The so-called Italian Crucifix case has been challenged by the largest grouping of EU member states in the history of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg.
On Wednesday, the court held a public hearing on the appeal against its original ruling in the case of Lautsi v Italy, a case which caused outrage across Europe when it found in favour of Finnish national Ms Lautsi who, while resident in Italy, argued that the presence of crosses in classrooms breached her right to raise her children along secular lines.
As the appeal came before the court once again, no fewer than 10 member states were represented as third parties, a status which allows for active intervention in a case before the court through oral or written submissions.
According to the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ), which itself represented 79 Members of Parliament at the hearing: ''This is the largest number of member states intervening in the history of the court. The ECLJ is an international law firm focusing on the protection of human rights and religious freedom in Europe and worldwide.''
No final ruling had been handed down as The Irish Catholic went to press this week.
Vatican
Pope supports Belgian bishops
The Pope has issued a message of support for bishops in Belgium caught up in last week's police raids.
''I want to express to all the bishops of Belgium, my closeness and solidarity in this moment of sadness, in which, with certain surprising and deplorable methods, searches were carried out,'' the Pontiff wrote as the full extent of the police action became clear.
He added his hope ''that justice will follow its course while guaranteeing the rights of individuals and institutions, respecting the rights of victims [and] acknowledging those who undertake to collaborate with it''.
Though the police action has been condemned by the Vatican as heavy-handed and excessive, Belgium's justice minister insisted last weekend that proper procedures were followed and reports that detained bishops were denied food and water were ''false''.
Pope Benedict named Bishop Jozef De Kesel as the new bishop of Bruges last Friday. He will replace Bishop Roger Joseph Vangheluwe who stepped down upon admitting to having sexually abused a minor.
New body for evangelisation
Pope Benedict has announced the establishment of a pontifical council for new evangelisation towards renewing the Faith in regions affected by secularism.
During a prayer service at the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls this week, the Pontiff said: ''I have decided to create a new organism, in the form of a pontifical council, with the principal task of promoting a renewed evangelisation in the countries where the first proclamation of faith has already resounded and where there are churches of ancient foundation present, but which are living through a progressive secularisation of society and a kind of 'eclipse of the sense of God'.''
The mission of the new council, the Pope added would be ''to re-propose the perennial truth of the Gospel''.
Schonborn remarks
The Vatican has taken Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna to task for his recent comments arising from abuse scandals in the Church.
Specifically, the Vatican pointed to the cardinal's accusation against Cardinal Angelo Sodano that he had blocked an abuse investigation and offended victims by referring to their claims as ''petty gossip''.
''It should be remembered that in the Church, when there are accusations against a cardinal, the competence rests solely with the Pope; others may have an advisory role, always with the proper respect for the person,'' a statement from the Vatican said, following a private meeting between Cardinal Schonborn and the Pope. That meeting, the statement explained, allowed for discussion of the cardinal's comments as well as ''some aspects of current Church discipline''.
Pakistan
Blasphemy arrest
The Catholic bishops in the country have protested against the latest use of blasphemy laws to target a Christian. Describing the police action against Rehmat Masih of Faisalabad as a ''strike [against] religious minority groups'', the bishops said ''the government of Pakistan must wake up and shoulder its responsibilities, at both the legal and the political level, and explain why this law is allowed to harass and abuse innocent Pakistani citizens''.
Masih was arrested following allegations that he had made blasphemous remarks about the prophet Mohammed. Neighbours pointed out that Masih's accuser was in a dispute with him about money.
Anti-Islam internet watch
Officials in the country are set to block internet sites deemed disrespectful to Islam.
In addition to the action against 17 sites, authorities have announced a project to monitor the internet for anti-Islamic content.
Some of the most well-known names of the internet are set to be targeted in the surveillance move, including Yahoo, Google, MSN, Hotmail, YouTube, Amazon and Bing. Previously, Facebook was temporarily blocked in May amid allegations of inciting blasphemy against the prophet Mohammed.
Afghanistan
Death urged for converts
A politician has demanded the death penalty for converts from Islam.
The call, by Abdul Sattar Khawasi, a deputy of the lower house of parliament, is reported to have resulted in the arrests of 20 Afghan Christians.
Mr Khawasi made his comments having seen images on a local television channel of Afghans being baptised.
''Those Afghans that appeared in this video film should be executed in public, the house should order the attorney general and the NDS (intelligence agency) to arrest these Afghans and execute them,'' he said.
Britain
Papal update for beatification
The beatification ceremony for Cardinal John Henry Newman has been scaled back, according to reports in the religious press. Originally set for Coventry airport, which would have seen a potential 200,000 attendees, a new site at Cofton Park in Birmingham has been earmarked for the event, reducing numbers to 80,000.
