“When we attempt as Church to speak in the public sphere about the right to life of the unborn, some are quick to point to the scandals and to shameful stories of the past.”

“The demand for Catholic schools is strong. The demand for other forms of patronage is growing. The process of diversification is still too slow.”

Church delegation highlights the need to respect the right of faith-based groups to provide services in accordance with their religious ethos and values.

Baptising children simply to be able to attend a specific school is an abuse of baptism Archbishop Diarmuid Martin warns.

“We have Catholic schools because parents want them. It is parents who must insist that the religious ethos of our schools is respected and not abandoned.”

Northern bishops highlight how motion was "completely silent" on the "vital issue" of respect for individual religious conscience and protections for Churches.

Confirmation often appears like a “pre-fabricated cultural package of Irish heritage we are born into" to be discarded later in life as part of our throwaway culture.