Religion News Australia 2016 - 38 (Oct 2

Religion News Australia 2016 - 38 (Oct 2 - 9)

(08 October 16)
by Greg Spearritt

Religion News Australia

October 2 - 9, 2016

Religion news stories from Australia

(Research: Greg Spearritt)

abuse / anglican church / arts & entertainment / education / international stories / religion & society

ABUSE

'It felt sincere': Jewish child abuse survivor Manny Waks offered apology (ABC News)
Oct 3 - Australian child abuse survivor Manny Waks has received a formal apology from the Jewish centre he attended as a child, and says there are positive changes happening in the ultra-orthodox community.

Cardinal Pell associate banned from preaching in Ireland over abuse allegations (Brisbane Times)
Oct 8 - A controversial Melbourne priest and close associate of Cardinal George Pell has been banned from ministering in Ireland for committing an act of sexual abuse that senior Australian church figures have dismissed as simply a "breach of his vow of celibacy".

ANGLICAN CHURCH

When the Anglican church can’t follow its own code (Sydney Morning Herald)
Oct 8 – (Opinion: Elizabeth Farrelly) Most Australians are as unsurprised by skullduggery in the church as by double-dealing in government.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

My Scientology Movie review – Louis Theroux gets smart with the cult church (The Guardian, Australia)
Oct 7 - The Church of Scientology is a deeply strange organisation and, appropriately enough, Louis Theroux has made a strange film about it.

Messiah complex: Greg Semu recreates the theatre of Christ's death (Sydney Morning Herald)
Oct 8 - Portraying the body of Christ is hungry work.

Catholic girls and unholy trinity (The Australian)
Oct 8 - It sounds like every parent’s nightmare: a group of Catholic schoolgirls let loose in the big city.

EDUCATION

Revealed: multimillion-dollar surpluses of Australia's most overfunded private schools (Sydney Morning Herald)
Oct 8 - Some of Australia's wealthiest private schools are running multimillion-dollar surpluses with the help of excess taxpayer funding, prompting fresh calls for the Turnbull government to tackle inequalities in the education system.

NSW principal outrages parents by using 'inappropriate, offensive' image during speech (Sydney Morning Herald)
Oct 9 - The principal of a NSW Catholic school has come under fire for using an "inappropriate and offensive" image during a speech to high school graduates and their families.

INTERNATIONAL STORIES

Anglican Church

Desmond Tutu: I want right to end my life through assisted dying (The Guardian, Australia)
Oct 8 - Desmond Tutu has said he would like the option of ending his life through assisted dying as he called on politicians, lawmakers and religious leaders to take action on the issue.

Catholic Church

Pope expedites sainthood for slain priest Father Jacques Hamel (Brisbane Times)
Oct 3 - Paris: Pope Francis has put a French priest knifed to death at his altar by Islamist militants in July on the fast track to possible sainthood, the Archbishop of Rouen Dominique Lebrun says.

Islam

Mike Pence backtracks on Donald Trump's proposal to ban Muslims (The Age, Melbourne)
Oct 8 - The Trump campaign appeared to disavow one of its most provocative policy proposals on Thursday, as Governor Mike Pence of Indiana said explicitly that Donald Trump no longer wants to impose a temporary ban on Muslim immigration to the United States.

Judaism

Philippines' leader apologises to Jewish community after Hitler remarks (ABC News)
Oct 3 - Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has apologised "profoundly and deeply" to the Jewish community, and said his references to the Holocaust while discussing his war on drugs were intended to hit back at critics.

Religious Violence

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and three other IS commanders poisoned by assassin (news.com.au)
Oct 4 - ISLAMIC State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is at death’s door after being poisoned by a mystery assassin in Iraq, it has been reported.

Thailand peace talks shaky as insurgents continue to kill, detonate bombs (ABC News)
Oct 4 - Sitting in a darkened room, the former insurgent says he has lost count of how many bombs he has helped make, but it is well over 100.

IS end ‘to set loose militants’ (The Australian)
Oct 7 - Militants are expected to flood the international system following the likely collapse of the IS caliphate.

UN Syria envoy urges jihadists (The Australian)
Oct 8 - The UN envoy to Syria has offered personally to escort jihadist fighters out of the besieged city of Aleppo.

Other

Thousands of black-clad Poles protest abortion ban proposal (ABC News)
Oct 4 - Thousands of Poles dressed in black have marched through city streets in Poland, closing down government offices, restaurants and other businesses in protest against a petition for a total ban

RELIGION & SOCIETY

Marriage equality: Christian lobby backs legal help for businesses refusing gay couples (The Guardian, Australia)
Oct 5 - An organisation founded by the Australian Christian Lobby plans to bankroll legal cases for business owners who refuse to provide services to gay couples should marriage equality be legalised.