Religion News Australia 2014 - 17 (May 18

Religion News Australia 2014 - 17 (May 18 - 25)

(24 May 14)
by Greg Spearritt

Religion News Australia

May 18 - 25, 2014

Religion news stories from Australia

(Research: Greg Spearritt)

abuse / education / international stories / islam / judaism / religion & society

ABUSE

UN Committee against Torture critical of Vatican's refusal to assist investigations into child sex abuse (ABC News)
May 23 - The UN's torture watchdog has criticised the Vatican for its reported refusal to provide information to authorities, including a NSW inquiry into child sex abuse.

EDUCATION

Principal of Redlands College transfers Muslim student teachers after they wear hijab to school (The Courier-Mail, Brisbane)
May 24 - THE principal of a Christian College has come under fire for transferring two student teachers after they turned up for work dressed in traditional Muslim headwear.

INTERNATIONAL STORIES

Catholic Church

South Korean cardinal in first visit to North (The West Australian)
May 21 - Seoul (AFP) - A South Korean cardinal visited the North on Wednesday in the first trip of its kind, an official said, ahead of a visit by Pope Francis to Seoul that Catholic authorities hope will promote peace between the neighbours.

Holy Land prepares for papal visit (The West Australian)
May 23 - Jerusalem (AFP) - Two days before Pope Francis arrives in the Holy Land, Israelis and Palestinians were putting the finishing touches Thursday on a flurry of festive preparations for the visit.

Also: Pope set to begin Middle East pilgrimage (The Australian)
May 24 - POPE Francis has headed for Jordan at the start of a Middle East tour aimed at boosting ties with Muslims and Jews as well as easing an age-old rift within Christianity.

Also: Pope Francis arrives in Jordan, for tour of the Holy Land (news.com.au)
May 24 - POPE Francis has arrived in Jordan, kicking off a three-day trip to the Middle East that will see him get a first-hand look at the plight of Syrian refugees and witness the toll the civil war next door is taking on Jordan.

Also: Pope Francis launches Middle East visit with Syria peace appeal (ABC News)
May 24 - Pope Francis has made an urgent appeal for an end to Syria's devastating civil war and an unscripted condemnation of the arms industry at the start of his first trip to the Holy Land as pontiff.

Islam

Iranian actress Leila Hatami's kiss at Cannes Film Festival angers authorities back home (ABC News)
May 19 - Iranian actress Leila Hatami has angered authorities in Tehran by kissing the Cannes Film Festival's president on the cheek, an act seen as an affront to the "chastity" of the Islamic republic's women.

Also: Calls for Iranian actor, Leila Hatami, to face lashings and jail for Cannes kiss (news.com.au)
May 24 - IRANIAN actor Leila Hatami Friday apologised for kissing the Cannes film festival's president on the cheek, an act which angered authorities in the Islamic republic, state news agency IRNA reported.

Iranians arrested after posting their own video of Pharrell Williams's song Happy on YouTube (ABC News)
May 22 - Six Iranians have been arrested for creating a tribute video clip to the hit Pharrell Williams song Happy.

Also: Iranians arrested over Pharrell Williams Happy video released on bail (ABC News)
May 22 - A group of young Iranians arrested for dancing on rooftops to US singer Pharrell Williams' hit Happy in a video that went viral on the internet have reportedly been released on bail.

Indonesia religion minister suspect in pilgrimage graft case (The West Australian)
May 23 - Jakarta (AFP) - Indonesia's anti-corruption agency on Thursday named the religious affairs minister a suspect in a graft case involving a fund to help Muslim pilgrims go to the holy city of Mecca.

Judaism

Israel on alert as Jewish extremists await Pope (The Australian)
May 24 - ISRAEL’s security services are on alert against right-wing Jewish extremists ahead of this weekend’s historic visit to the Holy Land by the Pope.

US indicts four rabbis for allegedly plotting to kidnap men to force them to divorce their wives (Sydney Morning Herald)
May 24 - NEW YORK: A US grand jury has indicted four Orthodox Jewish rabbis and one of their sons for allegedly plotting to kidnap men to force them to divorce their wives.

Religious Violence

Nigerian attack leaves dozens of villagers dead, locals blame Boko Haram (ABC News)
May 22 - Terrorists have killed dozens of people in northern Nigeria, one day after more than 100 people died in a double bombing in the central city of Jos.

US deploys military to help find Nigerian girls (Sydney Morning Herald)
May 22 - Washington: The United States has deployed about 80 military personnel to Chad as part of its effort to help find and return more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Islamist militant group Boko Haram, President Barack Obama said in a letter to Congress on Wednesday.

Chinese state media says five suicide bombers carried out Xinjiang attack (The West Australian)
May 23 - BEIJING (Reuters) - Five suicide bombers carried out the attack which killed 31 people in the capital of China's troubled Xinjiang region, state media reported a day after the deadliest terrorist attack to date in the region.

Also: Arrest over deadly Chinese market bombings in Urumqi (The Australian)
May 24 - CHINESE police have arrested one suspect in the Xinjiang bombing and believe four accomplices were killed in the Urumqi blasts that tore through a busy inner city market on Thursday.

Belgium in shock after three shot dead at Jewish Museum in Brussels (ABC News)
May 24 - Security has been stepped up at Jewish sites across Belgium after a gunman shot dead two men and a woman at a Jewish museum in the capital Brussels.

Other

Church raided in S. Korean ferry disaster probe (The West Australian)
May 21 - Seoul (AFP) - South Korean investigators on Wednesday raided a sprawling religious compound believed to be the hideout of a fugitive billionaire as part of a widening probe into a ferry disaster that killed hundreds.

Also: South Korean sect submits to search for founder linked to doomed ferry (The West Australian)
May 21 - ANSEONG/INCHEON South Korea (Reuters) - Hundreds of followers of a religious sect submitted on Wednesday to a search of their rural commune by South Korean authorities seeking the arrest of the head of the family that operated a ferry which capsized last month killing more than 300 people.

100-year-old beggar celebrated as living saint in Bulgaria (The West Australian)
May 24 - Sofia (AFP) - A 100-year-old beggar in a threadbare coat, "Grandpa" Dobri, is already celebrated as a saint in Bulgaria -- a symbol of goodness in a country ravaged by poverty and corruption.

ISLAM

Muslim man refuses to stand in court due to religion (Daily Telegraph, Sydney)
May 24 - A MUSLIM man who threatened to “slit the throat” of an intelligence officer has refused to stand for a judge in court.

JUDAISM

Strathfield Synagogue in Sydney to be heritage listed (ABC News)
May 21 - A western Sydney council has voted to heritage list one of the area's last remaining synagogues that had been earmarked for sale.

RELIGION & SOCIETY

No forced removal of burkas for G20 identity checks in Queensland (ABC News)
May 22 - The Queensland Parliament has rejected legislation that would have compelled people to remove burkas and face veils for identity checks.

Calamvale woman has a painting in the Vatican (The Courier-Mail, Brisbane)
May 24 - A CALAMVALE woman is one of only a few artists alive in Australia, if not the world, who has a painting hanging in the Vatican.