Romantic comedies or ‘rom-coms’ could be destroying real life romance and harming marriage, new research claims. According to researchers at Edinburgh's Heriot Watt University, films such as Notting Hill and When Harry Met Sally are responsible for creating unrealistic expectations of relationships, according to a report in the Daily Telegraph.

Social decline and increased levels of crime are forcing Dutch authorities into reconsidering their noted commitment to liberal policies on legalised brothels, prostitution and soft drugs, such as ‘magic mushrooms’ and cannabis.

A church advert in Northern Ireland quoting Bible texts on homosexuality should not have been banned, according to a leading homosexual rights activist.

A new Vatican document dealing with Assisted Human Reproduction (AHR) has been welcomed by The Iona Institute for emphasizing the right of a child conceived via AHR to be raised by their own biological mother and father.

The EU's Commissioner for Justice, Jacques Barrot, has told EU member states that they should recognise the same-sex unions contracted in other member states for residency purposes.

A draft plan to run a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty will take account of social and ethical issues, according to a report in today's Irish Times. The report says that EU leaders are set to agree a deal which will include "necessary legal guarantees" to Ireland on "taxation policy, family, social and ethical issues” among other items, according to the report.

The biggest family and social problem in Western society is the increasing absence of fathers, according to the Archbishop of Perth, Barry Hickey.

In his 2008 pre-Christmas message on Friday, Archbishop Hickey said the absence of dads was a bigger problem than drugs.

"If Father Christmas was offering me gifts, I would ask for peace in every family and a father at the heart of every family," he said.

"The absence of fathers is the biggest family and social problem we face today. It is the biggest cause of lifelong difficulties for fathers, mothers and, most of all, for children.

"The absence of fathers is bigger than anger, aggression, alcohol, drugs, crime and under achievement by children because it is the biggest single contributor to all of them.

"This is borne out worldwide by every large scale, long term study of family. I know that Father Christmas isn't going to solve this problem for me, but I keep praying for it."

Archbishop Hickey said Christmas was an important time for families. But these days we were in danger of forgetting what family was, he said.

"Firstly, it is father and mother accepting lifelong responsibility for one another and their children and then it is sharing of family life within and across generations," he said.

"It is not only that Christmas is important for families. It is also true that family is important for Christmas. When God chose to send his only son to Earth to share in our humanity, he chose to place him in a family.

"He chose a mother, Mary, who gave her life to God's will and a father, Joseph, who gave his life to caring for Mary and Jesus.

"This was God himself confirming to us that children need to be raised in families where they can learn what it is to be a man and what it is to be a woman and how wonderful is the love between them."

But Gay and Lesbian Equality convenor Rod Swift reacted saying that "it is disappointing the Archbishop has chosen to focus on just nuclear families, rather than also celebrating a diverse range of families during this festive season."

Concerns over social and ethical issues must be addressed before any second referendum on Lisbon can be held, according to the Minister for European Affairs Dick Roche. Minister Roche told The Irish Independent that a series of “legally robust mechanisms” needed to be put in place to reassure Irish voters.

A leading children’s dictionary has ditched words relating to Christianity to make space for new terms like “MP3 player” and “Euro”.

Faith in Britain is increasingly being treated by society as a “private eccentricity”, according to the head of the Catholic Church in Britain, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor.

Both sides of the same-sex marriage debate need to treat their opposition with respect, the Archbishop of San Francisco has urged. In his diocesan newspaper, Dr George Hugh Niederauer responded to opponents of the successful campaign to ban same-sex marriage in California, reminding them that tolerance is always a "two-way street" and criticized those presuming evil motives in the opposition.

Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin has said that the ban on Catholic bookseller Veritas advertising on radio is “bizarre”.

The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) has suggested amendments to legislation dealing with religious advertising it has emerged.

The Iona Institute has described as “farcical” the latest ban to be placed on a religious advertisement in Ireland. Their statement came as it emerged that the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) has banned from radio yet another ad from religious book-seller, Veritas. The ad was for the sale of Christmas gifts.

Weakened ties of family, work and community life are leading to more and more people living isolated lives, according to new UK research. The data shows that far more people today are living alone, are single and are fearful within their neighbourhoods compared with three decades ago.

The Vatican is refusing to sign up to a draft UN declaration which would create a right to gay marriage in international law. The declaration, proposed by France, would recognise “sexual orientation or gender identity” as a protected human rights category on par with race and sex.

The intention to be a parent rather than biological fact, ought to determine parentage where artificial reproduction is used, a leading family lawyer has said, according to a report in the Irish Times.

Cohabitees are far more likely to experience domestic violence than married people, according to a new report. The study, Families in Ireland, reveals that, although cohabiting couples comprise only 14 per cent of all couples, 31 per cent of all domestic violence orders are issued to cohabiting partners.