Religion News Selection 9 (Feb 26

Religion News Selection 9 (Feb 26 - Mar 5)

(04 March 17)
by Greg Spearritt

Religion News Selection

February 26 – March 5, 2017

A selection of religion news stories from Australia.

(Research: Greg Spearritt)

Inclusion here does not endorse the veracity or quality of any particular item – it just means
I found it worth reading and reflecting on (even if badly conceived or poorly written).

If you\’re after the unexpurgated (and reasonably unbiased) version,
see Religion News Australia which appears weekly on our website.

ABUSE

Catholic Archbishop promises a listening tour with victims of sexual abuse (Canberra Times)
Mar 1 - The Catholic Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn has promised a "listening tour" to meet victims of child sexual abuse and their families as part of a healing mission in the lead-up to Easter.

Bravehearts founder calls for Catholic Archbishop to resign over relocation of priest (ABC News)
Mar 2 - The founder of a group that advocates for and supports victims of sexual assault has called for Catholic Archbishop Christopher Prowse to resign over the relocation of a priest accused of inappropriate behaviour towards children.

Catholic Church blocks victims\’ path to further compensation (ABC News)
Mar 3 - The Catholic Church’s Melbourne Archdiocese has rejected an independent review’s recommendation to extend compensation for child sex abuse victims to their families or carers.

ANGLICAN CHURCH

Beaconsfield Anglican church welcomes Muslim community, offers land for mosque (ABC News)
Mar 1 - An Anglican church in Perth’s south, which has been opening its doors to local Muslim worshippers once a week, has offered to sell part of its land for a mosque to be built next door.

CATHOLIC CHURCH

Remains of Tasmania\’s first Catholic Bishop Robert Willson arrive from UK (ABC News)
Mar 1 - Tasmania’s first Catholic bishop has returned to the island state, more than 150 years after his death.

INTERNATIONAL STORIES

Abuse

Clerical abuse victim leaves Vatican commission, accuses it of \’silence and secrecy\’ (ABC News)
Mar 2 - A prominent survivor of clerical sexual abuse has accused authorities within the Vatican of hiding behind a culture of silence and secrecy to avoid dealing with the issue.

Anglican Church

Opponent of female priests urged to decline bishop of Sheffield post (The Guardian, Australia)
Feb 24 - A senior Church of England theologian has called on the newly appointed bishop of Sheffield to stand aside ahead of his consecration, saying his opposition to female priests will “cause significant pastoral and public damage to the church”.

Catholic Church

Civil war in the Vatican as conservatives battle Francis for the soul of Catholicism (The Guardian, Australia)
Mar 5 – (Opinion: Catherine Pepinster) When Pope Francis was elected nearly four years ago, on 13 March 2013, he was escorted – like every pope before him – from the Sistine Chapel to the Room of Tears.

Islam

\’I spent the night at my Muslim friends\’\’: Christians flee Islamic State in Sinai (Sydney Morning Herald)
Feb 27 - Ismailia, Egypt: Some fled with little more than the clothes they were wearing, terrified that the militants of Islamic State would come for them next.

Tariq Ramadan: \’Muslims need to reform their minds\’ (The Guardian, Australia)
Mar 1 - Tariq Ramadan knows all about travel bans.

Judaism

US Jewish centres report another wave of hoax bomb threats: NBC (Brisbane Times)
Feb 28 - New York: At least 16 Jewish community centres and schools around the United States reported receiving bomb threats on Monday, NBC News reported, the fifth wave of such threats this year that have stoked fears of a resurgence of anti-Semitism.

Also: President Donald Trump suggests anti-Semitic threats coming from Jews (news.com.au)
Mar 1 - PRESIDENT Donald Trump has suggested a series of bomb threats against Jewish community centres across the United States could be coming from within the Jewish community itself.

ISLAM

Australians aren\’t as Islamophobic as we\’re led to believe (ABC News)
Feb 27 – (Opinion: Riaz Hassan ) Over the last few months, several reports have indicated a significant number of Australians hold anti-Muslim attitudes.

Halal certification defamation case against Kirralie Smith settled out of court (Sydney Morning Herald)
Feb 28 - A Supreme Court defamation case brought by halal certifier Mohamed El-Mouelhy against the far-right Q Society has been settled out of court, with the organisation, its board members and politician Kirralie Smith making an apology.

SBS\’s Is Australia Racist? exposes a shocking insight into everyday bigotry (Brisbane Times)
Feb 28 - "Where’s your f---ing face? What are you hiding from? F---ing Allah?" These questions were among the abuse caught on shocking hidden-camera footage of a random hate-filled attack on a young Muslim woman by herself in a shopping centre.

POLITICS

Donald Trump\’s America shows why Australians are turning to Pauline Hanson (ABC News)
Mar 3 – (Opinion: Stan Grant) There are things people say sometimes that really pull me up short and it happened again this week.

Pauline Hanson blasts Muslims, praises Putin, questions vaccines in ABC interview (Sydney Morning Herald)
Mar 5 - Muslims want to impose Sharia law because they "hate Western society," Australia needs a "strong" leader like Vladimir Putin and the government must stop "blackmailing" parents into vaccinating their children, Pauline Hanson has told the ABC.

RELIGION & SOCIETY

Catholicism has done more harm to Australia than Islam. Where\’s the outrage? (The Guardian, Australia)
Feb 28 – (Opinion: Kristina Keneally) Every Muslim who speaks out is expected to own, explain and condemn any act carried out by Muslims worldwide. The same doesn’t apply to Catholics

Lent sacrifices still relevant as Christian tradition spans generations (ABC News)
Mar 1 - "What are you giving up for Lent?" is a phrase commonly used at this time of year.

Is the church\’s culture of shame increasing abortions? (ABC News)
Mar 5 – (Opinion: Michael Paget) I have been the senior minister at St Barnabas Broadway, in Sydney’s inner city, for six years.