Religion News Australia 2012 - 31 (Sept 2

Religion News Australia 2012 - 31 (Sept 2 - 9)

(08 September 12)
by Greg Spearritt

Religion News Australia

Sept 2 - 9, 2012

Religion news stories from Australia

(Research: Greg Spearritt)

abuse / anglican church / education / catholic church / international stories / religion & society

ABUSE

Church's crimes must be punished (Herald-Sun, Melbourne)

Sept 3 – (Opinion: Alan Howe) THIS Baillieu Government means business.

ANGLICAN CHURCH

Archbishop apologises to women over forced adoptions (ABC News)

Sept 7 - The Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane has personally apologised to women in his diocese who were forced to give up their babies for adoption in church-run homes.

CATHOLIC CHURCH

Parishioners win fight to save gutted shell of church from demolition (The Age, Melbourne)

Sept 6 - PARISHIONERS of the historic St Joseph's Catholic Church in Collingwood were triumphant yesterday after a tribunal refused permission to knock down the shell of the church to extend a school playground.

EDUCATION

School chaplaincy provider facing financial pressure (The Age, Melbourne)

Sept 3 - THE organisation responsible for providing chaplains to Victorian state schools, using millions of dollars of federal government money, is under financial pressure, recording a loss for the third successive year.

Also: School chaplains group struggles to stay afloat (The Age, Melbourne)

Sept 9 - THE main provider of chaplains to Victorian state schools under a controversial federal government program is at risk of collapse, according to its most recent financial accounts.

Clergy puts cash before conscience, says Christine Milne (The Australian)

Sept 8 - GREENS leader Christine Milne has launched a scathing attack on the Catholic Church, accusing it of being more concerned about cash for its schools than about social justice and of falling short on environmental issues.

INTERNATIONAL STORIES

Anglican Church

Tutu wants Bush, Blair tried over Iraq (ABC News)

Sept 3 - Archbishop Desmond Tutu says former British prime minister Tony Blair and former US president George W Bush should face trial in The Hague for their role in the Iraq war

Anglicans eye new 'presidential' position (news.com.au)

Sept 8 - THE Anglican Church plans to hand over some of the global duties of the Archbishop of Canterbury to a "presidential" figure, a media report says.

Also: Church to divide archbishop's duties (Sydney Morning Herald)

Sept 9 - THE Anglican Church plans to hand over some of the global duties of the Archbishop of Canterbury to a ''presidential'' figure.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams admits failings on gay issue (news.com.au)

Sept 8 - ARCHBISHOP of Canterbury Rowan Williams has admitted he didn't do enough to prevent sharp divisions within the Anglican Church over homosexuality.

Catholic Church

Fond farewell for liberal Catholic voice (Sydney Morning Herald)

Sept 5 - ROME: Milan ground almost to a halt as its people - believers and non-believers alike - bid farewell to a beloved pastor, and perhaps too to the hope of a more liberal form of Catholicism that he embodied.

Pope's Lebanon trip an 'act of courage' (news.com.au)

Sept 9 - POPE Benedict XVI's visit to Lebanon next week is "considered an act of great courage and hope worldwide" as a civil war rages in neighbouring Syria.

Islam

France learns to live with the 'burqa bill' (The Age, Melbourne)

Sept 3 - PARIS: During a recent protest in Marseille, seven people were suddenly surrounded by the police, bundled into a van and brought in for questioning.

Cleric 'planted evidence' on accused Koran-burner (ABC News)

Sept 3 - A Pakistani imam has been remanded in custody, accused of planting burnt pages of the Koran in the bag of a Christian girl being held for blasphemy.

Also: Senior Islamic cleric defends Christian girl (Sydney Morning Herald)

Sept 5 - ISLAMABAD: The Christian girl who was allegedly framed for blasphemy by her local mullah was hailed as a ''daughter of the nation'' by one of Pakistan's most senior Islamic clerics who also vowed to guarantee her safety if she is eventually released from prison.

Also: Girl granted bail in Pakistan blasphemy case (ABC News)

Sept 7 - A young Christian girl accused of blasphemy in Pakistan has been granted bail after being held in jail for more than three weeks.

Also: Pakistan 'blasphemy girl' released on bail (ABC News)

Sept 9 - A Christian girl accused of blasphemy was released on bail in Pakistan Saturday after spending more than three weeks in jail, in a case that has sparked an international outcry.

Egypt TV unveils the headscarf (Sydney Morning Herald)

Sept 4 - CAIRO: A woman wearing a headscarf presented the news on Egyptian state TV on Sunday, breaking a code of secular dress that for decades effectively barred the wearing of Islamic head coverings.

Teenage girl faces lashing for pre-marital sex in the Maldives (news.com.au)

Sept 5 - A court in the Maldives has ordered a public flogging for a 16-year-old girl who confessed to having pre-marital sex, in a ruling that Tuesday triggered widespread criticism from rights groups.

Judaism

Settlers evacuate flagship West Bank outpost (Sydney Morning Herald)

Sept 4 - UNDER court order, Israel has evacuated Migron, one of the largest unauthorised settlement outposts in the West Bank.

Religious Violence

Suicide bomber targets US diplomats in Pakistan (ABC News)

Sept 4 - A suicide bomber has rammed a United States consulate car in Pakistan, killing himself and two others.

Monastery vandalised in suspected Israel hate crime (The West Australian)

Sept 4 - LATRUN, Israel (AFP) - Vandals burnt the door of a Catholic monastery in central Israel early on Tuesday and scrawled anti-Christian graffiti in an apparent "price tag" hate crime, Israeli police and witnesses said.

Court rules: shave off beard or it will be done by force (The Age, Melbourne)

Sept 7 - The US Army psychiatrist charged in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting rampage must be clean-shaven or will be forcibly shaved before his murder trial, a military judge has ordered.

US adds Pakistan 'mafia group' to terror blacklist (ABC News)

Sept 8 - The United States government has designated the Pakistan-based Haqqani group as a terrorist organisation, in a move that could strain its already fraught relationship with Islamabad.

Taliban using Facebook to lure Aussie soldier (news.com.au)

Sept 9 - TALIBAN insurgents are posing as "attractive women" on Facebook to befriend coalition soldiers and gather intelligence about operations.

US Politics

Obama orders God, Jerusalem back on party platform (The West Australian)

Sept 6 - CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (AFP) - US President Barack Obama ordered Democrats to reinsert references to God and Jerusalem in their party platform, prompting boos from many angry delegates.

Romney plays God card in swing state struggle (The West Australian)

Sept 9 - VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia (AFP) - Republican Mitt Romney thrust God to the center of the White House race Saturday, in a culture war strike that prompted Barack Obama's team to brand him extreme and divisive.

Other

Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon dies (ABC News)

Sept 3 - Sun Myung Moon, a self-proclaimed messiah who founded the controversial Unification Church and turned it into a multi-billion dollar business empire, has died in South Korea at the age of 92.

Also: Leader of the Moonies dies aged 92 (Sydney Morning Herald)

Sept 3 - Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon built his first place of worship from scrap materials some 60 years ago and went on to establish a controversial religious and business empire spanning the globe.

Also: Unification Church founder Reverend Sun Myung Moon dies at 92 (news.com.au)

Sept 3 - THE Reverend Sun Myung Moon, the self-proclaimed messiah who turned his Unification Church into a worldwide religious movement and befriended North Korean leaders as well as US presidents, has died, church officials have said. He was 92.

Also: Moon's death threatens unity of Unification Church (The West Australian)

Sept 4 - SEOUL (AFP) - The death of Sun Myung Moon robs his Unification Church of the glue that sustained its global following as a cohesive religious and financial force even as membership dwindled from its 1980s peak, analysts say.

Also: Church prepares grand farewell for founder Moon (Sydney Morning Herald)

Sept 4 - GAPYEONG: Just hours after the death of the Unification Church founder and ''messiah'', Sun Myung Moon, preparations began for what church officials said would be a huge funeral.

Also: 'Messiah' who combined teachings with big business (The Age, Melbourne)

Sept 6 – (Obituary) SUN Myung Moon, a self-professed messiah who claimed millions of religious followers in his Unification Church and sought to become a powerful voice in the American conservative movement through business interests that included The Washington Times, has died at the age of 92.

Also: Rev. Moon's youngest son heads North (news.com.au)

Sept 7 - A UNIFICATION Church official says the youngest son of the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon has left South Korea for the North Korean capital to meet with mourners.

Also: Bizarre entry to Moon's orbit as empire fell and a cult flourished (The Age, Melbourne)

Sept 8 – (Opinion: Hamish McDonald) To Moscow with the Moonies! Of all the assignments that can come in a reporter's career, this had to be the weirdest.

Scientology detox for Vietnam war victims (Sydney Morning Herald)

Sept 7 - THE Vietnamese government is treating some victims of Agent Orange by using a detoxification method developed by the founder of the Church of Scientology, according to doctors involved.

Cult blocks secular school protesters (The Australian)

Sept 7 - A MEXICAN religious cult has padlocked the gate of its walled community, keeping out 500 teachers protesting the sect's refusal to let children attend public school there.

Man robbed by armed masked gunman inside Church in Washington DC (news.com.au)

Sept 7 - CHURCHES have been broken into and robbed and/or vandalised but have you ever read about a crime like this?

Cruise's church 'screened at least two dozen women' (news.com.au)

Sept 7 - THE Church of Scientology reportedly catered to Tom Cruise's "very specific demands" on the woman he wanted to marry.

Also: Scientology 'to blame' for end of Cruise-Cruz relationship (The West Australian)

Sept 7 - Scientology is reportedly the reasoning behind Tom Cruise's split from Penelope Cruz in 2004.

The developing world is getting more modern, and more religious (The Australian)

Sept 8 – (Opinion: David Ignatius) God had a good convention: The Almighty's name was mentioned (albeit at the last minute) in the Democratic platform.

Court rejects believer's Pussy Riot suit (news.com.au)

Sept 8 - A RUSSIAN court on Friday threw out a claim for moral damages over the Pussy Riot punk performance from a Siberian Orthodox believer who had not been present in the church when the women sang.

RELIGION & SOCIETY

Exclusive Brethren GP banned for prescribing gay 'cure' (Sydney Morning Herald)

Sept 5 - A SYDNEY doctor who is a member of the Exclusive Brethren Christian sect has been banned from practising as a GP after he prescribed chemical castration to a young man who sought a ''cure'' for homosexuality.

Gillard pulls out of Christian Lobby speech in gay marriage row (ABC News)

Sept 6 - Prime Minister Julia Gillard has pulled out of a speech at the Australian Christian Lobby's national conference, after its managing director compared the health effects of smoking to homosexuality.

Also: Christian lobbyist has gays fuming (The Australian)

Sept 6 - BIG Tobacco found an unlikely ally yesterday after Australian Christian Lobby boss Jim Wallace provoked outrage by suggesting smoking was healthier than living in same-sex relationships.

Also: Christian lobby defends gay slur (The West Australian)

Sept 6 - The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) says the prime minister's decision to pull out of a speaking engagement to the group's supporters will be seen as an "abandonment of the Christian constituency".

Also: Apology 'not enough' for gay marriage remarks (ABC News)

Sept 7 - Gay rights campaigner and Liberal MP Warren Entsch says an apology from the head of the Australian Christian Lobby would not make up for his "highly offensive" comments on homosexuality.

Also: Gay slur sparks Gillard boycott of Christian event (Sydney Morning Herald)

Sept 7 - THE Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has pulled out of speaking at the Australian Christian Lobby's national conference after its leader suggested a homosexual ''lifestyle'' was more hazardous to health than smoking.

Also: PM cancels Christian Lobby visit (Brisbane Times)

Sept 8 - PRIME Minister Julia Gillard has cancelled a speech at the Australian Christian Lobby's national conference, after its leader said a homosexual ''lifestyle'' was more hazardous to health than smoking.

Also: Gillard makes the right call (The Age, Melbourne)

Sept 7 – (Opinion: Michelle Grattan) JIM Wallace has the right, given free speech, to say what he likes.

Also: Tolerance requires open debate, not closed minds (The Australian)

Sept 8 – (Opinion: Editorial) TOLERANCE has often been a clarion call for the liberal left, but a creeping intolerance in political debate is emerging most fiercely from, of all people, progressives.

Also: Why didn't PM take a stand on bigotry before now? (Daily Telegraph, Sydney)

Sept 9 – (Opinion: Peter van Onselen) It should come as welcome news to all fair-minded people that Prime Minister Julia Gillard has decided to withdraw from participating at next month's Australian Christian Lobby conference.

Place of worship gets preference to school at Docklands (The Age, Melbourne)

Sept 7 - RESIDENTS of Docklands will soon be able to attend religious services in their suburb - but not send their children to a local school.

Missionary leaves wake of distress (The Age, Melbourne)

Sept 7 - AT LEAST 120 of Victoria's most vulnerable tenants are facing homelessness and some have lost their bond and bill money because a rooming house operator has gone missing with thousands of dollars.

New age 'medicine' of Serge Benhayon leaves trail of broken families (news.com.au)

Sept 8 - AN alleged new-age cult, run by a former bankrupt who claims to be Leonardo da Vinci reincarnated, is expanding its multimillion-dollar enterprise with the help of Brisbane's medical mainstream.