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Religion Roundup 2008 - 13 (May 5 - 11)
(12 May 08)by Greg Spearritt
Religion Roundup
May 5 - 11, 2008
Religion news stories from Australia
(Research: Nigel Sinnott, Greg Spearritt)
abuse / anglican church / arts & entertainment / catholic church / education / international stories / international stories: tibet / islam / politics / religion & society / other
Bishop supports paedophile priest apology (ABC News)
May 7 - A Catholic bishop is supporting calls for the Pope to make a public apology to Australian victims of paedophile priests.
Also: Pressure grows for Pope to apologise to abuse victims (Sydney Morning Herald)
May 8 - THE Sydney bishop who helped write the Catholic Church's sex abuse policy in Australia has added his support for calls for Pope Benedict XVI to make a public apology to the Australian victims of sex abuse.
Also: Pope urged to confront Australian abuse (ABC News)
May 8 - With 10 weeks to go until Pope Benedict XVI is officially welcomed to Sydney, there is growing pressure on him to apologise for sexual and physical abuse carried out over the years by Catholic priests.
Also: Pope to apologise to Australian priests' abuse victims (SBS World News)
May 8 - The Pope is set to make an apology in Sydney to the tens of thousands of Australians sexually and physically abused by Catholic priests.
Former state wards sue over abuse claims (The Age, Melbourne)
May 8 - AS BOYS, Rodney, Gordon and Michael Braybon were made wards of the state and placed in the care of the Salvation Army. What happened next has haunted the three brothers throughout their adult lives.
Court hears Marist brother was sexually assaulted (ABC News)
May 9 - The ACT Supreme Court has heard a former brother at Canberra's Marist College, who's pleaded guilty to molesting young boys, was sexually assaulted himself as a child.
Pope to face sex abuse protest (Herald-Sun, Melbourne)
May 9 - VICTIMS' rights groups have outlined plans to protest the Catholic Church's handling of sex abuse cases at this year's World Youth Day festival.
Former Anglican bishop of Canberra dies (ABC News)
May 8 - The former Anglican Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn, Owen Dowling, has died.
Waleed's World, party time ... (Sydney Morning Herald)
May 5 – (Review) The format is hardly ground-breaking. As a blend of The Chaser and The Panel, Salam Cafe aims to deliver laughs via sketches, vox pops and a discussion of the day's issues. The twist is that the panellists and interviewers are Muslim, giving Salam Cafe an endearingly subversive edge.
Forbidden Lie$ (Brisbane Times)
May 8 – (Review) In a real-life version of Catch Me If You Can, talented Sydney filmmaker Anna Broinowski pursues controversial author Norma Khouri
Collosal critic could use a reality check (The Australian)
May 7 – (Review) IT is not unusual, post-Foucault, to observe the decline of God as a source of meaning in the West since the Enlightenment and the subsequent diminishment of the power of the Bible. Nor is it unusual to point out that this occurred side by side with the rise of the novel.
Overture to a catastrophe (The Australian)
May 7 – (Review) WILLIAM McBeath was an observant and patriotic lad who grew up in the Melbourne suburb of Preston, where he played the violin and sang at the Anglican church.
A different TV family (The Age, Melbourne)
May 8 – (Review) Bill Paxton's having a ball playing a polygamist
Evolution in sacred tradition (The Australian)
May 8 – (Review) HOW can it be that the most tradition-bound Aboriginal art centre in Australia, Buku-Larrnggay, at Yirrkala on the tip of northeast Arnhem Land, is pouring forth the nation's boldest and most innovative indigenous paintings and three-dimensional works?
Hindus offended by new Mike Myers film (The West Australian, Perth)
May 9 - Hindu groups have contacted various cinema organisations in Australia urging them not to distribute or screen the upcoming Hollywood movie The Love Guru until Paramount Pictures makes changes to it.
Silence and slow time (The Australian)
May 10 – (Review) The austere beauty of a collection of Arnhem Land bark paintings can transport the viewer to a spiritual plane
A personal spiritual quest (The Australian)
May 10 – (Review) ON a highly personal spiritual quest that is at once enhancing and enjoyable, Sydney historian Tony Grey sets off to visit seven religious stronghold
A desk of cards (The Age, Melbourne)
May 11 – (Review) Muslim chat show Salam Cafe celebrates and subverts TV's oldest and simplest format.
Adelaide Catholic diocese wants Gordon Ramsay off air (The Courier-Mail, Brisbane)
May 5 - THE Catholic church has taken a swipe at foul-mouthed UK chef Gordon Ramsay and demanded his reality TV shows be either taken off air or shown at a later time.
Pilgrims trampling Hyde Park 'well worth cost' (ABC News)
May 6 - Sydney's deputy Lord Mayor says parts of Hyde Park will be closed for three months after World Youth Day to repair the damage caused by thousands of pilgrims using the area.
Also: Papal market to shut park for months (Sydney Morning Herald)
May 6 - AT LEAST half of Hyde Park will be closed for up to three months after World Youth Day, to repair the damage caused by thousands of Catholic pilgrims treading on the turf.
'God b wth u': Pope to text Sydney pilgrims (ABC News)
May 7 - Pilgrims at this year's World Youth Day in Sydney will receive inspirational text messages from the Pope in an effort to better connect with the event's technologically-savvy participants.
Also: Pope to give new meaning to religious text (Sydney Morning Herald)
May 7 - Pope Benedict XVI will give a new meaning to the term religious text by sending "inspirational messages" to mobile phones during Catholic World Youth day in Australia, organisers said Wednesday.
Also: If anyone can, the Vatican go digital (Sydney Morning Herald)
May 7 - While it's not a direct line to God, plans for the Pope to send text messages to young people during World Youth Day promise a religious experience of sorts.
Prayer on the wing for East Timor (Sydney Morning Herald)
May 8 - FATHER JOHN FOWLES is renowned for his ambitious fund-raising ideas, and his parishioners are used to pulling together for a good cause.
Saints be praised, holy bones hit road (The Age, Melbourne)
May 9 - TIERNAN Doherty is preparing for a national tour to appeal to youth.
Sinners will have booths (Sydney Morning Herald)
May 10 - SACRED Catholic rituals will come to Sydney's streets when temporary confessional booths are set up in Darling Harbour, Hyde Park, the Opera House and Randwick Racecourse for World Youth Day pilgrims.
Chance to recast relations with Rome (Sydney Morning Herald)
May 10 – (Opinion) Since Pope John Paul II launched World Youth Day 22 years ago, it has become the Olympic Games of world religion, the largest and most complex spiritual event held on a recurring basis across the globe.
Faithful cross paths on road to youth day (The Age, Melbourne)
May 10 - ONE of the world's most seasoned tourists departs Melbourne today, having challenged and revitalised the faith of thousands of Victorian Catholics, according to Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart.
Your move, bishops (The Australian)
May 10 – (Opinion) DOES Australian Catholicism have a future?
Youth day shortfall hits hotels (Brisbane Times)
May 11 - THE arrival of Pope Benedict in Sydney for World Youth Day is looming as an unholy disaster for the luxury hotels of Sydney.
Bells of a different kind greet a mass gathering of Catholics in Launceston (ABC News)
May 11 - Thousands of people attending a special Catholic mass have been evacuated from Launceston's Silverdome after fire alarms activated.
Students chosen on good works (Sydney Morning Herald)
May 10 - A NATIONAL university will select up to half of its intake next year on a combination of students' school performance and involvement in cultural, sporting or religious activities.
Catholic schools join same-sex lockout (The Courier-Mail, Brisbane)
May 11 - CATHOLIC schools in Queensland have joined the crackdown against students escorting gay partners to Year 12 formals.
Abuse
Prison priest jailed for sex with inmates (Sydney Morning Herald)
May 6 - An American Catholic priest who had sex with two inmates while working as a chaplain at a women's prison was sentenced on Monday to two years in federal prison.
Sect leader arrested in New Mexico sex probe (ABC News)
May 7 - The leader of an apocalyptic church was arrested at a remote ranch in New Mexico as part on a child sex abuse investigation, police said.
Also: Bond reduced for US sect leader (Sydney Morning Herald)
May 9 - A US judge has reduced the bond of an apocalyptic-sect leader accused of sex crimes against minors, but rejected his request to be released.
Catholic Church
Thou shalt not steal ... your sermon (Brisbane Times)
May 6 - WARSAW, Poland - There's a new commandment for Polish priests: Thou shall not lift. The Roman Catholic Church in this nation has published a new book that tells priests how to find inspiration in already published sermons without breaking the law by lifting passages from them verbatim.
Cardinal's niece bares uncle's 'sins' (The Age, Melbourne)
May 8 - TOPLESS and dressed in suspenders, she stares from the cover of one of Spain's best-selling soft porn magazines. But this is not another of the scantily clad models who feature every week in Interviu. Rather it is the niece of the conservative head of the Spanish Church, Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela.
Pope underlines Olympics importance (The Australian)
May 8 - POPE Benedict XVI described the Beijing Olympic Games as "an event of great importance for the entire human family" as he received the China Philharmonic at the Vatican today.
Cardinal issues SOS, saying God missing in Britain (Sydney Morning Herald)
May 10 - LONDON: British public life should not be a "God-free zone", the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales has warned.
Latin added to Vatican's website (ABC News)
May 10 - The Vatican has added to its website a section in Latin, which was for many centuries the official language of the Roman Catholic Church.
Israel’s 60th Anniversary
Israelis fearing war (The Australian)
May 7 - ISRAELIS are approaching their 60th year with their Prime Minister under threat of arrest, peace talks with the Palestinians increasingly fraught and most expecting war with the Arab world within five years.
Fireworks and fanfare as Israel turns 60 (Brisbane Times)
May 8 - JERUSALEM - Fireworks and military fanfare launched Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations today, with leaders of a Jewish state that has known no peace vowing to pursue their quest for accommodation with old enemies.
The key to peace (The Australian)
May 8 - IN the heart of a grey refugee camp surrounded by dog-eared photos of dead men, on the eve of Israel's 60th Independence Day today, a crippled old Arab warlord sits reflecting on the future of his one-time sworn enemy.
Israel's 60th is no happy birthday (Sydney Morning Herald)
May 8 - On the eve of Israel's 60th anniversary, its two chief rabbis issued an audacious demand: cancel the International Bible Quiz for Jewish teenagers, a popular highlight of the annual Independence Day celebration.
Celebrating triumph over adversity (The Age, Melbourne)
May 10 – (Opinion) PUTTING aside for a fleeting moment the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, neither simplifying nor exaggerating, you realise that even for the most cynical among us, the rebirth of the modern state of Israel 60 years ago ranks as one of the most inspiring events of the 20th century.
Israel's war on despair (The Australian)
May 10 – (Opinion) WHAT would Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, have said if, on the day that he declared the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, he had known that six decades thence Israel would be encircled by its enemies, hopelessly outnumbered and fighting for its existence?
Islam
Romance books a hit in Nigeria's Muslim north (The Age, Melbourne)
May 6 - Each evening, headscarf-shrouded women seeking romantic advice gather at book stalls lining a rush-hour intersection in Nigeria's Islamic heartland.
Cleric calls for ban of infidel sect (The Australian)
May 6 - RADICAL Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir has called for the ban of an "infidel" Islamic sect as debate raged in the world's most populous Muslim country over religious freedom and tolerance.
Gulf currency bets resurrect Islamic bonds (The Age, Melbourne)
May 9 - The Gulf's once red-hot Islamic bond market is coming back to life after a nine-month lull as sellers look to benefit from talk of Gulf currency revaluation and rock-bottom interest rates, bankers said.
Report: US lacks plan to counter terrorist messages (Sydney Morning Herald)
May 9 - The United States must develop a communications plan to counter radical Islamic messages on the Internet, according to a U.S. congressional report released Thursday.
UK grants bail to radical terrorism suspect (Sydney Morning Herald)
May 9 - A radical Muslim cleric seen as a leading figure in al-Qaeda is to be released on bail in Britain - but with strict curfew conditions as he fights deportation, London's Home Office said on Thursday.
Also: Radical Islamic preacher granted bail (The Age, Melbourne)
May 10 - A FIREBRAND preacher once described as Osama bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe is due to be freed within days after being granted bail by an immigration tribunal.
Also: Bin Laden's 'right hand' to be freed (The Australian)
May 10 - AN extremist Muslim cleric regarded as "Osama bin Laden's spiritual ambassador in Europe" must be released on bail, a British judge ruled today.
Circle of steel around the silk road (Sydney Morning Herald)
May 10 - He was arrested as he arrived at the school gate, in full view of fellow students and his teachers. Taken away by police, the Uygur teenager remains in jail three months later.
Extremists hone internet skills, threats (Sydney Morning Herald)
May 10 - Al Qaeda and other radical groups have dramatically increased their use of the Internet in recent years to lure and train recruits worldwide, a US Senate report warned on Thursday.
Wars between worlds (The Age, Melbourne)
May 10 - As Ed O'Loughlin's five years as Middle East correspondent come to an end, he reflects on his time covering one of the world's most intractable conflicts.
Yudhoyono faces test of faith (The Australian)
May 10 - INDONESIAN President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is standing atop an unstable new precipice of religious intolerance as his Government considers banning an allegedly heretical Muslim sect.
Libya, Italy patch up T-shirt row (The Age, Melbourne)
May 11 - Libya has accepted an apology from an Italian minister whose T-shirt offended Muslims in 2006, and withdrew threats of "repercussions" against Italy over the anti-immigrant party politician's inclusion in a new government.
US Presidential Election
Stop her before it's too late (The Australian)
May 6 – (Opinion) Where Bill was the bigger fibber who "did not have sex with that woman", Hillary is the better chameleon…
McCain to focus on religious freedom (The Australian)
May 8 - PRESUMPTIVE Republican Party presidential nominee John McCain vowed in a speech today to make freedom of religion a key foreign policy issue if he is elected to the White House in November.
Other
Stupidity foils the black prince (Brisbane Times)
May 5 - This column is about stupid black men, a sub-group now in the process of undermining the first ever realistic and galvanising tilt for the White House by an African-American.
School sports day ends in violence (The Australian)
May 6 - SAMOA'S Government has banned inter-school sports after students from rival schools used molotov cocktails and metal bars on each other.
Zone out for a long life (Sydney Morning Herald)
May 7 - If you are looking for a Fountain of Youth, forget pills and diet supplements.
Monks, not military, help clean up (The Australian)
May 7 - IT is being left to Burma's monks to help residents clear roads of fallen trees and other debris caused by killer tropical cyclone Nargis.
Also: Monasteries shelter helpless homeless (Sydney Morning Herald)
May 8 - WITH her husband in jail, a young woman sat in the ruins of her bamboo home with a toddler on her knee, cooking on an open fire.
Missionary who interpreted Kenyatta's words at Mau Mau trial (The Age, Melbourne)
May 8 – (Obituary) THE Reverend Robert Philp, a Church of Scotland missionary in Kenya who acted as interpreter during the trial of Jomo Kenyatta in 1952, has died, aged 95.
Nun who saved Gregorian chant (The Australian)
May 8 – (Obituary) MUSICOLOGIST, nun and don of the University of Cambridge, Mary Berry was highly influential in reviving Gregorian chant in Britain and abroad.
Fast Lane (Sydney Morning Herald)
May 9 - The Mustang Church of America puts the fun back into fundamentalism - it's a temple and museum dedicated to the Ford Mustang.
Behind the altarpiece, a Maestro (The Australian)
May 9 - MODERN detective work has yielded new insight into a collection of 15th-century panels that once adorned a church altar in Spain.
Painter cleared of obscenity charge (The Australian)
May 9 - AN Indian court has cleared controversial painter Maqbool Fida Husain of obscenity charges over his depiction of India as a nude woman.
Sir Cliff unveils top 50 Bible stories (The West Australian, Perth)
May 9 - British crooner Sir Cliff Richard has released a book of his top 50 Bible stories for children to mark the 50th anniversary of his showbiz career.