Tags: Catholic Church
Sturgeon’s praise for Catholic schools will exacerbate Scotland’s tribal divisions
Posted: Wed, 28 Feb 2018 by Neil Barber
Catholic schools are no remedy for a society facing ingrained sectarian division, writes Neil Barber. In praising them Scotland's first minister has shown a willingness to sacrifice social cohesion to reach a block vote. Read More »
Only reform of the law can tackle the Church's temptation to cover up abuse
Posted: Fri, 15 Dec 2017 by Richard Scorer
After three weeks of damning evidence at the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Richard Scorer says mandatory reporting of institutional abuse is necessary to prevent churches from covering it up. Read More »
Abuse Inquiry to investigate Benedictine institutions
Posted: Tue, 24 Oct 2017 by Richard Scorer
An upcoming hearing of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse will be an opportunity to examine the reality behind the Catholic Church's claims that it has transformed its approach to child protection, says Richard Scorer. Read More »
The legacy of decades of abuse in a Catholic children's home
Posted: Thu, 21 Sep 2017 by Mark Boules
Hundreds of children died at Smyllum Park, a home in Lanarkshire run by the Catholic Church between 1864 and 1981. Mark Boules reflects on what is left after decades of abuse at the home. Read More »
Cardinal Murphy O'Connor's cover-up of child abusers must be a lesson to the Catholic Church
Posted: Fri, 08 Sep 2017 by Keith Porteous Wood
Cormac Murphy O'Connor, the former Archbishop of Westminster, died on 1 September. NSS executive director Keith Porteous Wood seeks to set the historical record straight with this alternative obituary. Read More »
Ireland’s hospitals: some welcome secularisation
Posted: Fri, 01 Sep 2017 by Keith Porteous Wood
NSS executive director Keith Porteous Wood detects a long-overdue and decisive turn towards secularism in publicly funded healthcare in Ireland, an area in which the Catholic Church has until now been predominant. Read More »
The confessional shouldn’t shield child abuse from reporting
Posted: Wed, 16 Aug 2017 by Keith Porteous Wood
The Australian abuse commission is right not to exempt the confessional from reporting obligations, and its rigour should provide a model to reverse the backsliding already all too clear in the UK, argues Keith Porteous Wood. Read More »
Irish National Maternity Hospital: “Keep your rosaries off my ovaries!”
Posted: Mon, 05 Jun 2017 by Keith Porteous Wood
The determination to give a hospital to a disgraced religious order, in spite of public outrage, is the very antithesis of secularism. But the episode has prompted calls for fundamental changes in the relationship between church and state, writes Keith Porteous... Read More »
The Catholic Church’s abuse scandal shows no sign of abating
Posted: Mon, 15 May 2017 by Richard Scorer
After forty years the Catholic Church is still more interested in protecting itself and its clerical culture than in truly eradicating child abuse, writes Richard Scorer. Read More »
The Catholic Church in Scotland is still playing the victim card to stifle criticism
Posted: Thu, 06 Apr 2017 by Alistair McBay
There is some lingering anti-Catholic bigotry in Scotland, writes NSS vice president Alistair McBay, but the Church is playing victim while supporting a segregated education system which can only worsen prejudice.
"As one brought up a Catholic, I know only... Read More »
Who is running Ireland – the Government or the Church?
Posted: Mon, 27 Mar 2017 by Keith Porteous Wood
The reach and power of the Catholic Church has waned considerably in recent years in Ireland. But there are troubling signs that its undue influence over the country is returning, writes Keith Porteous Wood.
It is difficult to envisage now, but when the UK... Read More »
Mass grave full of children's remains at Catholic home reveals atrocities on a massive scale
Posted: Tue, 07 Mar 2017 by Keith Porteous Wood
With the latest revelations about human remains in an Irish Mother and Baby home, Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Secular Society, seeks answers about how such atrocities could have happened on such a scale, and what can be done now.... Read More »
The new UN Secretary General must not allow religion to override human rights
Posted: Fri, 21 Oct 2016 by Keith Porteous Wood
UN Secretary General designate needs to ignore Catholic pressure to row back on Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights and Gay Rights, writes Keith Porteous Wood.
The former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres has been officially appointed as the next... Read More »
Religious privilege undermines abuse victims’ access to justice
Posted: Mon, 22 Aug 2016 by Richard Scorer
Richard Scorer, a specialist child abuse lawyer at Slater & Gordon draws attention to organisations seeking more lenient treatment over child abuse-connected matters because they are religious and makes the case for no concessions being given. Read More »
Invisible power: how the Catholic Church influences Italian politics
Posted: Thu, 26 May 2016 by Stefano Bonino
Italy's bill on civil unions is an important landmark in the history of successful and unsuccessful attempts by the Vatican to influence Italian politics, writes Stefano Bonino. Read More »
Spotlight: This hard-hitting film salutes the journalists who exposed the power of a deeply corrupt institution
Posted: Thu, 28 Jan 2016 by Keith Porteous Wood
Keith Porteous Wood previews Spotlight, the hard-hitting film which depicts the Boston Globe's investigation into the cover-up of child sex abuse by the Catholic Church. Read More »
Catholic hierarchy stand by while nuns’ orders seek to obstruct justice for their abuse victims
Posted: Mon, 06 Jul 2015 by Keith Porteous Wood
Following the failed attempt to obstruct the historic child abuse inquiry in Scotland, Keith Porteous Wood exposes the continuing reluctance of the Catholic Church to face up to and pay for its crimes.
Two orders of nuns have sought and failed to frustrate... Read More »
Irish same-sex marriage – is the Church trying to blackmail the state?
Posted: Fri, 17 Apr 2015 by Keith Porteous Wood
The Roman Catholic Church in Ireland has threatened to stop civil marriage registration if Irish law is changed to allow same sex marriages. Keith Porteous Wood argues that if it were to carry out its threat, it could inflict more harm on the Church than any... Read More »
Why did the CPS abandon investigation into Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor?
Posted: Thu, 19 Mar 2015 by Alistair McBay
As the full scale of the British Establishment's cover-up of child sex abuse becomes apparent, Alistair McBay argues it is time for the Crown Prosecution Service to make public its reasons for dropping the investigation into Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor 12 years ago. Read More »
The dishonesty of religious lobbying shines like a beacon
Posted: Tue, 03 Feb 2015 by Terry Sanderson
NSS President Terry Sanderson argues that the churches have changed their lobbying tactics, and are trying to impose their doctrines through misdirection and 'slippery slope' arguments.
The reaction of the Church of England and the Catholic Church to the debate... Read More »
The Bishops, the Catholic vote and the Referendum
Posted: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 by Alistair McBay
Alistair McBay argues that a growing political alliance between the leadership of the Catholic Church in Scotland and SNP has implications which stretch far beyond the Referendum campaign and threaten to revive religious identity politics.
"Most people still... Read More »
Pope’s zero tolerance pledge on child abuse is not enough
Posted: Mon, 23 Jun 2014 by David McClenaghan
Words are not enough: David McClenaghan argues that if the Church wants to deal with its record on child abuse it must root out both offenders and enablers. Read More »
The English Catholic Church and the Sex Abuse Crisis
Posted: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 by Richard Scorer
In England, Catholic leaders have fostered the impression that the English church has been relatively scandal-free, and that such problems as did exist were eliminated by the Nolan reforms. A new book by Richard Scorer, head of the abuse unit at Slater & Gordon lawyers, interrogates that claim. Read More »
Pope's first year of papacy has been a failure on child abuse
Posted: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 by Keith Porteous Wood
This week marks the first anniversary of the election of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina as Pope Francis. But as far as far as child abuse is concerned, it's just business as usual at the Vatican – but with better PR, argues Keith Porteous Wood. Read More »
The bishop’s fantasy secularism
Posted: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 by Terry Sanderson
This week the Catholic Bishop of Portsmouth, Philip Egan, gave a lecture at King's College in London in which he launched a full frontal attack on secularism. But the secularism the Bishop denounces, argues Terry Sanderson, is simply a figment of his imagination. Read More »
