Tags: Catholic Church
Former ‘pope in waiting’ jailed for child sexual abuse
Posted: Fri, 15 Mar 2019
The Vatican's ex-treasurer George Pell has been sentenced to nearly 12 years in prison for sexual activity with children in Australia. Read More »
Senior French Catholic cardinal convicted of covering up abuse
Posted: Fri, 08 Mar 2019
The most senior Catholic official in France, the archbishop of Lyon Philippe Barbarin, has been convicted of covering up sexual abuse. Read More »
NSS: government must push Vatican to cooperate with abuse inquiry
Posted: Tue, 05 Feb 2019
The NSS has urged the prime minister to raise the Catholic Church's failure to cooperate with a child abuse inquiry with the Vatican. Read More »
Abuse survivors sue Catholic order which ran children’s homes
Posted: Fri, 19 Oct 2018
Ten people are suing a religious order which ran two Scottish orphanages where many children were physically and sexually abused. Read More »
Scottish Catholic schools to marginalise children who don’t pray
Posted: Mon, 24 Sep 2018
The NSS has criticised a plan to exclude children from nativity plays and fundraising if they are withdrawn from prayers. Read More »
Catholic Church covered up abuse of 1,000 children in Pennsylvania
Posted: Wed, 15 Aug 2018
Pennsylvania's Catholic Church leaders covered up the abuse of over 1,000 children by more than 300 priests, a major report has said. Read More »
NSS urges Irish PM to force pope to pay abuse compensation debt
Posted: Thu, 19 Jul 2018
The National Secular Society has urged the Irish PM to force the Catholic Church to pay a €7 million shortfall in compensation owed to survivors of clerical child abuse. Read More »
Spanish PM’s secularist outlook prompts Catholic fears over privileges
Posted: Thu, 14 Jun 2018
Spain's new prime minister has prompted concern from religious groups over his support for secularism. Read More »
Scottish government ‘committed to Catholic education tradition’
Posted: Mon, 21 May 2018
The NSS has criticised the Scottish government after a minister assured headteachers it was committed to providing Catholic education. Read More »
Labour MPs look at applying Catholic social teaching to public policy
Posted: Tue, 26 Sep 2017
Eight MPs have launched a group calling on their party to "explore and supply" the application of Catholic social teaching to public policy. Read More »
Catholic Church backs down on ‘faith certificates’ for pupils
Posted: Thu, 08 Jun 2017
The Catholic Church has dropped plans to take the Government to court in order to give priests the right to arbitrarily determine whether pupils are eligible for a school place on the basis of faith. Read More »
New poll finds huge opposition to Government’s plans for more discriminatory faith schools
Posted: Tue, 30 May 2017
Government plans to allow new faith schools to discriminate on religious grounds by selecting all of their pupils on the basis of faith have attracted mass public opposition, a poll has found. Read More »
Taxpayer-funded Catholic schools should only be for Catholics, says Archbishop of Liverpool
Posted: Thu, 04 May 2017
Archbishop Malcolm McMahon has said that Catholic schools "are different" and "for the Catholic community", despite their being funded by all taxpayers. Read More »
New call for mandatory reporting after Catholic Church in Australia admits “devastating” scale of child abuse
Posted: Wed, 19 Apr 2017
Five secularist organisations, including the NSS, have called for the Catholic Church to take real action to ensure justice for victims of clerical child abuse. Read More »
Ireland sees 73% increase in number of non-believers
Posted: Thu, 06 Apr 2017
Census figures released by the Irish Central Statistics Office show a huge increase in the number of non-believers, as the number of self-identified Catholics continued to drop. Read More »
MP calls for Scotland to embrace a secular education system
Posted: Mon, 13 Mar 2017
Tommy Sheppard MP has called for Scotland to move towards a secular education system and expressed his hope that secularist campaigners can "chip away" at religion's role in state schools. Read More »
Final survivor resigns from Pope’s commission on clerical abuse of minors
Posted: Fri, 03 Mar 2017
The last remaining survivor of clerical abuse on the Pontifical Commission for Protection of Minors, Marie Collins, has resigned from it "to maintain [her] integrity". Read More »
Secular schools ‘more appropriate than faith schools’ in diverse Britain
Posted: Mon, 06 Feb 2017
Pupils from Muslim backgrounds outnumber those from Christian families in more than 30 Church of England faith schools, according to a report in the Times. Read More »
Government refuses to review discrimination against teachers in faith schools
Posted: Thu, 15 Dec 2016
The NSS has criticised the Government for refusing to accept a recommendation from the EHRC to review the law which permits faith schools to discriminate against teachers on religious grounds. Read More »
Catholic education charity faces inquiry over handling of child abuse claims
Posted: Wed, 14 Dec 2016
A statutory inquiry has been opened by the Charity Commission into the St Laurence Education Trust and Ampleforth Abbey, over the Catholic charities' handling of sexual abuse allegations. Read More »
