Religion News Australia
September 11 – 18, 2022
Religion news stories from Australia
(Research: Greg Spearritt)
ANGLICAN CHURCH
Neighbouring Anglican churches go in different directions after church sell off (ABC News)
Sept 17 – At first glance, St George and St James church seem a spitting image of one another.
Queen Elizabeth served a greater monarch, the heavenly ruler (Sydney Morning Herald)
Sept 17 – (Opinion: By Philip Freier) The death of Queen Elizabeth II last week united countless people around the globe in grief and loss.
EDUCATION
‘A moral duty’: Cranbrook undertakes review after anti-Semitic reports (Brisbane Times)
Sept 14 – Sydney private school Cranbrook will undertake a detailed internal review following reports of anti-Semitic bullying and concerns raised from parents and alumni.
INTERNATIONAL STORIES
Catholic Church
President Xi to cross paths with the Pope in Kazakhstan (Brisbane Times)
Sept 14 – Taipei: Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first trip overseas since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic will overlap with a visit by Pope Francis to Kazakhstan, although the Vatican says there are no plans for them to meet.
Judaism
Germany closes chapter on Holocaust compo (The Australian)
Sept 17 – Berlin is set to pay about €1.3bn for home care for elderly survivors, as well as invest in Holocaust education.
Religious Violence
Iranian woman dies in custody after arrest by morality police, sparking protests (ABC News)
Sept 17 – A young Iranian woman has died after three days in a coma following her detention by morality police enforcing Iran’s strict hijab rules, sparking protests by Iranians.
Other
A ritual of life: In mourning the Queen we are confronted with our own mortality (The Guardian, Australia)
Sept 18 – (Opinion: Peter Stanford) The need for ritual to mark a death has been with us since before religion came along.
ISLAM
The ‘Muslim mum’ is the target of Aussie exporters going vegan, organic and halal (ABC News)
Sept 14 – The Muslim mum: That’s the core demographic that many Australian businesses are targeting as they pivot away from purely focusing on China, towards exporting a new breed of halal-certified products to South-East Asia and the Middle East.
‘The world is watching’: Australian daughter of Iranian Baha’i in prison pleads for her release (ABC News)
Sept 16 – When Negar Sabet awakes after a restless night in Sydney, she agonises about her elderly mother, Mahvash Sabet, who has been locked up in Iran’s notorious Evin prison since the end of July.
JUDAISM
Judaism undergoes a resurgence in the NSW Hunter Valley (ABC News)
Sept 14 – Rabbi Yossi Rodal has found home in the Hunter Valley.
‘A brighter future’: Rival group seizes control of Temple Beth Israel board (Sydney Morning Herald)
Sept 17 – Melbourne’s largest Progressive synagogue, Temple Beth Israel, has an entirely new leadership after a group led by disaffected senior religious leaders and former board presidents seized control from its younger board.
POLITICS
From sex activist to progressive trailblazer: Fiona Patten’s remarkable rise to influence (The Guardian, Australia)
Sept 17 – Fiona Patten isn’t used to not getting her way.
RELIGION & SOCIETY
‘Honey-child, listen to me’: a radical Buddhist nun on how to be happy in a crazy world (The Guardian, Australia)
Sept 17 – It’s a Tuesday evening in the small country town of Milton on the south coast of New South Wales, and the scent of the freshly brewed chai and homemade soup about to be served is wafting through the draughts in the Country Women’s Association hall as discussion veers between death, killing, war, abortion, prison and suffering.
