Religion News Selection
December 26, 2021 – January 2, 2022
A selection of religion news stories from Australia
(Research: Greg Spearritt)
INTERNATIONAL STORIES
Catholic Church
Violence against women an insult to God, says Pope Francis in New Year message (Sydney Morning Herald)
Jan 2 – Vatican City: Pope Francis has used his New Year’s message to issue a clarion call for an end to violence against women, saying it was insulting to God.
Other
The Most Rev Desmond Tutu obituary (The Guardian, Australia)
Dec 27 – In 1948, when the apartheid regime was voted into office in South Africa, Desmond Tutu was 17.
Also: What we can learn from Desmond Tutu, a man for whom forgiveness trumped vengeance (ABC News)
Dec 27 – (Opinion: Stan Grant) Desmond Tutu showed us that we can triumph over history.
Also: Desmond Tutu taught us all the true meaning of greatness (The Guardian, Australia)
Dec 27 – (Opinion: Bob Geldof) I am lucky that in my life I knew Desmond Tutu, one of the greatest men of our time.
Healing myself the Pagan way: how witchcraft cast a spell on me (The Guardian, Australia)
Dec 27 – (Opinion: Jennifer Lane) Witchcraft has always played a large role in my life.
India bans Mother Teresa charity from receiving funds from abroad (The Guardian, Australia)
Dec 28 – The Indian government has blocked Mother Teresa’s charity from receiving funds from abroad, just days after it faced a police investigation for “hurting religious sentiments of Hindus” amid rising intolerance towards Christians in India.
POLITICS
Coalition’s religious discrimination bill sends ‘dangerous signal’, Muslim groups say (The Guardian, Australia)
Dec 28 – The government’s religious discrimination law could place “a heavy burden” on already marginalised Muslim communities because it allows discrimination on national security grounds, Islamic organisations have said.
RELIGION & SOCIETY
Has the COVID-19 pandemic changed our ethics? (ABC News)
Dec 27 – (Opinion: Hugh Breakey) Over the past two years, our lives have changed in unprecedented ways. In the face of the pandemic, we have been required to obey demanding new rules and accept new risks, making enormous changes to our daily lives.
Sacked for being vaxxed: ‘Church’ defends decision to terminate worker who got COVID jab (Sydney Morning Herald)
Jan 2 – A legal expert has warned of the powers that religious organisations have to hire and fire staff after a fringe church sacked a worker who got the COVID-19 jab because it said that went against its beliefs.
