Fortieth Anniversary of the Abortion Act (November)

The Abortion Act was 40 years old on 27th October. Currently abortions are legal up to 24 weeks and up to 28n weeks in cases where it is necessary to save the life of the woman, there is evidence of extreme fetal abnormality or there is a grave risk of physical or mental injury to the woman.

Cardinals Cormac Murphy-O'Connor and Keith O'Brien have written an open letter calling for a change of heart in British attitudes towards abortion which they believe is fundamentally wrong - although they are not calling for an outright ban at present.

Faith schools (October)

This month the British government announced in its report 'Faith in the System' that a large number of faith-based schools are to be brought into the state-funded sector with a pledge to remove "unnecessary barriers" to religious groups.

The announcement has been greeted with fury by secular groups. The National Secular Society (NSS) says that faith schools are by their nature divisive and that the government’s move is “plain madness”.

National Secular Society general secretary Keith Porteous-Wood said “Schools based on religion are divisive, they create injustice in their admissions procedures and they cause parents to lie and cheat to get places in publicly funded schools. The academic success of church schools has been shown repeatedly to be because of their ability to select... [t]he majority of parents ...want good schools, not religious schools.”

But the report claims: "'Faith in the System' goes a long way towards dispelling the myths, preconceived notions and negative stereotypes surrounding faith schools and demonstrates their role in ensuring that British society continues to aspire to the highest ideals of toleration and mutual respect."

Mother Teresa's doubts (October}

Mother Teresa's doubts, published recently in previously unseen letters, have raised questions about whether she will complete her entry into the hall of saints. But wouldn't the Vatican do well to remember the words of Tennyson "There lives more faith in honest doubt, Believe me, than in half the creeds"?

 

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