Religion News Selection
October 31 – November 7, 2021
A selection of religion news stories from Australia
(Research: Greg Spearritt)
ABUSE
For months, St Joseph’s has started pulling down old photos from its hall of fame (Sydney Morning Herald)
Nov 6 – For generations, the team photographs have hung in the ‘hall of fame’ at St Joseph’s College in Hunters Hill.
EDUCATION
Correction, Minister: democracy’s roots are neither Christian nor Western (Brisbane Times)
Nov 7 – (Opinion: Frank Bongiorno) John Podsnap is one of Charles Dickens’ minor characters. Mr Podsnap, we learn in Our Mutual Friend, “was well to do, and stood very high in Mr Podsnap’s opinion”.
INTERNATIONAL STORIES
Religious Violence
Gunmen ‘posing as Taliban fighters’ attack wedding to silence music (Sydney Morning Herald)
Nov 1 – Kabul: Several gunmen posing as Taliban fighters killed three people over the weekend as they attacked a wedding in an attempt to stop music being played.
Women’s rights activist shot dead in northern Afghanistan (The Guardian, Australia)
Nov 7 – A 29-year-old activist and economics lecturer, Frozan Safi, has been shot and killed in northern Afghanistan, in what appears to be the first known death of a women’s rights defender since the Taliban swept to power almost three months ago.
Other
The COVID conspiracy theorist inside the White House press corps (Sydney Morning Herald)
Nov 3 – Washington: If you have never heard the name Emerald Robinson, that would suggest that you are not one of the 430,000-plus people who follow her on Twitter.
RELIGION & SOCIETY
Maria James’s family calls for a priest’s exhumation, if DNA testing doesn’t offer answers (ABC News)
Nov 4 – Lawyers for the family of murder victim Maria James say the Victorian Coroner should consider exhuming the late Catholic priest, Father Anthony Bongiorno.
When is Diwali this year and how to celebrate the Festival of Lights? (ABC News)
Nov 5 – Every year on the darkest night in the northern hemisphere, millions illuminate their homes and streets to celebrate the victory of good over evil.
Why my kids will wind up celebrating a mishmash of holidays (Sydney Morning Herald)
Nov 5 – (Opinion: Amelia Lester) Parenting is full of nostalgic moments – raising children will remind you, often at unexpected times, of your own childhood – but those moments hit differently in a country apart from your own.
