Religion News Australia
Sept 13 – 20, 2020
Religion news stories from Australia
(Research: Greg Spearritt)
ABUSE
Sydney Catholic schools to remove name of Marist brother accused of sexual abuse (The Guardian, Australia)
Sept 17 – A group of prominent Catholic schools are expected to remove the name of a brother accused of sexual abuse from a school building and scholarship program after campaigners warned he was “clearly not someone who should be honoured”.
Orthodox Jewish leader applies to Supreme Court for religious arbitration (Sydney Morning Herald)
Sept 17 – The former general manager of Victoria’s largest Orthodox Jewish organisation is challenging her dismissal in the Supreme Court of Victoria after talks broke down with her former employer when trying to resolve the dispute through religious arbitration.
ANGLICAN CHURCH
Bishop’s Court in Adelaide snapped up by local businesswoman (The Age, Melbourne)
Sept 14 – South Australia looks to have clinched a new property price record with the sale of a grand 164-year-old Victorian mansion that’s been home to the past 10 bishops of the state’s Anglican diocese.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Church appoints handsome new vicar sparking delight among locals (news.com.au)
Sept 20 – A handsome new vicar’s arrival has sparked delight among the locals in the UK.
Gods and demons: exposing Bali’s underbelly (The Australian)
Sept 20 – (Review) Bali-based correspondent Deborah Cassrels unpeels the tourist veneer of Bali to find a web of power, corruption, sexual exploitation and Islamic violence and terror.
INTERNATIONAL STORIES
Abuse
A US Amish community dedicated to serving community was supposed to keep Misty safe. (ABC News)
Sept 19 – Misty Griffin really wants you to know her story.
Islam
Afghanistan allows mothers’ names on birth certificates in ‘significant’ milestone for women’s rights (ABC News)
Sept 20 – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has signed an amendment allowing mothers’ names to be included on their children’s birth certificates, after a three-year campaign by women’s rights activists.
Religious Violence
Paradise isle taken over by jihadis (The Australian)
Sept 17 – Four Indian Ocean islands known for their unique wildlife and luxury resorts have been overrun by militants linked to ISIS.
Benbrika could walk in six weeks (The Australian)
Sept 17 – One of Australia’s first convicted terrorists Abdul Nacer Benbrika will walk free unless the Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton is granted a continuing detention order.
Other
‘Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer’ outside Birmingham gets go-ahead (The Guardian, Australia)
Sept 14 – An enormous Christian monument, more than twice the size of the Angel of the North, is to be built on the outskirts of Birmingham, fulfilling a vision its instigator says came from God.
An Indian museum for a Muslim dynasty gets a Hindu overhaul (Sydney Morning Herald)
Sept 16 – Delhi: The museum was meant to showcase the arms, art and fashion of the Mughals, Muslim rulers who reigned over the Indian subcontinent from the 16th to the 18th centuries.
Black churches say Donald Trump election ad incites ‘white terrorism’ (The Guardian, Australia)
Sept 16 – Black American church leaders have accused Donald Trump of inciting “white terrorism” against people of colour and depicting churchgoers as “thugs” in a presidential election campaign ad.
‘Quite frankly terrifying’: How the QAnon conspiracy theory is taking root in the UK (The Guardian, Australia)
Sept 20 – It began in the US with lurid claims and a hatred of the ‘deep state’.
ISLAM
Brothers Joel and Joshua Clavell jailed over Victorian police standoff that ended in shooting (ABC News)
Sept 14 – A man who declared he wanted to be a martyr before rushing at police with a hatchet during a tense standoff in the Victorian bush has been sentenced to 21 months in jail.
RELIGION & SOCIETY
Pregnant Muslim woman attacked in Sydney cafe feared she would be killed, court hears (The Guardian, Australia)
Sept 16 – A heavily pregnant Muslim woman viciously attacked by a stranger at a Sydney cafe feared she would be killed if others did not intervene, a court has heard.
BHP knew of Aboriginal heritage concerns at $4.6b WA mine (Sydney Morning Herald)
Sept 17 – Mining giant BHP was aware of traditional owners’ concerns about works affecting sacred sites at one of its West Australian iron ore mines before it obtained approval to destroy them.
