Religion News Selection
April 26 – May 3, 2020
A selection of religion news stories from Australia
(Research: Greg Spearritt)
ABUSE
Eileen Piper has finally won an apology from the Catholic Church for her daughter’s abuse (ABC News)
April 27 – It’s taken 26 years, reams of legal documents and many tears, but Eileen Piper has done what she set out to do — cleared the name of her daughter, Stephanie, who was abused by a Catholic priest in the 1970s.
Royal commission findings about Cardinal George Pell could be made public. Here’s what we know (ABC News)
April 30 – For years, questions have been asked about what Cardinal George Pell might have known about clerical abuse during his long career within the Catholic Church.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
The world’s best picture: I’ve got mine. What’s yours? (Sydney Morning Herald)
May 1 – (Opinion: John McDonald) When he described The Resurrection by Piero della Francesca as “the best picture in the world” Aldous Huxley threw down a gauntlet for the future.
INTERNATIONAL STORIES
Religious Violence
Germany tries accused Islamic State member for genocide over death of Yazidi girl (Sydney Morning Herald)
April 26 – Berlin: An Iraqi man accused of being an Islamic State terrorist has gone on trial in a high court in Frankfurt, Germany, accused of genocide, human trafficking, and the torture and murder of a 5-year-old Yazidi girl he had held as a slave in Fallujah, Iraq.
Poland’s government is leading a Catholic revival. It has minorities and liberals worried (ABC News)
April 28 – I’m in downtown Warsaw in the middle of Europe’s biggest far-right rally and it’s messing with my mind.
Other
India should be placed on religious freedom blacklist, US panel says (The Guardian, Australia)
April 29 – A US government panel has called for India to be put on a religious freedom blacklist over a “drastic” downturn under the prime minister, Narendra Modi, triggering a sharp response from New Delhi.
Sudan moves to ban female genital mutilation with landmark law (ABC News)
May 3 – Sudanese officials say they are working to criminalise the widespread practice of female genital mutilation after the transitional Government approved a landmark draft law.
RELIGION & SOCIETY
During coronavirus, we need social sciences and humanities more than ever. This is why (ABC News)
May 1 – (Opinion) To really understand how this pandemic is impacting all of us, and what we can do about it, we should look to social sciences, humanities and the arts.
