Religion News Selection 12 (Mar 28

Religion News Selection 12 (Mar 28 - Apr 4)

(03 April 10)
by Greg Spearritt

Religion News Selection

Mar 28 – Apr 4, 2010

A selection of religion news stories from Australia.

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

Bishop says 'vast' tally of sexual abuse yet to emerge (Sydney Morning Herald)

Apr 1 - THE Catholic Church has a turbulent future as probably a much smaller church in the West, with a ''vast amount'' of sexual abuse cases yet to emerge, according to a retired Australian bishop.

CATHOLIC CHURCH

New rebels join religious renewal (Sydney Morning Herald)

Apr 3 - IN A society where sex is everywhere and you can buy drugs online, members of Generation Y have to work hard to be rebellious. So Greg Morgan, 23, and Christian Irdi, 26, have defied 21st century culture in a novel way: by joining the priesthood.

INTERNATIONAL STORIES

Abuse

Vatican reform vital in abuse crisis (The Australian)

Mar 30 – (Opinion: William Rees-Mogg) THE pedophile abuse cases have become a big crisis for the Catholic Church.

A church adrift (Sydney Morning Herald)

Apr 1 - IT'S only a quarter over, but mark down 2010 as a bad year for the Vatican.

Church prays for the miracle of PR to save it (Sydney Morning Herald)

Apr 1 – (Opinion: Maureen Dowd) IT DOESN'T seem right that the Catholic Church is spending Holy Week practising the unholy art of spin.

Rome waited to ban pedophile priest (Sydney Morning Herald)

Apr 3 - The future Pope Benedict XVI took over the abuse case of an Arizona priest, then let it languish at the Vatican for years despite repeated pleas from the bishop for the man to be removed from the priesthood, according to church correspondence.

Scandals revive Left fantasy (The Australian)

Apr 3 – (Opinion: Christopher Pearson) THE past few weeks have been a busy time for militant atheists, in concert across the Anglosphere.

Jews outraged at Vatican scandal comparison (ABC News)

Apr 4 - Jewish groups around the world have reacted with shock after Pope Benedict's personal preacher compared attacks on the Church and the pope over a sexual abuse scandal to "collective violence" against Jews.

Other

There's nothing like a dunking in dirty water (Sydney Morning Herald)

Apr 3 - ONE of the best places to observe miracles these days is on the banks of the River Jordan, where, the Bible says, John baptised Jesus Christ and declared him the Messiah.

POLITICS

Church slams Abbott's 'chilling' asylum message (ABC News)

Apr 2 - The Uniting Church's president has described Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's language on asylum seekers as "extreme".

RELIGION & SOCIETY

Giving thanks (The Age, Melbourne)

Apr 2 – (Opinion: Barney Zwartz) Gratitude changes everything, and not only in literature. Some atheists say religion begins in fear and ignorance; I suggest it begins with gratitude.

Who's afraid of 4500 boatpeople? (The Australian)

Apr 3 – (Opinion: Peter van Onselen) I find it disappointingly inconsistent that both of our political leaders, Rudd and Tony Abbott, wear their religion on their sleeves, yet neither of them practises the compassion that Christianity extols when it comes to boatpeople.

Atheism / Belief

Faith and unbelief aren't what they used to be (The Age, Melbourne)

Apr 2 – (Opinion: Editorial) There used to be a stand-off between believers and sceptics. Now there are dogmatists on both sides.

Thank God we're not all atheists, bishop says (Sydney Morning Herald)

Apr 2 - GODLESSNESS and secularism led to Nazism, Stalinism, mass murder and abortion, according to Anthony Fisher, the new bishop of Parramatta, who has used his inaugural Easter message to launch a scathing attack on atheism, while ignoring the sex abuse scandals besieging the Catholic Church worldwide.

Atheists hit back at clergy criticism of non-belief (The Australian)

Apr 2 - ATHEISTS have hit back at criticism by religious leaders, claiming the clergy have made non-believers a scapegoat for declining church congregations.

Atheists are believers who hate God: Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen (The Australian)

Apr 3 - RELIGIOUS leaders have used their Easter sermons and messages to condemn the rise of atheism, with Sydney Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen describing the philosophy as an "assault on God".

Atheists respond to church leader attacks (The Age, Melbourne)

Apr 4 - ATHEISTS have hit back at Easter attacks by church leaders, saying claims they ''hate God'' are nonsense, because God does not exist.

Easter

God, the Christian socialist and the mad monk (ABC News)

Apr 1 – (Opinion: Chris Uhlmann) Over Easter the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader will participate in rites that many see as ridiculous.

Has the bell tolled on Easter's meaning? (The Age, Melbourne)

Apr 2 – (Opinion: Peter Craven) It would be a tragedy to lose a story of such power and illumination.

There are good people in the other faiths, believe it or not (The Age, Melbourne)

Apr 2 – (Opinion: Hugh Mackay) Belief sustains us, inspires us, motivates us and sometimes transforms us. But it also brings out the worst in many of us.

Easter faith: a reason for believing (The Age, Melbourne)

Apr 2 – (Opinion: Editorial) You don't have to have attended the Global Atheist Convention in Melbourne last month to regard the claims of Christianity as highly improbable.

Church leaders unite against 'idolatry' of atheism (The Australian)

Apr 3 - THE creeping forces of secularism and materialism were addressed by several religious leaders during their Good Friday messages yesterday, with Sydney Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen condemning atheism as a form of self-worship.

From the Archive…

Religion News Australia 2010 - 12 (March 28 – Apr 4)

Religion News Australia 2010 - 11 (March 21 - 28)

Religion News Australia 2010 - 10 (March 7 - 21)

Religion News Australia 2010 - 9 (February 28 – March 7)

Religion News Australia 2010 - 8 (February 21 - 28)

Religion News Australia 2010 - 7 (February 14 - 21)

Religion News Australia 2010 - 6 (February 7 - 14)

Religion News Australia 2010 - 5 (February 1 - 7)

Religion News Australia 2010 - 4 (January 24 - 31)

Religion News Australia 2010 - 3 (January 17 - 24)

Religion News Australia 2010 - 2 (January 10 - 17)