Month: October 2013

France – The country’s Constitutional Council has ruled that mayors do not have a right to claim conscientious objection against performing gay marriage ceremonies. The ruling is a blow to a group of mayors which appealed to the council in the wake of threats by France’s Interior Ministry to imprison, for five years, those refusing…

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Britain – The Tower of London was the venue last week for the official launch of The 1535 Society, a new initiative of the Catholic Church aimed at promoting awareness of the role of Catholic martyrs in British history. Together with Bishop Richard Chartres of London, Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster led a ceremony to…

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Italy – The name ‘Francesco’ has become the most popular baby name in the country following the choice of that name by the Pope. A study undertaken by Tor Vergata University in Rome found that, while ‘Francesco’ has long been a popular name across Italy, in the months since the election of the new Pontiff,…

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Pope Francis welcomed the Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to the Vatican on Monday. The Vatican Press Office reported the Popeís delight at greeting Ms Suu Kyi, "one of the most significant personalities in Asia in the area of peace, democracy and peaceful coexistence", a woman who spent 15 years under house arrest…

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Germany – The Vatican has announced that the Vicar General of the German Diocese of Limburg will administer the troubled diocese following the removal of Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, whose €31 million spend on his house caused uproar in the country. According to the Vatican press office, Pope Francis authorised "a period of leave outside…

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Dear Editor, How frustrating that when disgraceful shortcomings are pointed out in the State’s failure to protect and vindicate the rights of children that vested interests always blame a ‘lack of resources’. What resources were lacking when social workers, backed by the full authority of the Garda Síochána, removed two Roma children from their family…

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Dear Editor, The recent HIQA report surrounding the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar, as covered by the media, seems to lack coverage of circumstantial evidence surrounding medical management and supply and the corresponding success/failure rate in providing maternity care in other countries. What seems negligent, in a case which has ravaged the hearts of the…

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