Religion News Selection
December 5 – 12, 2021
A selection of religion news stories from Australia
(Research: Greg Spearritt)
ABUSE
The prison journals of Cardinal George Pell (The Saturday Paper)
Dec 12 – Cardinal George Pell spent 13 months in prison before his conviction for child sexual abuse was overturned by the High Court. During his time in jail, he wrote diaries musing on faith, sport and life. By Peter Craven.
ANGLICAN CHURCH
Anglican Church gets $10m for Byron Bay church-owned property sold in ‘desperation’ (ABC News)
Dec 9 – The Anglican Church has sold one of its properties in the heart of Byron Bay for more than $10 million amid the region’s overheated real estate market.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Hannah Gadsby – Body of Work: a joyful guide to blasting Netflix and messing with Christian bakers (The Guardian, Australia)
Dec 10 – (Review) What better way to symbolise your favourable turn in fortune than with adorable bunnies, the sign of good luck?
EDUCATION
School chaplaincy scheme to be independently evaluated (Brisbane Times)
Dec 11 – The federal government will commission an independent review of the $61.4 million-a-year school chaplaincy scheme, as chaplains defend their role as preventative mental health workers while backing calls for more school psychologists.
INTERNATIONAL STORIES
Abuse
When meditation turns toxic: the woman exposing spiritual sexism (The Guardian, Australia)
Dec 9 – Tara Brach was four months pregnant when she miscarried at a women’s retreat in Española, New Mexico.
Catholic Church
No ho ho: Italian church apologises over bishop’s claim about Santa Claus (The Guardian, Australia)
Dec 11 – A Roman Catholic diocese in Sicily has publicly apologised to outraged parents after its bishop told a group of children that Santa Claus doesn’t exist.
Spanish bishop who married author of satanic erotica is stripped of powers (The Guardian, Australia)
Dec 12 – Spain’s youngest bishop has been stripped of his church powers, the country’s episcopal conference said on Saturday, after he married a psychologist-turned-author of satanic erotica.
Religious Violence
‘If you run, you will die’: fear stalks Nigerian state as jihadists gain foothold (The Guardian, Australia)
Dec 8 – “They ordered everyone to come around, saying if you run, if you cry, you will die,” said Bala Pada, recalling the moment in April when jihadists rounded up people at a market in his home town of Kaure to witness the execution of two alleged vigilantes.
Independent Uyghur Tribunal finds China committed genocide and crimes against humanity (ABC News)
Dec 10 – An independent, unofficial body set up by a prominent British barrister to assess evidence on China’s alleged rights abuses against the Uyghur people has found that the Chinese government committed genocide and crimes against humanity.
Other
Missionaries travel the world to spread the word of God. But what happens when things go wrong? (ABC News)
Dec 8 – When three missionaries who had been kidnapped in broad daylight in Haiti and held hostage for almost two months were finally freed this week, it should have been a moment of relief and celebration.
Radicalized Christian nationalism is a growing threat to American democracy (The Guardian, Australia)
Dec 12 – (Opinion: Arwa Mahdawi) Forget everything you ever thought you knew about pregnancy: a 26-year-old congressman, who will never be pregnant himself, has helpfully stepped in to explain the process to everyone.
ISLAM
How Lina separated mental health struggles from her ‘worth’ as a Muslim (ABC News)
Dec 8 – (Opinion: Lina ) I sat quietly in the waiting room. The silence was deafening.
POLITICS
Labor to focus on LGBTQI issues in religious freedom bill amid warning from Keneally (Sydney Morning Herald)
Dec 8 – Labor has committed to making protections for gay teachers and students a key focus during the looming election campaign while senior opposition frontbencher Kristina Keneally has raised concerns the proposed religious discrimination laws will become a political football.
Labor calls for ‘grassroots mobilisation’ of religious Australians to tackle climate crisis (The Guardian, Australia)
Dec 9 – Anthony Albanese has called for the “grassroots mobilisation” of people of faith to tackle the climate crisis, appealing to a common “care for creation” across all religious groups.
Coalition targets Jewish voters in Goldstein, Wentworth (The Saturday Paper)
Dec 12 – The Liberal Party is seeking to shore up Jewish community support in key vulnerable federal seats in Sydney and Melbourne, with a heavily funded online attack ad against Labor over Israel.
