Religion News Australia

June 5 – 12, 2022

Religion news stories from Australia

(Research: Greg Spearritt)

 

ABUSE

Melbourne principal stood down over sexual offence charges (The Age, Melbourne)
June 11 – The principal of Catholic secondary school Loyola College has been stood down after being charged over alleged sexual offences.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

These women became unlikely outlaws. Their story couldn’t be more timely (Sydney Morning Herald)
June 9 – When directors Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes started work on this emotional documentary in 2018, they probably never imagined the fight at the centre of the film – this historic fight for access to legal abortions – would again be an issue just four years later.

INTERNATIONAL STORIES
Islam

Indian government in the eye of a diplomatic storm after hate remarks about Prophet (ABC News)
June 6 – India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has suspended its spokeswoman, Nupur Sharma, after comments she made during a TV debate about the Prophet Mohammed.

Also: Muslim nations rip into India over insulting remarks about Islam (Sydney Morning Herald)
June 7 – Delhi: India is facing major diplomatic outrage from Muslim-majority countries after top officials in the governing Hindu nationalist party made derogatory references to Islam and the Prophet Muhammad, drawing accusations of blasphemy across some Arab nations that have left New Delhi struggling to contain the damaging fallout.

Also: Thousands of Pakistanis protest against India over remarks denigrating the Prophet (ABC News)
June 10 – Thousands of Pakistanis have rallied — and briefly scuffled with police — in their nation’s capital over recent remarks by two officials from India’s ruling party that were derogatory to the Prophet Muhammad.

Other

Sherlock Holmes didn’t go in for ghosts — but Arthur Conan Doyle had other ideas (ABC News)
June 9 – In January 1924, London’s Strand Magazine published a detective story that contained [a] scathing assault on the idea of the living dead.

A baby vanished after her parents’ murder in 1980. She’s been found alive (Sydney Morning Herald)
June 11 – Washington: Months after family members stopped hearing from Tina Gail Linn Clouse and Harold Dean Clouse jnr in late 1980, a German shepherd discovered a decomposed arm in eastern Harris County, Texas, and brought it home.

ISLAM

Islamic State devotee who helped wannabe terrorist could be free in months (The Age, Melbourne)
June 11 – A radicalised young Melbourne woman who helped a wannabe terrorist in his plan to fight for Islamic State could be free from prison within three months despite not having renounced her past devotion to an extreme ideology.

JUDAISM

Former Brighton Secondary student ‘didn’t feel safe’, court hears (Sydney Morning Herald)
June 9 – A former Brighton Secondary College student said he “didn’t feel safe” to be Jewish at the school and was no longer proud of who he was, a court heard on Thursday.

POLITICS

‘Don’t ignore us’: Faith leaders demand quick action on religious freedoms (Sydney Morning Herald)
June 9 – Faith leaders have urged the new Labor government to move quickly to introduce legislation outlawing religious discrimination rather than let the issue languish until the last minute as it did under Scott Morrison.

RELIGION & SOCIETY

‘I’ve seen it destroy lives’: Haas wants to remove gambling, booze ads from jersey (Sydney Morning Herald)
June 7 – Payne Haas has flagged his intention to remove alcohol and gambling advertising from his jerseys in the future on religious grounds.

Gate opens for terror accused (The Australian)
June 9 – High Court decision effectively opens legal door for up to 20 more convicted or suspected IS fighters.

Gay conversion survivor warns unless Tasmania bans it outright, ‘treatment’ could take off (ABC News)
June 10 – When Chris Csabs was around 12 years old, he overheard a conversation between two men at his church, recalling a time when a gay man came in off the street for prayer.

Religious fraudster jailed for stealing $2.7m from worshipper and gambling it away at casino (ABC News)
June 10 – A 42-year-old man who defrauded a fellow member of a Perth religious community out of $2.7 million and gambled most of it away has been sentenced to six years and nine months in jail.

NSW to create religious advisory council as part of multicultural funding boost (Sydney Morning Herald)
June 10 – The NSW government will set up a specialist council to advise on safety concerns around churches and mosques and engage with multi-faith communities after the pandemic underscored the importance of closing cultural divides in Sydney.

Do faith workers need a holy alliance? (ABC News)
June 12 – The life of a faith worker can be a lonely one.