Religion News Selection
September 17- 30, 2023
A selection of religion news stories from Australia
(Research: Greg Spearritt)
ABUSE
Catholic church hands police Vatican report alleging Broome bishop assaulted and groomed boys (The Guardian, Australia)
Sept 22 – The Catholic church has handed police a report detailing allegations of sexual assault and grooming against a former Western Australian bishop.
‘You stole my voice’: Former primary school teacher guilty of historical child sex abuse (The Age, Melbourne)
Sept 21 – Almost every day, Ben* passes the mobile phone towers on a hill by the Western Ring Road that serve as a reminder of the place where he was abused.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
The $600 million gamble to bring The Exorcist back to life (Sydney Morning Herald)
Sept 30 – The first instalment in a new trilogy, The Exorcist: Believer, is an update for a time when fewer people believe in the devil.
CATHOLIC CHURCH
‘It was cruel’: dying patient denied euthanasia in Catholic-run hospital (The Guardian, Australia)
Sept 22 – When 60-year-old Sally* told her neurologist that she wanted to choose when to die, she was dismissed.
INTERNATIONAL STORIES
Islam
Indonesian TikToker jailed after saying Islamic phrase before eating pork (ABC News)
Sept 21 – An Indonesian court has sentenced a woman to two years in prison for posting a viral video on TikTok in which she said an Islamic phrase before eating pork.
JUDAISM
Nazi graffiti sprayed on Sydney home on eve of holiest Jewish day (Sydney Morning Herald)
Sept 25 – Nazi graffiti has been sprayed on a home in Sydney’s east in an attack against Sydney’s Jewish community on the holiest day of the year.
POLITICS
Church seeks exemption for religious belief in misinformation bill (Sydney Morning Herald)
Sept 19 – Catholics and Muslims have raised the alarm about the potential for Labor’s new online misinformation laws to restrain the teaching of religious doctrine on issues such as euthanasia.
RELIGION & SOCIETY
Queensland religious group on trial over death of Elizabeth Struhs in Toowoomba (ABC News)
Sept 22 – Fourteen members of a Toowoomba religious group charged with the death of an eight-year-old girl in 2022 have been told they may not get a fair trial, after asking to be treated and tried as one.
