France’s Catholic bishops have opposed legislation to allow medically assisted procreation for single mothers and lesbian couples and urged citizens to help block its enactment. “We hear and understand the suffering of those who cannot have children from their union with a person of the opposite sex and of homosexual women who aspire to have…
Eritrean bishops protested the government’s seizure of Catholic schools and asked that the Church be enabled to continue its educational and health services. “If this is not hatred against the faith and against religion, what else can it be?” the bishops said in a letter to Eritrea’s minister of public education. “Our voice of protest”…
There is a danger that conscientious objection will only be allowed when it can make little difference, writes Dr Keith Holmes Conscious Objection in Health Care describes medical scenarios where clinicians refuse to engage in a clinical activity on the grounds that such participation would contravene their ethical moral or religious beliefs. While this…
A bill to decriminalise abortion in all cases of rape failed in the Ecuadorian legislature last week, amid opposition from the Church and civil organisations. It would have allowed abortion also in cases of non-viable foetal deformity, incest, and non-consensual artificial insemination. Sixty-five members of the unicameral National Assembly voted in favour, five short of…
One of the world’s best-known actors Brad Pitt [pictured] has said he’s left Atheism behind and “clings to religion”. In a wide-ranging interview published in a US magazine, Mr Pitt (55) spoke of his Christian upbringing and the importance of religion in his life. “I grew up with Christianity. Always questioned it, but it worked…
An overwhelming majority of Americans (83%) said they support conscience protection rights for health care professionals because they should not be forced to perform procedures against their moral beliefs. 91% of faith-based health care professionals said they need conscience protections and would rather stop practicing medicine altogether than be forced to violate their conscience. These…
Family members of an 80-year-old woman in England are advocating for legalised assisted suicide after the woman was found not guilty by a UK court in an apparent “mercy killing” of her husband. Mavis Eccleston, 80, was accused of killing her husband Dennis, 81, with a lethal dose of prescription medicine. Prosecutors claimed that Mavis…
We have to keep hoping in the midst of crises and in the face of our fears, writes Fr Thomas Casey SJ “They’re not ornaments you know,” Padre Pio once exclaimed to a zealous pilgrim who grabbed his hands so firmly that the Capuchin saint began to writhe in pain. Padre Pio suffered from the…
Priesthood is not a job but a gift, Pope says Being a priest is not a job or fulfilling an employment contract but is a gift from God that should be contemplated and treasured as such, Pope Francis has said. Those who turn ordained ministry into an occupation “lose the heart of the ministry, lose…
Owners of a lucrative Cork City site of a former Good Shepherd Sisters convent have taken the property off the market. Devotees of Little Nellie of Holy God, known by many as the unofficial patron saint of Cork who is buried at the sight, have continuously voiced concerns about being able to access the grave.…