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New video: Religious practice reduces 'death from despair'
https://www.bitchute.com/video/uIYlaDxIU0xK/

French and German judges rule against Covid-bans on public worship https://ionainstitute.ie/french-and-german-judges-rule-against-covid-bans-on-public-worship/

Ireland will be one of the last countries in Europe to restore public worship https://ionainstitute.ie/ireland-will-be-one-of-the-last-countries-in-europe-to-restore-public-worship/

Jordan Peterson - Noah | J B P W A V E | VISUAL | MEANINGWAVE | Akira Th... https://youtu.be/BJHEaWfpFqA

CW Long post

How religious sisters are the real founders of modern nursing

We suffer from a big case of historical amnesia when it comes to the massive and positive Christian contribution to society down the ages. We are deluged by news of scandals, but the good news is left out.

This week, for example, we celebrated International Nurses’ Day, which coincides with the birthday of Florence Nightingale. It was mentioned at Tuesday’s press briefing headed by Dr Tony Holohan. Nightingale is regarded as a founder of modern nursing after she became famous for her work during the Crimean War of the 1850s (See picture). What has been largely forgotten is that she took inspiration from the works of medical nuns, who are really the founders of modern nursing. In fact, she has a strong connection both to the Mercy Sisters here in Ireland, and with the Religious Sisters of Charity and St Vincent's hospital, which they have just handed over to a trust.

For centuries, the monasteries had offered medical and nursing services but with the Reformation, and particularly after King Henry VIII closed them down in 1536, this tradition was practically lost in England and Ireland.

During the Crimean War (1854-56) it became evident that while the French soldiers were being attended by the French Sisters of Charity, the British troops had no equivalent assistance. And this is when Florence Nightingale, who had observed nursing from the Sisters of Charity in France and Egypt, re-established a proper professional service for them. Among the small initial group that served the Scutari hospital in Crimea led by her there were ten Catholic nuns and ten Anglican nuns, plus about ten lay-women.

When the British War Office was looking for skilled nurses, it found them mostly among the Irish Sisters of Mercy operating in London. They were the first to depart for the Crimea and, when on their way, they were met by Florence Nightingale, with a second group of nurses. Nightingale became their director, in spite of the fact that she was less experienced than the nuns.

One of them was Mary Clare Moore, who had joined the Sisters of Mercy at their foundation. When in 1832 the first cholera epidemic hit Dublin, Mary Clare Moore worked along with Catherine McAuley, the founders of the Sisters of Mercy, and received an intensive nursing training. She continued to assist the poor in the tenements and workhouses of Dublin and London, and she brought her professional experience to Crimea when she joined Florence Nightingale in 1854 and together went to Scutari.

The two worked in concert and when Mary Clare had to return to England due to illness, Florence wrote to her: “You were far above me in fitness for the General Superintendency, both in worldly talent of administration, and far more in the spiritual qualifications which God values in a superior.”

The Irish nun was a great source of inspiration for Florence Nightingale and they remained intimate friends for the rest of their lives. There were other Sisters of Mercy operating in Crimea with the British troops.

When Mother Vincent Whitty, the superior at Baggot Street, responded to the call for nurses by the British War Office, she wrote: “We know it must be difficult, if not impossible, to procure for our country- men engaged as soldiers in the East, the skilful nurses speaking their own language and sympathising with their habits and feelings, and that care and attention in a strange land which would be so well supplied at home.

“Attendance on the sick, as you are aware, is part of the work of our Institute, and sad experience amongst the poor has convinced us that even with the advantages of medical aid, many valuable lives are lost for want of careful nursing.”

The tradition of “careful nursing” the Sisters of Mercy belong to, goes back to the beginning of Christianity. The first Christian woman recorded as dedicating herself to the care of the sick was Phoebe, mentioned by Saint Paul to his letter to the Romans.

A Roman noblewoman, Fabiola, a Christian, is recorded as having founded the first civilian hospital in the history of the Roman Empire in the 4th century.

This tradition lasted for centuries and it was reestablished in Ireland by the works of Catherine McAuley and her congregation, but also of Mary Aikenhead and her Irish Sisters of Charity, who set up the first hospital run by nuns in the English speaking world, in 1834, namely St Vincent’s hospital, which was originally on St Stephen’s Green in Dublin and later moved to Blackrock. The Sisters have now relinquished control of the hospital to a trust.

It is this tradition that Florence Nightingale relied on and, in celebrating her achievements, we should also remember the nuns who preceded her. They are the real mothers of modern nursing.

(Dr Therese C. Mehaan, who has formed generations of nurses in UCD, runs the website Careful Nursing , containing interesting articles on the history of this profession and its Christian roots. Much of this article is drawn from that).

How religious sisters are the real founders of modern medicine https://ionainstitute.ie/how-religious-sisters-are-the-real-founders-of-modern-medicine/

The grim reality of surrogacy in Ukraine.

https://ionainstitute.ie/the-grim-reality-of-surrogacy-in-ukraine/

CW long post

Religious practice reduces ‘deaths from despair’

A new study from Harvard University has found that the frequent attendance of religious services dramatically reduces so-called ‘deaths from despair’, such as suicide, and drug or alcohol abuse. This finding seems more relevant than ever given the current pandemic that has resulted in untold job losses and a very uncertain future for many people. Economic slumps are always associated with a rise in ‘deaths from despair’, so if religion acts as a protective against this, then we need to pay attention.

The study followed a large cohort of more than 100,000 health care professionals in the US, over a long period of time (1999 -2016).

The investigators started with the hypothesis that a weakening in traditional social support systems such as marriage and the family, leads to an increasing sense of hopelessness in many, leading in turn to a rise in “deaths of despair”.

One of the leading examples of such a weakened support system is the decline in religious participation, and therefore the investigators wanted to establish the link between despair and the declining attendance of religious services.

They found that nurses and physicians who attend a religious service at least weekly are less likely to die as a result of suicide or drug or alcohol abuse than their peers who do not attend.

The incidence of ‘deaths from despair’ among health professionals is more than double that of the general population, as a result of stress and trauma, but among those who attend a religious service at least once a week it drops by 68pc among women, and 33pc among men.

As the educational attainment of health professionals is higher than the average, despair in them is associated more with factors such as loss in meaning in life, rather than material deprivation.

Religion often fosters a sense of peace and positive outlook to life, it promotes social connectedness and encourages engagement in prosocial activities, such volunteering. “In the context of trauma, such resources may provide healthy stress-coping strategies and revive a sense of meaning in difficult times and thereby counteract various processes associated with despair.”, the study claims.

This is something to be pondered, particularly in the current difficult times when the general populations is experiencing unusual stress and trauma.

Even if churches are closed for public worship, people are still praying. A poll commissioned by the Iona Institute found that in Ireland 18pc said that they are praying more than they usually would.

Another new poll commissioned by Tearfund, a Christian relief and development agency and a member of the Disasters’ Emergency Committee, found that in the UK one in twenty (5pc) adults say they have started praying during the lockdown but they didn’t pray before.

Eighteen percent of UK adults have asked someone else to say a prayer for them and 19% say they have read a religious text during lockdown. Prayer is a vital part of life for the public, and among those who pray a third say that they have prayed since the COVID-19 lockdown because they believe it makes a difference.

There is a solid body of evidence highlighting the benefit of religion for mental health and the new Harvard study confirms that.

Professor Patricia Casey produced for the Iona Institute a paper called “The Psycho-Social Benefits of Religious Practice”, showing how a large number of scientific papers have established that religious practice reduces the risk of depression, suicide, marital breakdown, alcohol and drug abuse, pregnancy among teenagers. It also helps cope with bereavement effects.

Worship is, for those who believe, a source of consolation and hope, strength and motivation. A church is also a place where they can experience the support of a community and are encouraged to engage in activities that are useful to themselves and to others.

This new Harvard study shows that believers often respond better to the struggles of life, and it brings further evidence to fact that both their religious beliefs and the enhanced social connection that worshiping involves, are good for our health. This is something that secularists often forget.

Religious practice reduces ‘deaths from despair’ https://ionainstitute.ie/religious-practice-reduces-deaths-from-despair/

New video: How religious practice is adapting to the lockdown. #Ibitchute https://www.bitchute.com/video/AfWNJUg2J5jR/

New law takes an axe to the natural ties https://ionainstitute.ie/new-law-takes-an-axe-to-the-natural-ties/