Parents are financially better off if they split up under the current UK tax system, according to a new report.

New research shows that 44 per cent of people claim to know someone who has been the victim of domestic abuse. The survey, carried out on behalf of Cosc, a Government organisation mandated to prevent domestic, sexual and domestic violence, also showed most people were unwilling to intervene in situations of abuse if they related to someone outside their family or circle of friends.

Aggressive atheists have used the terrorist outrages of September 11 as an excuse to attack all religions, according to the former head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, Lord Carey.

Children living with both biological parents or adoptive parents who attend religious services regularly are less likely to exhibit problems at school or at home, according to new research from the US.

The overwhelming majority of Irish people (92 per cent) believe that children have the right to be raised by a mother and father where possible, according to a new Red C poll commissioned by The Iona Institute.

Three international gay rights organisations are jointly urging the UN body that reviews implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) to incorporate the radical “Yogyakarta Principles” in its recommendations.

Ireland is the EU country with the highest birth rate, according to new figures from Eurostat, the EU's official statistics body.

A UK atheist group has launched an advertising campaign on public transport across Britain.

Five Roman Catholic adoption agencies have decided to go against Catholic teaching and change their policies to allow applications from homosexual couples, after the coming into force on January 1st of the UK Government's new Sexual Orientation Regulation.

The legislation was passed in 2007, despite the fact that many religious adoption agencies said they would have to close. However, these agencies had a stay of execution until the 1st of January this year.

One Roman Catholic agency is to close down altogether. Opponents of the new law say these agencies will face crippling legal action if they do not close or accept homosexual couples as prospective adoptors.

However, some have pointed to exemptions in the Regulations and other laws protecting religious liberty. A number of agencies believe the law does allow them to operate in accordance with their religious ethos and are seeking alternative legal options.

The plight of faith-based adoption agencies caused a political storm in 2007 when Tony Blair gave them 21 months to prepare for the new laws.

The then Prime Minister was believed to be sympathetic to the difficulties faced by religious agencies. So too was Ruth Kelly, Communities Minister at the time. But other members of the cabinet were fiercely opposed to any exemption.

Speaking yesterday to BBC Radio Five Live, The Christian Institute’s Mike Judge said the current situation shows “how aggressive” the law is being towards faith-based adoption agencies.

“I think it is iconic of a situation where there is a clash between sexual orientation rights and religious rights. In almost every circumstance I’ve been aware of, religious rights have been seen to play second fiddle.”

Writing in May last year, Barrister Neil Addison warned against interpreting the Sexual Orientation Regulations too narrowly.

He wrote in the Catholic Herald: “The Church must, of course, obey the law. But I find it sad that the Church appears to be acquiescing in the most fundamentalist interpretations of the SORs when it could be questioning these interpretations and engaging in the process of deciding what the SORs really mean.

“The SORs cannot be looked at in isolation. You also have to consider human rights protections for religious belief, equality legislation prohibiting religious discrimination and, finally, the Adoption Act itself, which makes the welfare of the child the primary consideration.

“Many questions remained unanswered. For example, is a decision by a Catholic adoption agency only to approve adoption by married heterosexual partners a “homophobic” decision? Or can it be shown objectively to be in the best interests of children?

“Would a refusal by a local authority to approve a Catholic adoption agency be legal under religious discrimination law? And would a requirement that a Catholic agency approves single-sex parents be a breach of religious freedom protected by Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights?

“When you have such a cocktail of law and competing rights you have ample scope for legal argument, negotiation and compromise.”

The absence of fathers in the lives of children is set to cause “huge problems”, according to Brendan Dempsey, the southern regional president of the St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP).

Labour leader Eamon Gilmore has criticised attempts by the Government to ensure that the European Union does not decide sensitive social issues.

The number of divorces granted has risen by a third between 2000 and 2007 and by six per cent in 2007 compared with 2006, according to figures released by the Courts Service. The statistics, published in the latest issue of Family Law Matters and reported in The Irish Times showed that there were 3,684 divorces granted in 2007, compared with 3,467 in 2006.

Regular attendance at Mass and other religious services cuts the risk of death by nearly 20 per cent among women aged 50 to 79, according to new research from the US.

Pope Benedict's Christmas address to the Curia which dealt, among other things, with marriage and the differences between the sexes, has been badly misquoted in a series of media outlets which claim the Pope suggested that saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behaviour was just as important as saving the rainforest from destruction.

A ruling that a Christian registrar, Miss Lillian Ladele, had been discriminated against by her Council when she objected to registering same-sex civil partnerships has been quashed by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) in the UK.

Recapitalising familes "is an investment which comes with a guaranteed return", according to the Primate of All-Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady. In his Christmas message, the Cardinal said that, in order for future prosperity to built on more solid foundations, family and community life needed to be rebuilt.

The UK Government has admitted that children brought up within a marriage setting are better off than children brought up in cohabiting or single parent families.

Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire has put a moratorium on new holiday displays, after an atheist sign placed next to a nativity scene sparked a controversy.

An unmarried sperm donor father in the UK whose son was taken away by his lesbian mother during family court proceedings has been permitted to ask publicly for his safe return after restrictions on identifying the parties was lifted.

More than a third of Britons continue to believe in the virgin birth, according to new poll commissioned by Theos, the public theology think tank.