Europe

The General Synod of the Church of Ireland has passed a motion upholding marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

The motion, passed on Saturday, affirms Canon 31, which states that marriage is "a union permanent and lifelong, for better or worse, till death do them part, of one man with one woman, to the exclusion of all others on either side, for the procreation and nurture of children, for the hallowing and right direction of the natural instincts and affections, and for the mutual society, help and comfort which the one ought to have of the other, both in prosperity and adversity."

The Synod, which met at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, agreed that the Church recognized "no other understanding of marriage." more >>

The organizers of a marriage conference in Britain have been told they can no longer hold the event on their regular hired premises because they support the biblical definition of marriage as between one man and one woman.

The Law Society in England has revoked its permission for "Christian Concern" to hold the conference on its premises saying that the event would breach its "diversity policy" due to the Christian group's religious beliefs that there should be no redefinition of marriage to include same-sex couples.

In an email to Christian Concern, the Law Society's Adam Tallis said the event was "contrary to our diversity policy, espousing as it does an ethos which is opposed to same-sex marriage." more >>

A Vatican newspaper has suggested that abortion providers who terminate ill fetuses and proponents of euthanasia are using the same arguments in their defense as did Nazi Germany in its eugenics program of mass extermination.

The article, which appeared on the front page of the L'Osservatore Romano on May 5, is signed by Lucetta Scaraffia, an Italian historian and contributor to the Vatican newspaper. As the piece reveals, the Nazis' ideas of eugenics, which is a theory that suggests those terminally ill or disabled should be left to die while the strong ones survive, was marked down in a book by two German scholars, Karl Binding and Alfred Hoche, more than a decade before the Nazis took power.

The 1920 book, Allowing the Destruction of Life Unworthy of Living, proposes that those deemed unfit to survive should be given a "charitable death." more >>

Francois Hollande won about 52 percent of the vote and defeated President Nicolas Sarkozy in Sunday's presidential runoff, dominated by the eurozone crisis and unemployment, to become the first socialist leaders of France in more than one and a half decade.

"Europe is watching us," Bloomberg quoted Hollande as saying in his victory speech in Tulle Sunday night. "Austerity isn't inevitable. My mission now is to give European construction a growth dimension."

Hollande said many people had been waiting for that moment for many years. "Others, younger, have never known such a time. ... I am proud to be capable to bring about hope again," added the president-elect, who will need to deal with a stagnant economy, growing joblessness and a rising debt. more >>

Vladimir Putin, Russia's divisive former president and former prime minister, was sworn in as the federation's president again Monday, amid renewed protests and less than 24 hours after hundreds were arrested in Moscow Sunday.

The newly-minted president moved through sparsely populated Moscow streets in a motorcade, amid heavy security presence, before heading to the inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin State Palace. An estimated 2,000 guests participated in the festivities, including Putin's predecessor, Dmitry Medvedev, Patriarch Kirill, head of Russia's powerful Orthodox Church, and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Putin, president of Russia for a third time, will hold office for the next six years. As observers have noted, the former KGB agent has also indicated that he may run for a fourth term once his current presidency is through -- which means Putin, 59, could legally remain in power until 2024. more >>

The government of the former Soviet nation of Georgia is nearing its goal of raising the country's birth rate to secure its future thanks to the patriarch of the Orthodox Church who is now the godfather of 11,000 children, including 400 babies baptized on Sunday.

Orthodox Christian families having two children are now choosing to have a third or fourth child since Patriarch Ilia II began mass baptisms in 2008 with a pledge to become the godfather of them all.

Parents of 400 babies who were baptized Sunday in a ceremony presided over by the patriarch in the capital city of Tbilisi said they could decide to have more children only because of their spiritual leader's assurance, The Associated Press reported. more >>