Religion News Australia
October 9 – 16, 2022
Religion news stories from Australia
(Research: Greg Spearritt)
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Nick Cave’s God complex: ‘I’ve always been a conservative’ (The Australian)
Oct 15 – He’d wake in hotels surrounded by the detritus of drugs, sex — and a Gideon’s Bible.
ANGLICAN CHURCH
‘It brings it home’: Archbishop of Canterbury highlights climate crisis in Australia with visit to Lismore (The Guardian, Australia)
Oct 16 – The archbishop of Canterbury has popped in to a cushion shop.
EDUCATION
Cranbrook unveils $125m revamp as private schools compete in building boom (Sydney Morning Herald)
Oct 15 – One of Sydney’s wealthiest private schools has unveiled its $125 million building revamp – including an aquatic centre, a theatre and a basement car park – amid a construction boom in the independent school sector.
INTERNATIONAL STORIES
Catholic Church
Pope Francis chastises Europe’s indifference on migrants as ‘disgusting, sinful’ (ABC News)
Oct 10 – Pope Francis has denounced Europe’s indifference toward migrants risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean Sea, as he elevated to sainthood an Italian bishop and an Italian-born missionary.
Islam
Joe Biden on Iran: Women ‘should be able to wear in God’s name what they want’ (Brisbane Times)
Oct 15 – Washington: US President Joe Biden on Friday called on leaders in Iran to end the violence against its own citizens.
Religious Violence
‘Change the mindset’: Indonesia’s anti-terror chief hails ‘reform’ of Bali bombmaker (Sydney Morning Herald)
Oct 11 – Denpasar: Indonesian police’s anti-terror chief has hailed the “reform” of Bali bomb maker Umar Patek as a success story in the country’s fight against Islamic extremism but concedes there is always a risk of militants returning to their old networks after being released from prison.
Women who fled Iran and its morality police hope Mahsa Amini’s death sparks change (ABC News)
Oct 13 – Arezou remembers the incident like it was yesterday: walking to work as a teacher in Tehran, Iran’s capital, she was stopped.
Bali bombings 20 years on: How has Indonesia dealt with Islamic extremism? (ABC News)
Oct 13 – Twenty years since the Bali bombings, Indonesia is taking an increasingly hardline approach against conservative Islam, but one expert warns this could backfire.
Q+A guest labels Iranian government a ‘terrorist group’ as other tells of brutality of its morality police (ABC News)
Oct 14 – Iranian women who moved to Australia have shared heartbreaking stories of abuse at the hands of Iran’s morality police on Q+A, and called for the Australian government to take action against the Islamic republic.
Other
As a Muslim in New Zealand I’ve long yearned for a TV show that reflected my life (The Guardian, Australia)
Oct 15 – (Opinion: Mohamed Hassan) To say I have an obsessive relationship with television would be to undersell the truth.
ISLAM
Customer wait list grows for Australia’s first Islamic bank granted licence (ABC News)
Oct 12 – For many Australian Muslims like Reem and Fouad Alameddine, the dream of home ownership has been beyond reach.
JUDAISM
‘Stuck with useless land’: Harry Triguboff fights council over Bondi synagogue (Sydney Morning Herald)
Oct 16 – A synagogue in Sydney’s eastern suburbs faces an uncertain future as Meriton founder Harry Triguboff battles a local council over permission to build flats on the site.
RELIGION & SOCIETY
Keep faith in respectful debate, not exclusion (The Australian)
Oct 10 – (Opinion: Frank Brennan ) The Essendon saga and the response by civic leaders makes you wonder whether we have lost the ability to disagree well.
Moral cowards lead us down dark road (The Australian)
Oct 10 – (Opinion: Janet Albrechtsen) Traditional religion is not the biggest danger to a tolerant society. The dangers come from secular priests, who preach inclusivity and diversity, only to shame and sack people with different views.
Dad who ‘chose healing power of God’ over treatment to face murder trial (Brisbane Times)
Oct 11 – A Queensland father accused of withholding insulin from his dying eight-year-old daughter and relying upon the healing power of God has been committed to stand trial for her alleged murder.
Bendigo’s Chinese community, historian saddened by closure of Joss House Temple (ABC News)
Oct 12 – A Bendigo historian and a member of the Chinese community say they are dismayed by the indefinite closure of the city’s Joss House Temple.
Perth religious leaders take public stance against new coal and gas projects (ABC News)
Oct 13 – Buddhist chants, Hindu songs and prayers to Allah were heard at a rare multi-faith service inside a Roman Catholic Cathedral in Perth on Thursday.
Hillsong whistleblower allegedly stood down for giving information to charities regulator, court told (The Guardian, Australia)
Oct 13 – A Hillsong whistleblower alleges she was unlawfully disciplined for providing information to the charities regulator during an investigation into the global church’s accounts, a court has been told.
Houston’s comeback with the true believers (Sydney Morning Herald)
Oct 15 – Disgraced but defiant, Hillsong celebrity preachers Brian and Bobbie Houston are hatching plans for their comeback after returning to Sydney from a fire and brimstone tour of America’s megachurches.
‘Satanist’: ‘Kidney cult’ YouTube sermon sparks defamation battle (Brisbane Times)
Oct 15 – The Jesus Christians have been described as the “kidney cult” for encouraging members to donate their organs to complete strangers.
Why I’m an atheist, but not proud of it (Brisbane Times)
Oct 15 – (Opinion: Parnell Palme McGuinness) Pride goes before a fall, goes the saying.
‘We showed them we are strong… the Taliban cannot stop us’ (The Australian)
Oct 15 – They fled the Taliban for a new life in Australia.
