Religion News Selection
March 12 – 26, 2023
A selection of religion news stories from Australia
(Research: Greg Spearritt)
ABUSE
The ‘crushing’ new tactic the church uses to block claims by abuse survivors (The Guardian, Australia)
Mar 22 – Strategy used to deny compensation is a ‘stark example’ of Catholic clergy prioritising the advice of lawyers over moral leadership
CATHOLIC CHURCH
Calls for calm ahead of mass Sydney anti-abortion rally (Sydney Morning Herald)
Mar 25 – Organisers of an anti-abortion rally on Sunday have called for calm amid fears it will become another flashpoint after a violent protest outside a Sydney church on Tuesday.
INTERNATIONAL STORIES
Catholic Church
The pope who returned the church to the people it forsook (Sydney Morning Herald)
Mar 12 – (Opinion: Michael McGirr) Thirty-three years ago, Lulu Mitshabu left the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a refugee.
Pope hints at review of rules on celibacy (The Australian)
Mar 13 – His remarks came in an interview to mark the 10th anniversary of his election to the papacy, which fell on Monday.
JUDAISM
How we can fight violent extremism after far-right rally (Sydney Morning Herald)
Mar 22 – (Opinion: Daniel Aghion) The great American judge Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote, “The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect [a person] falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic.”
RELIGION & SOCIETY
Hillsong leaders announce financial review after allegations in federal parliament (ABC News)
Mar 13 – Hillsong church has announced it will commission an independent financial review after being accused in federal parliament of “fraud, money laundering and tax evasion”.
‘Too special a place’: how an eclectic Queensland alliance saved a sacred site from rock climbers (The Guardian, Australia)
Mar 18 – To the Ugarapul people south-west of Brisbane, the grass trees, or whinpullin, are protectors of mountains.
When he joined the Christian fundamentalist scene, Brian was faced with ‘spiritual warfare’ (ABC News)
Mar 20 – Brian McDowell entered the “fundamentalist Pentecostal church scene” when he was 17.
