Religion News Australia

April 10 – 17, 2022

Religion news stories from Australia

(Research: Greg Spearritt)

 

ABUSE

$100m paid out to child sexual abuse victims in schools, churches (Brisbane Times)
Apr 16 – More than $100 million has been paid out to victims of institutional child sexual abuse in Queensland, amid more than 13,000 national applications for redress.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Wayside Bride review – a loving tribute to an Australian religious rebel (The Guardian, Australia)
Apr 16 – The late Australian Rev Ted Noffs, nominally Methodist, embraced the rich kaleidoscope of chaos that comes with championing the discarded and downtrodden.

INTERNATIONAL STORIES
Religious Violence

Violence erupts at Al-Aqsa mosque between Palestinian protesters and Israeli riot police in Jerusalem (ABC News)
Apr 16 – At least 152 Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli riot police inside Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Friday (local time), the latest outbreak in a recent surge in violence that has raised fears of a slide back to wider conflict.

Also: Clashes at al-Aqsa mosque injure 150 (The Australian)
Apr 17 – The Al-Aqsa mosque compound in east Jerusalem was the scene of clashes on Friday between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli police that left more than 150 wounded.

Third night of unrest in Sweden over far-right anti-Islam rally (The Guardian, Australia)
Apr 17 – Southern Sweden saw another night of unrest on Saturday over plans by an anti-Islam far-right political party to burn a Qur’an among other things.

Other

Rwanda plan is ‘against the judgment of God’, says archbishop (The Guardian, Australia)
Apr 17 – Boris Johnson’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda does not “stand the judgment of God,” according to the archbishop of Canterbury.

‘Jesus loves me and my boyfriend’: how one gay-friendly town repelled homophobic protesters (The Guardian, Australia)
Apr 17 – Jake Hamlin lives within earshot of a group of protesters who have set up on the main street in downtown Guerneville, California, for the past several weeks.

‘A sacred responsibility’: Yurok Tribe poised to return condors to the skies (The Guardian, Australia)
Apr 17 – Tucked among tall redwood trees in a remote part of northern California, four young California condors await their chance to take to the skies.

POLITICS

Christian lobby fires first shot in campaign at MPs who crossed floor on religion (Sydney Morning Herald)
Apr 16 – The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) has fired the opening shot in a campaign targeting rebel Liberal MPs who crossed the floor to amend the federal government’s religious discrimination bill.

Large dose of politics in Sydney and Melbourne on holy day (Sydney Morning Herald)
Apr 16 – Jesus Christ drove the money lenders from the temple.

Zoe Daniel apologises to Jewish community over comments about Israel, Hitler (The Age, Melbourne)
Apr 16 – Zoe Daniel, the independent candidate for the seat of Goldstein, has been forced to apologise for a series of comments made by her and members of her team that Jewish community leaders deemed offensive.

PM seeks second coming of a miracle (The Australian)
Apr 16 – Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg both had plenty to pray about as they walked side by side into a synagogue in East Melbourne for a Passover service.

RELIGION & SOCIETY

Out of the ‘muck’ and uncertainty, the Easter message offers hope (Sydney Morning Herald)
Apr 16 – (Opinion: Anna Patty)  Rick Hall’s parishioners at St Peter’s Anglican Church in Richmond live in a community whose faith in the future has been shaken by floods, a pandemic and bushfires

Long live the difference: this Easter I can mark our faith’s triumph over racism (Sydney Morning Herald)
Apr 16 – (Opinion: Sarah Ayoub) Almost 15 years ago, while sitting in a meeting among some church volunteers, a white Roman Catholic priest opined that the Maronites were taking over the Catholic Church in Australia.

Christianity’s power lights way in war-torn Ukraine (The Australian)
Apr 16 – (Opinion: Greg Sheridan ) In a time of darkness, the teachings of Jesus still offer a vision of hope amid the despair.

Religious groups that follow Jesus must push to end the exploitation of others for power and profit (The Guardian, Australia)
Apr 16 – (Opinion: Brad Chilcott) Leaders whose driving purpose is centred in the pursuit of solidarity, inclusion, equity and the common good are those we should celebrate.

Hillsong after the Houstons (The Saturday Paper)
Apr 16 – With founder Brian Houston resigning from Hillsong amid scandal and allegations, and his wife, Bobbie, being pushed out, the global megachurch is now facing its own day of reckoning. By Rick Morton.

This year, the Easter tradition of Ukrainian pysanky eggs is ‘more important than ever’ (ABC News)
Apr 17 – In Ukraine, where churches lie in ruins and the invading Russian army has been accused of war crimes, Easter in 2022 will be a sombre affair.

Easter’s hardest question: How can we forgive even the most heinous of crimes? (ABC News)
Apr 17 – (Opinion: Stan Grant) The Native American poet Diane Glancy writes: “It is a fragile gate, the opening of faith.”

Archbishop urges non-believers to engage with Easter message (Sydney Morning Herald)
Apr 17 – Sydney’s Anglican archbishop says the pandemic has led many people who had drifted away from religious practice to reconnect with the church as they search for meaning and a sense of community after two isolating and anxious years.

‘The news hit me full force’: How a former monk handled a deadly diagnosis (Sydney Morning Herald)
Apr 17 – A diagnosis of an incurable disease forces a former Buddhist monk to face a core belief: that life is impermanent.

‘Episodes of doubt’: A frank talk about God, Easter and 60 years as a priest (Sydney Morning Herald)
Apr 17 – (Opinion: Peter FitzSimons) Monsignor Tony Doherty, the former dean of St Mary’s Cathedral and the director of the papal tour of 1995, will chalk up 60 years as a Catholic priest next year.

Religious or not, Easter proves we need more ‘holy days’ (Sydney Morning Herald)
Apr 17 – (Opinion: Justine Toh) It’s very hard to make the case for more, not less, Christianity in public life. Except when it comes to public holidays.

Religious and cultural holidays combine for super weekend of festivities (The Age, Melbourne)
Apr 17 – While Melburnians observe Ramadan, Easter and Passover this weekend, there will also be a significant cultural celebration at the Wat Thai Nakorn temple in Mont Albert.

Easter offers no escape from our responsibility for climate change (The Age, Melbourne)
Apr 17 – (Opinion: Ross Gittins) Easter is a good time to look up from the daily business of life – getting and spending – and think harder about what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.