Religion News Selection

February 27 – March 6, 2022

A selection of religion news stories from Australia

(Research: Greg Spearritt)

 

ABUSE

Abuse survivor takes Archdiocese of Melbourne to trial over historical sexual abuse (ABC News)
Mar 4 – Oliver* will never forget the day his life changed forever.

ANGLICAN CHURCH

Father Rod Bower, author of politically charged church billboard, leaves Central Coast (ABC News)
Feb 21 – It may not be as thought-provoking, politically charged, or controversial as his other church signs but his final one is just as to the point.

INTERNATIONAL STORIES
Abuse

Argentinian bishop sentenced to prison for sexual abuse despite pope’s defense (The Guardian, Australia)
Mar 5 – A court in Argentina has sentenced a Roman Catholic bishop to four and a half years in prison for sexual abuse of two former seminarians in a major blow to Pope Francis, who had initially defended the bishop.

Islam

Muslims still bear the stigma of the ‘Trojan horse’ scandal. Maybe that’s what was intended (The Guardian, Australia)
Feb 28 – (Opinion: Nesrine Malik) If you were to poll a few hundred people, I wonder what they could tell you about the Operation Trojan Horse conspiracy story of 2014.

POLITICS

Australian Christian Lobby criticises Scott Morrison for saying Ukrainians at ‘top of pile’ for visas (The Guardian, Australia)
Mar 3 – The Australian Christian Lobby has criticised the prime minister for saying visa applications from Ukrainian people are at “the top of the pile”, asking what message this sends to people “fleeing the horrors of the Taliban in Afghanistan”.

RELIGION & SOCIETY

Vladimir Putin: a miracle defender of Christianity or the most evil man? (The Guardian, Australia)
Mar 6 – (Opinion: Tim Costello) With Russia invading Ukraine, its president, Vladimir Putin, has been painted by many in the western media as the most evil man in the world.

How a Buddhist monk lost it all by reaching for property nirvana (The Age, Melbourne)
Mar 6 – Through the autumn and winter of 2018, two sharply dressed young men made regular visits to the Linh Son Buddhist Society’s temple in Reservoir in Melbourne’s north.