Traditionally Catholic Ireland has allowed an atheist group to perform weddings this year for the first time, and the few people certified to celebrate them are overwhelmed by hundreds of couples seeking their services.
Demand for the Humanist Association of Ireland's secular weddings has surged as the moral authority of the once almighty Catholic Church collapsed in recent decades amid sex abuse scandals and Irish society's rapid secularization.
Until now, those who did not want a religious wedding could have only civil ceremonies. Outside of the registrar's office, only clergy were permitted to perform weddings.
But statistics show rising demand for non-Church weddings. In 1996, 90 percent of Irish weddings were performed by the Catholic Church or the Church of Ireland. But by 2010 that percentage had fallen to 69 percent.
Cameroon said Russia had confirmed the deaths of 16 of its nationals who were killed while...
Israeli forces killed at least seven Palestinians in the Gaza Strip over the past day, including...
Saudi Arabia on Tuesday condemned the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem by Israel’s...
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held talks with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa during an official visit to...
