Religion News Selection
January 24 – 31, 2021
A selection of religion news stories from Australia
(Research: Greg Spearritt)
ABUSE
Malka Leifer has returned to Australia to face child sex abuse charges. Here’s what will happen next (ABC News)
Jan 28 – More than a decade after leaving Melbourne for Israel, former school principal Malka Leifer has arrived back in Australia to face child sexual abuse charges.
Also: Government-funded chaplaincy organisation will offer services to Malka Leifer (The Age, Melbourne)
Jan 28 – A Jewish charity will offer chaplaincy services to alleged paedophile Malka Leifer when she returns to Australia, a decision that has angered some members of the religious community.
Also: Malka Leifer’s journey from gated community to a Melbourne court (The Age, Melbourne)
Jan 29 – Wearing a white head wrap, accused child abuser Malka Leifer sat in silence before a Melbourne court via video link on Thursday, stooped over and hiding her face with her arms crossed.
Also: Malka Leifer: how a long-running child sexual abuse case tested Australia’s relationship with Israel (The Guardian, Australia)
Jan 30 – When the accused child sex offender Malka Leifer was extradited from Israel to face a Melbourne court this week it was the result of a years-long campaign spearheaded by three of the former principal’s accusers.
INTERNATIONAL STORIES
Islam
UN labels Sri Lanka cremation of COVID-19 dead, including Muslims, a human rights violation (ABC News)
Jan 26 – The United Nations has condemned the Sri Lankan Government’s policy of forced cremation of deceased COVID-19 patients, especially in the case of Muslims and other minorities in the country, as it goes against their religious beliefs.
Religious Violence
Men caned 77 times in Indonesia after ‘being caught having sex’ (The Guardian, Australia)
Jan 29 – Two men in Indonesia’s Aceh province have been publicly caned 77 times each after they were reported to police by vigilantes who claimed they had witnessed the men having sex.
UN condemns Iran execution spree, expresses particular concern for minorities (ABC News)
Jan 30 – The United Nations human rights office has condemned an alleged spree of 28 executions in Iran, including several prisoners from minority groups, and called on Tehran to halt the hanging of an ethnic Baluchi man.
Other
Fabled ark could be among ancient treasures in danger in Ethiopia’s deadly war (The Guardian, Australia)
Jan 25 – It has been hidden from view for thousands of years, and its whereabouts never proved.
Remnants of mosque from earliest decades of Islam found in Israel (The Guardian, Australia)
Jan 29 – Archaeologists in Israel say they have discovered the remnants of an early mosque believed to date to the earliest decades of Islam during an excavation in the northern city of Tiberias.
‘We had no paper, but we had our bodies’: the sacred and symbolic in Polynesian tattoos (The Guardian, Australia)
Jan 30 – The New Zealand foreign minister’s moko has become international news, but beyond an identifier, our tatau are a link to ancestors, a vessel for our cultures’ stories, and a tribute to those who have gone before
JUDAISM
Antisemitism and Holocaust denial on the rise in Australia, Josh Frydenberg warns (The Guardian, Australia)
Jan 27 – Josh Frydenberg has warned antisemitism is on the rise in Australia and the treasurer says there is an obligation on all good people to “take on hate wherever we see it”.
RELIGION & SOCIETY
Religious freedom: devil’s in the detail (The Australian)
Jan 25 – (Opinion: Alice Workman ) Noosa Temple of Satan manages to get the pentagram added to the religious symbols displayed at hospital’s multi-faith centre.
Presence of far-right Proud Boys symbol at Melbourne marches ‘frightening for us all’ (ABC News)
Jan 27 – Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the presence of the far-right Proud Boys symbol at marches in Melbourne on Tuesday is “frightening for us all”, as the Government unveils plans for a new Holocaust museum in Canberra.
‘Bad theology kills’: Senior cleric returns honour over Margaret Court decision (The Age, Melbourne)
Jan 27 – A church leader says Margaret Court’s “bad theology” is his reason for joining the growing list of Order of Australia members who are returning their awards in protest against her elevation to the country’s highest civilian honour.
