Religion News Australia 2010 - 16 (Apr 26

Religion News Australia 2010 - 16 (Apr 26 - May 3)

(03 May 10)
by Greg Spearritt

Religion News Australia

Apr 26 – May 3, 2010

Religion news stories from Australia

(Research: Greg Spearritt)

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

ABUSE

Church to deregister sex abuse ex-priest (ABC News)

Apr 30 - The Catholic Bishop of Wollongong, Peter Ingham, says an 83-year-old retired priest convicted for child sexual abuse will be removed as a registered priest.

ANGLICAN CHURCH

Anglicans back wild rivers law overhaul (The Age, Melbourne)

Apr 28 - The Anglican Church has entered the debate over Queensland's controversial wild rivers laws, calling for them to be overhauled.

CATHOLIC CHURCH

Church cuts jobs amid finances warning (ABC News)

Apr 30 - Jobs have been cut in the Catholic Church in South Australia as it faces tough economic times.

EDUCATION

Godless ethics classes are pointless (The Australian)

May 1 – (Opinion: Angela Shanahan) The launch of a secular course in NSW schools denies the essential role of religion.

INTERNATIONAL STORIES

Abuse

Catholic Church hears more abuse claims (The Age, Melbourne)

Apr 28 - Norway's Catholic Church has been informed of seven new possible cases of paedophilia by priests, bringing the total number of suspected cases in the Scandinavian country to 18, media say.

Chile Catholic church faces abuse claims (The Age, Melbourne)

Apr 28 - Chile's Catholic Church was shaken by a series of dramatic televised interviews of men alleging they were abused by a respected former priest, followed hours later by a bombing that damaged a church's facade.

Brazilian priest charged with pedophilia (The Age, Melbourne)

Apr 29 - Brazilian authorities on Wednesday charged a 74-year-old Catholic priest with pedophilia after eight children in his church choir accused him of sexual abuse.

Pope orders changes after abuse scandal (ABC News)

May 2 - Pope Benedict says he has set in motion a series of thorough reforms in a powerful conservative religious order whose founder sexually abused children for decades.

Also: Catholic Church to overhaul disgraced Legionaries order (The Age, Melbourne)

May 2 - The Roman Catholic Church will overhaul the ultra-conservative Legion of Christ whose late founder Marcial Maciel was disgraced after abuse scandals, the Vatican said.

Also: Vatican envoy to reform order (Sydney Morning Herald)

May 3 - ROME: A papal envoy will take over and reform the scandal-plagued Legionaries of Christ, discredited by revelations that its founder sexually abused seminarians and fathered at least one child.

Also: Disgraced Catholic order gets new chief (The Australian)

May 3 - THE Roman Catholic Church will overhaul the ultra-conservative Legion of Christ, whose late founder Marcial Maciel was disgraced after abuse scandals.

New Catholic abuse rules (The Age, Melbourne)

May 3 - India's Roman Catholic bishops are planning to report all abuse allegations against priests to the police, rather than handling cases internally.

Anglican Church

Court upholds sacking of Christian therapist (ABC News)

Apr 30 - A Christian marriage counsellor sacked for refusing to give sex advice to homosexuals has had his appeal bid quashed by a top court, reigniting a row between the Anglican Church and the judiciary.

Disaffected bishops meet with Vatican (The Age, Melbourne)

May 3 - Three Church of England bishops have travelled to Rome for talks with Vatican officials about joining the Catholic Church, according to two of the bishops involved.

Catholic Church

SuBo to sing for the Pope? (ABC News)

Apr 27 - The Roman Catholic Church in Scotland wants Susan Boyle to perform for Pope Benedict XVI during a visit to the UK later this year.

Catholic numbers rise in Africa: Vatican (The Age, Melbourne)

Apr 28 - The number of Roman Catholics soared by a third in Africa from 2000 to 2008 but stagnated in Europe, according to figures published Tuesday by the Vatican.

Pope prays before Shroud of Turin (ABC News)

May 3 - Pope Benedict XVI has prayed before the Shroud of Turin, believed by many to be the burial cloth of Jesus Christ, which he described as an "icon written with blood".

Islam

Traffic fine fuels French debate over burka (ABC News)

Apr 27 - A Muslim woman fined for wearing an Islamic head veil while driving in France has launched an appeal, claiming her human rights have been infringed.

Also: Bigamist sparks political storm (The Australian)

Apr 27 - THE Frenchman's divine right to multiple mistresses is under fire after the husband of a woman fined for driving in a burka stood to lose his French nationality for being a polygamist and social security fraud.

55,000 sign up for Boobquake (Sydney Morning Herald)

Apr 27 - Breasts were big on Facebook on Monday as a female blogger called on women to prove wrong an Iranian cleric who preached that cleavage causes earthquakes.

Also: Boobquake proves cleric wrong, says blogger (The Courier-Mail, Brisbane)

Apr 28 - THE results are in, and cleavage doesn't cause earthquakes, says blogger Jen McCreight.

Also: Wicked women make the earth move (Sydney Morning Herald)

Apr 29 - (Opinion: Elizabeth Farrelly) A senior Iranian cleric says women and girls who dress provocatively cause earthquakes.

Veiled threat of a secular society (ABC News)

Apr 28 – (Opinion: Emma Alberici) One of the privileges of being a journalist is that you're routinely invited into people's homes and get the opportunity to glimpse into a way of life you might otherwise have never been witness to at such close range.

Belgium edges closer to banning face veil (ABC News)

Apr 30 - Belgium's lower house of parliament has approved a draft law to ban wearing the full Islamic face veil in public, a move that could make Belgium the first country to make the practice a criminal offence.

Also: Belgium bans Muslim veil in public (The Age, Melbourne)

May 1 - BELGIAN MPs have approved a nationwide ban prohibiting women from wearing full-face Islamic veils in public places, the first move of its kind in western Europe.

Judaism

Hand in Hand: book explores Jewish and Aboriginal ties (ABC News)

May 3 - In November 1938, Nazis in Germany and Austria attacked Jewish people and property on what was to become known as Kristallnacht, or Night of the Broken Glass.

US Politics

Obama hosts Muslim entrepreneurs (Sydney Morning Herald)

Apr 27 - US President Barack Obama laid a key plank of his strategy to mend ties with the Islamic world on Monday by hosting a summit to boost economic development in Muslim nations.

Obama prays with Graham (Sydney Morning Herald)

Apr 27 - CHARLOTTE, North Carolina: Barack Obama has become the 12th US president to meet the Reverend Billy Graham, and the first sitting one to visit the preacher's mountaintop home.

Religious Violence

Somali mosque blast kill at least 30 (The Age, Melbourne)

May 1 - Two bombs exploded inside a mosque in Mogadishu's main market on Saturday in the first Iraq-style bombing inside a house of worship in Somalia.

South Park 'bear suit' sketch linked to Times Square bomb bid (Sydney Morning Herald)

May 3 - New York police are investigating whether there is any link between the car bomb left in New York's Times Square and recent threats made against the creators of South Park, US media reports say.

Other

'Noah's Ark' discovered on Turkish mountain (ABC News)

Apr 28 - A group of Chinese and Turkish evangelical explorers believe they may have found Noah's Ark about 4,000 metres up a mountain in Turkey.

Also: Is this a glimpse inside Noah's Ark? (The Courier-Mail, Brisbane)

Apr 29 - AS believers in the literal truth of the Bible, they say they always knew it was there.

Man claims he ate, drank nothing for 70 years (The Courier-Mail, Brisbane)

Apr 29 - SCIENTISTS are studying an 82-year-old man who claims he has not had any food or drink for 70 years.

Watchdog names 40 'predators of Press' (The Age, Melbourne)

May 3 - Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders has named the world's 40 worst "predators of the press" including politicians, religious leaders and militias to mark World Press Freedom Day.

ISLAM

Pauline Hanson's Muslim ban 'illegal' (The Age, Melbourne)

Apr 28 - Former One Nation leader Pauline Hanson would be breaking the law if she refused to sell her home to a Muslim buyer on religious grounds, the Queensland Anti-Discrimination Commission says.

Also: Hanson Muslim ban: 'I'm the one who decides' (The Age, Melbourne)

Apr 29 - Pauline Hanson has portrayed herself as a victim of political correctness following the furore over her refusal to sell her home to a Muslim.

Also: Hanson won't sell home to anyone, including Muslims (Sydney Morning Herald)

Apr 30 - Former One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has taken her Queensland home off the market, following a backlash against her decision not to sell to Muslims.

Also: Could Pauline Hanson be right? (The Age, Melbourne)

Apr 30 – (Opinion) It’s now an Aussie tradition to cat-call Pauline Hanson - and her statement about Muslims this week sure sparked the usual howls of derision.

Muslim-phobia is so entrenched that it's gone beyond a joke (Sydney Morning Herald)

Apr 30 – (Opinion: Irfan Yusuf) Infidels of the world, lend me your ears! We the Coburg Jihad, representing every Muslim in the galaxy, wish to warn The Footy Show against depicting the prophet Muhammad as having any involvement in the Melbourne Storm salary cap affair.

RELIGION & SOCIETY

Lindy Chamberlain blames lawyers for her conviction (The Australian)

Apr 26 - LINDY Chamberlain-Creighton had a nation to forgive and yesterday she revealed how she did it.

On show: Kings Cross and the seven deadly sins (Sydney Morning Herald)

Apr 29 - THE question is raised by the former High Court judge Michael Kirby: are government attempts to suppress popular desires such as lust, gambling and drug use ever really worth the effort?

'Curly' giving hope to thousands (The Age, Melbourne)

Apr 29 - EUGENE Lincoln Napoleon Veith once bought a new Humber Snipe sedan but soon decided it was too fancy.

OTHER

Prayers but no mass for Carl (The Age, Melbourne)

Apr 29 - Roberta Williams is expected to lead the eulogies for her ex-husband Carl Williams as he is farewelled amid tight security on Friday.