralysed in a police shootout after opening fire on workmates has been euthanised in prison before he could face trial.

Marin Eugen Sabau, 46, shot and injured three former colleagues and a police officer in the north-eastern city of Tarragona in December.

After being shot in the spine and left partially paralysed, he had begged to be euthanised rather than face trial.

A law – passed in Spain last year – states that adults with serious and incurable conditions that cause “unbearable suffering” can choose to end their lives.

But victims of the shooting opposed the request, arguing that Sabau should be brought to justice.

A court in Tarragona, however, ruled that it was Sabau’s fundamental right to request euthanasia considering his circumstances and stated that in line with the law, the judicial system had no right to interfere.

Read more...

Monument to priest brothers hailed as ‘leading humanitarians’ unveiled in Limerick

A bench and sculpture celebrating the lives of two of Ireland’s leading humanitarians, brothers Fr Aengus and Fr Jack Finucane, were unveiled in Limerick city on Thursday.

The brothers Finucane, both Spiritan priests, first came to worldwide attention in the late 1960s when they shipped thousands of tons of food to starving Biafrans in west Africa during a war with Nigerian authorities.

Fr Aengus and Fr Jack organised mercy-flights aid effort in Biafra.

The airstrip they used was under constant attack from Nigerian bombers, especially when the aid aircraft were taking off and landing.

The Biafran war was the first involving mass starvation to be reported on television and the Nigerian blockade provoked worldwide outrage. In 1970 Fr Jack was briefly imprisoned by the Nigerian authorities before being expelled.

Their Biafra aid campaign led to the founding of Concern Worldwide in 1968. Subsequently, both men were involved with relief efforts in Bangladesh in the 1970s, Ethiopia in the 1980s, Rwanda in the 1990s, Sudan and the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004.

Read more...

Church of Ireland appeals to members to help house Ukrainian refugees

Members of the Church of Ireland have been asked “to give urgent consideration” as to how they can provide accommodation for people fleeing Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Its Church and Society Commission has appealed to “anyone who owns or knows of buildings in good or habitable repair for immediate use which could accommodate groups of Ukrainian refugees” to contact the relevant Government agency.

This follows consultation by the commission with the Department which manages short–term accommodation needs, in light of the current shortage of accommodation for refugees, and the need to “sustain the momentum for the long run on behalf of people who have lost everything at home,” as the Church’s commission has put it.

Read more...

Persecution of Christians highlighted on Day of Commemoration

Leading advocates of religious freedom today marked the International Day to Commemorate the Victims of Acts of Violence based on Religion or Beliefs.

The international foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), a Catholic organisation that supports persecuted and suffering Christians in over 140 countries, highlighted a number of important issues.

Among them are the lack of international response to the myriad Islamic terrorist cells in Africa.

In particular, the threat to religious freedom in the Sahel region has severe consequences, not just for the members of the threatened religious groups, but for the growth and development of whole nations.

Worryingly there is a spiral of violence in Nigeria. The country with the largest population in Africa is experiencing an unprecedented scale of religious-based violence which ACN warns could get even worse unless the international community unites to address and seek solutions to the issues.

Likewise, there are millions of displaced people and refugees. Many of the victims of violence provoked by religious extremists have had to flee their ancestral homes.

There is also a disturbing rise in the use of sexual violence against minority religious groups, including kidnapping and forced marriages and conversions in countries such as Pakistan and Egypt.

Elsewhere, there is an alarming rise of religious attacks in Latin America, headed by Nicaragua, where in less than four years the Catholic Church has suffered over 190 attacks and desecrations.

At the same time, there is also an imposition of new aggressive secular ideologies.

Read more...

‘Offer couples cash to marry’ urges UK family advocates

Couples should be offered cash incentives to encourage them to tie the knot, campaigners in the UK have urged.

Government Ministers have been warned that the number of Britons committing to each other is at a record low and must be brought back up.

The Marriage Foundation says offering financial perks has worked in Hungary and should be explored in the UK.

It hailed the dramatic uptick – 92 per cent between 2010 and 2020 – in the European nation as “nothing short of a miracle”.

And that it showed the power of the “right policies and financial incentives” .

Surveys found far fewer people on lower incomes get married than higher incomes, with the organisation citing financial disincentives.

Report author Harry Benson said: “Low income families stand to lose as much as £10,000 every year of tax credit or Universal Credit entitlement if they live together or marry.

Read more...

Four religious sisters kidnapped in Nigeria

The Sisters of Jesus the Saviour announced that four of their Sisters were kidnapped in Nigeria’s Imo state on Sunday.

“It is with great pain that we bring to your notice the kidnaping of our Sisters: Johannes Nwodo, Christabel Echemazu, Liberata Mbamalu and Benita Agu,” said in an announcement from the community’s secretary general, Sister Zita Ihedoro.

The abduction took place near the Okigwe-Umulolo axis of the Okigwe-Enugu Expressway while the religious were on their way to a Mass.

“We implore for an intense prayer for their quick and safe release. May Jesus the Saviour listen to our prayers and may Our Mother Mary intercede for the unconditional release of our dear Sisters,” Sister Zita wrote.

Read more...

Coveney says Lebanon’s detention of archbishop ‘extremely worrying’

The Irish Government has raised the issue of the detention of an archbishop by Lebanese authorities while he was returning from Israel following a routine visit to his diocese.

Archbishop Moussa El-Hage of Haifa and the Holy Land was detained last month while bringing $460,000 (€451,000) in aid from the Lebanese diaspora in Israel to family members in Lebanon.

He was arrested on the orders of a military court before being interrogated for 12 hours. After being released at midnight, he was stripped of his passport, mobile phone, the money and medicine.

Following a query from Carol Nolan TD, Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said on the issue: “Religious leaders, such as Archbishop El-Hage, play an important role in Lebanon where the political system relies on tolerance, inclusivity and religious freedom. Officials from my department have raised the issue with the Lebanese authorities.”

Mr Coveney went on to say the general situation is “extremely worrying”.

Read more...
1 93 94 95 96 97 460