The 6-3 decision marks the Court's first major ruling on the legality of such laws and hands a significant victory Photo: AP Foto/Jose Luis Magana

Ireland: adult baptisms on the rise, a hopeful sign of a renewing church

Two decades ago, Dublin was a city of 1.1 million, with 90 percent identifying as Catholic. Today, its population has swelled to 1.6 million, but only 66 percent still claim the Catholic label. The intervening years were marked by public disillusionment, catalyzed by clerical abuse reports, government-backed social reforms such as abortion and same-sex marriage legalization, and a broader cultural shift away from institutional religion.