The world’s oldest mother, who conceived at 66 through anonymous sperm and egg donations has died, leaving her twin sons orphaned, according to a report in the London Times. The news has sparked fresh controversy over fertility treatment for older women.

Mounting equality laws have made Britain a “cold place for Christians”, according to a senior Bishop.

Minister Dermot Ahern has said that he doesn't “bring whatever religion I have to the table” when he is legislating.

Teenagers should be told “an orgasm a day keeps the doctor away”, according to a new booklet produced by the British health service, the NHS.

Knowledge of the Bible in England and Wales is declining, with many ignorant of its most significant characters and events, according to a new survey.

The National Biblical Literacy Survey 2009 found that while most people own Bibles, only five per cent could name all the Ten Commandments and 62 per cent didn’t know the parable of the prodigal son.

Researchers from Durham University polled more than 900 people, from faith and non-faith backgrounds, at various locations throughout England and Wales.

The study, which was funded by a consortium of national churches, charitable trusts and Bible agencies, found Bible knowledge declining among under-45s.

Only one in 20 people could name all Ten Commandments, while 16 per cent couldn’t name any.

Sixty per cent couldn’t say anything about the Good Samaritan, while 57 per cent knew nothing about Joseph and his brothers.

However, three quarters of respondents said they owned a Bible and 31 per cent said the Bible was significant in their lives today.

Over-45s fared best in the survey. Three quarters of over-45s were able to supply accurate information about Samson and Delilah, compared to just half of under-45s.

Similarly, while 12 per cent of over-45s knew nothing about the feeding of the 5000, for under-45s the figure was 33 per cent.

Younger interviewees told researchers that they considered the Bible old fashioned and irrelevant.

They said they associated the Bible with media caricatures like Dot Cotton – the out-of-touch church-goer in the BBC’s Eastenders soap.

Reverend Brian D Brown, a Methodist minister and Visiting Fellow in Media and Communication at St John’s College, Durham University, said: “We can no longer take it for granted that Bible stories which are part of our national heritage, and many assume are learned from the cradle, are known by the majority.

However, Revd Brown said that “all was not doom and gloom”. He pointed out that 75 per cent of respondents knew about Moses and almost 70 per cent could talk about Judas.

He added: “Many respondents said they still turn to the Bible for support and guidance at key moments.

“The Bible remains a hot topic of interest and there was an unexpected willingness of respondents to give over half-an-hour of their time to be interviewed on sensitive personal issues such as the Bible and religion.

“This counters the prevailing view that people are unwilling to talk about religion and faith.”

In February Poet Laureate Andrew Motion said during an interview that children should be taught more about the Bible because it is an “essential piece of cultural luggage”.

Mr Motion, an atheist, said too many students now arrive at university to study English Literature with scant knowledge of its deeply biblical foundations.

Commenting on his experience of teaching students, he said: “When I ask them anything about the Bible, they frankly, by and large, don’t know. I don’t particularly blame them for it.

“But I do think there is a real problem with the education system that has allowed these great stories to disappear, to fade out of the diet everyone gets at school.”

UK couples thinking about a divorce should be required by law to have a three month "cooling off" period to get more information as to what divorce involves financially and emotionally according to a new family law report.

The number of adopted children in the UK who have been returned to care homes because their new parents cannot cope with them has doubled in the past five years, according to a report in the London Times.

The US state of Massachusetts, which has legalised same-sex marriage, is suing the federal government over the Defence of Marriage Act.

An attempt to repeal a law protecting the right of Britons to criticise homosexuality has been defeated in the House of Lords.

Promoting marriage is a “social and economic necessity,” Pope Benedict says in his latest encyclical, Caritas in Veritate.

Scientists in Newcastle have created artificial sperm in a laboratory for the first time, sparking major ethical concerns.

A UK Government-backed project designed to curb teenage pregnancies has seen them rise instead, according to new figures.

A Canadian Catholic school has been refused permission to to continue teaching its own Catholic-centered religion course.

Education Minister Batt O’Keefe has said he “is not certain” whether Archbishop Diarmuid Martin and Bishop Leo O’Reilly, the Chair of the Hierarchy’s Education Commission, are “in unison” on the issue of the future of Catholic schools.

The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) have again called for children to be allowed to access child support and child protection services without their parents consent.

Only 12 per cent of children in the UK are now baptised, and there has also been a collapse in the number of Church weddings, a leading Church of England bishop has warned.

Catholic schools in England and Wales have displayed “a commitment to standards but also a commitment to wellbeing, to supporting the wider cultural and spiritual and moral development of children,” the UK's Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families has said.

The continuing rise in the number of children being born outside marriage has been described as “alarming” by The Iona Institute.