Religion News Selection

April 10 – 17, 2022

A selection of religion news stories from Australia

(Research: Greg Spearritt)

 

ABUSE

$100m paid out to child sexual abuse victims in schools, churches (Brisbane Times)
Apr 16 – More than $100 million has been paid out to victims of institutional child sexual abuse in Queensland, amid more than 13,000 national applications for redress.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Wayside Bride review – a loving tribute to an Australian religious rebel (The Guardian, Australia)
Apr 16 – The late Australian Rev Ted Noffs, nominally Methodist, embraced the rich kaleidoscope of chaos that comes with championing the discarded and downtrodden.

INTERNATIONAL STORIES
Religious Violence

Third night of unrest in Sweden over far-right anti-Islam rally (The Guardian, Australia)
Apr 17 – Southern Sweden saw another night of unrest on Saturday over plans by an anti-Islam far-right political party to burn a Qur’an among other things.

Other

‘Jesus loves me and my boyfriend’: how one gay-friendly town repelled homophobic protesters (The Guardian, Australia)
Apr 17 – Jake Hamlin lives within earshot of a group of protesters who have set up on the main street in downtown Guerneville, California, for the past several weeks.

‘A sacred responsibility’: Yurok Tribe poised to return condors to the skies (The Guardian, Australia)
Apr 17 – Tucked among tall redwood trees in a remote part of northern California, four young California condors await their chance to take to the skies.

POLITICS

Christian lobby fires first shot in campaign at MPs who crossed floor on religion (Sydney Morning Herald)
Apr 16 – The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) has fired the opening shot in a campaign targeting rebel Liberal MPs who crossed the floor to amend the federal government’s religious discrimination bill.

RELIGION & SOCIETY

Long live the difference: this Easter I can mark our faith’s triumph over racism (Sydney Morning Herald)
Apr 16 – (Opinion: Sarah Ayoub) Almost 15 years ago, while sitting in a meeting among some church volunteers, a white Roman Catholic priest opined that the Maronites were taking over the Catholic Church in Australia.

Religious groups that follow Jesus must push to end the exploitation of others for power and profit (The Guardian, Australia)
Apr 16 – (Opinion: Brad Chilcott) Leaders whose driving purpose is centred in the pursuit of solidarity, inclusion, equity and the common good are those we should celebrate.

Hillsong after the Houstons (The Saturday Paper)
Apr 16 – With founder Brian Houston resigning from Hillsong amid scandal and allegations, and his wife, Bobbie, being pushed out, the global megachurch is now facing its own day of reckoning. By Rick Morton.

Easter’s hardest question: How can we forgive even the most heinous of crimes? (ABC News)
Apr 17 – (Opinion: Stan Grant) The Native American poet Diane Glancy writes: “It is a fragile gate, the opening of faith.”

‘The news hit me full force’: How a former monk handled a deadly diagnosis (Sydney Morning Herald)
Apr 17 – A diagnosis of an incurable disease forces a former Buddhist monk to face a core belief: that life is impermanent.

Easter offers no escape from our responsibility for climate change (The Age, Melbourne)
Apr 17 – (Opinion: Ross Gittins) Easter is a good time to look up from the daily business of life – getting and spending – and think harder about what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.