Faith charities threatened with cuts

Public funding for Catholic organisations in Ireland is under threat from equality legislation, the Bishop of Elphin warned this week, writes Sarah Mac Donald.

At a talk in Sligo, Bishop Kevin Doran said legislation does not recognise organisations’ rights to protect their religious ethos and warned Christian organisations are excluded through funding cuts.

Meanwhile Irish bishops have told the incoming government they will oppose any attempt to repeal the constitution’s pro-life eighth amendment. “You cannot pretend to be a Catholic and leave aside a very vital part of Catholic teaching,” Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin said.