Pattaramon, 21, told Reuters Television she refused the abortion on religious grounds and carried both him and his twin sister to term six months ago. The parents, who have not been identified, took only the girl back with them to Australia. The boy, Gammy, needs surgery for a congenital heart condition, according to media reports.
Again poor doors are visible. They are a brilliant, instantly comprehensible distillation of an entire complex of social, cultural and political attitudes. They are portals into storied centuries of privilege, prejudice and protection rackets of all kinds.
Lord Falconer's Assisted Dying bill, which would allow doctors to hasten the death of terminally ill patients thought to have under six months to live, passed its second reading in the Lords on Friday despite vigorous campaigning by faith leaders, and now passes to committee stage.
Don't make our mistake: As assisted suicide bill goes to Lords, Dutch watchdog who once backed euthanasia warns UK of 'slippery slope' to mass deaths. Theo Boer, a European assisted suicide watchdog, said 'don't do it'. In Netherlands euthanasia has been legal since 2002. However, in six years the numbers of deaths have doubled
“In keeping with a long, shadowy, legacy of antipathy, justices who happen to be Catholics… are branded and bullied by a group who only succeed in providing the latest example of a prejudice that has haunted us for centuries,” Cardinal Dolan said in his July 3 column for Catholic New York
On the Lord’s Team! A Reflection on Sports Providing an Image of the Christian Life. The World Cup captured a lot of attention these past few weeks. I puzzle a bit as to the popularity of soccer since it seems that almost no one ever scores.
Philippine Catholic bishops have urged people not to rush to judge politicians linked to a multi-million dollar scam that allegedly channeled government funds to private individuals and groups.
"Families are the home Church where Jesus grows," Francis said. "He grows in the spouses' love and in the children's lives. For this reason, the enemy attacks the family so much. The devil does not want it. He tries to destroy it, to prevent love from becoming free....
“The holiness and indissolubility of Christian matrimony, often disintegrating under tremendous pressure from the secular world, must be deepened by clear doctrine and supported by the witness of committed married couples,” Pope Francis said.
“Human trafficking is an open wound on the body of contemporary society, a scourge upon the body of Christ. It is a crime against humanity,” says Pope Francis. Gathered in Rome to discuss methods for the eradication of human slavery, both law enforcement and Vatican officials exchanged ideas on how to collaborate in combating the issue and caring for victims.
In its approach to divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, the Catholic Church needs to find a middle ground that does not destroy or abandon doctrine, but offers a "renewed" interpretation of church teaching in order to help those whose marriages have failed, Cardinal Walter Kasper said.
Though we spend a fortune on the consequences of excessive drinking, we spend a relative pittance on the causes. Where alcohol was once seen as a male problem, the miseries are now evenly shared between the sexes.
Cardinal O'Brien was told to leave Scotland by the Vatican following his resignation. "There would be a number of reasons for that, and looking around myself I think it would probably be wiser and more helpful for the future of the Church here if he were not to be back in the country."
The new Archbishop of Canterbury will issue a challenge to David Cameron by voicing opposition to gay marriage on the eve of the first parliamentary vote on the controversial new law. In his first official day as leader of the Church of England, the Rt Rev Justin Welby is expected to say that marriage should remain “between a man and a woman”.
A proposal to change this truth about marriage in civil law is less a threat to religion than it is an affront to human reason and the common good of society. It means we are all to pretend to accept something we know is physically impossible. The Legislature might just as well repeal the law of gravity.”
Thousands converge on Eiffel Tower to protest against François Hollande's plan to legalise gay marriage and adoption. Demonstrators take part in a protest against gay marriage in Paris that was strongly backed the Catholic church.
More than 1,000 priests have signed a letter voicing alarm that same-sex marriage could threaten religious freedom in a way last seen during “centuries of persecution” of Roman Catholics in England.
The leader of the Roman Catholic church in England and Wales has urged parishioners to write to their MPs “as soon as possible” urging them to block the Government’s same-sex marriage plans.
The UK has one of the highest rates of family breakdown in the Western world, with just 68.9% of children living with both parents, research suggests. The UK comes fourth in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)'s table, behind Belgium, Latvia and Estonia.
In an article for the 'Financial Times' Benedict XVI presents Christmas as a time to engage with the world. This infant, born in an obscure and far-flung corner of the Empire, was to offer the world a far greater peace, truly universal in scope and transcending all limitations of space and time.
