Nova Scotia’s supreme court in Canada has decided in favour of Trinity Western University law school in a controversy it had with the state’s Barristers’ society. The latter was barring students who graduate from the Christian university from practising law in Nova Scotia.

The reason given was that the law school was criticised by some homosexual activists because it has a code of conduct that forbids sexual activity outside of marriage between a man and a woman.

The supreme court ruled that the law school graduates are permitted to practice law in Nova Scotia.

Justice Jamie Campbell wrote in his sentence that “people have the right to attend a private religious university that imposes a religiously based code of conduct”. He added: “That is the case even if the effect of that code is to exclude others or offend others who will not or cannot comply with the code of conduct.”

Cosmetic surgery compared to burka

A new Vatican document on women is critical of cosmetic non-therapeutic plastic surgery, condemning it an “aggression” against the female body, adding that it is “like a burqa made of flesh”. The report was published on the Crux website.

The rising popularity of cosmetic surgery, the document says, may reflect an unhealthy attitude, “a refusal of the body”. The same attitude, the document suggests, may contribute to problems such as depression and eating disorders that affect women disproportionately.

The document was drafted by a group of 15 Italian female consultants to the Pontifical Council for Culture. It will be discussed at a meeting of the council that will be studying the role of women in the Church and in society.

The council also released a video aimed at crowd sourcing. The video, featuring actress Nancy Brilli, asked women to contribute a 60-second clip of their lives to be broadcast at the meeting. At a press conference in Rome on Monday, the president of the council admitted that a video produced by his office on the role of women had been withdrawn due to the criticism it had received.

But Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Culture Council, said he pulled the English version of the video after receiving complaints from both liberal and conservative prelates, who saw the video as promoting a frivolous notion of what constitutes the feminility.

Pope’s February prayer intentions

The Vatican has announced the prayer intentions of Pope Francis for February.

The Pope’s general intention for February is that prisoners, especially the young, may be able to rebuild lives of dignity.

His intention for evangelisation is that married people who are separated may find welcome and support in the Christian community.

Permission to build Christian churches

Three new building permits for Catholic churches have been issued by the government of the Egyptian President Abd al-Sisi.

Egyptan bishops spokesman Fr Rafic Greiche said such permits were never granted during the rule of former president Hosni Mubarak, nor under the government dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood.

In some cases the permit application had been filed over 10 years ago. Greiche told Asia News service .

The news agency also reported that the Egyptian Parliament is to work on a law to renew the process of approving new houses of worship. The government invited Christian leaders to help draft the rules.

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)

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