Religion News Australia 2010 - 24 (June 20

Religion News Australia 2010 - 24 (June 20 - 27)

(26 June 10)
by Greg Spearritt

Religion News Australia

June 20 - 27, 2010

Religion news stories from Australia

(Research: Greg Spearritt)

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

ABUSE

Man charged with 40 sex offences on boys (The Age, Melbourne)

June 26 - A man has been charged with 40 sex offences against young boys in the NSW Hunter Valley nearly thirty years ago.

EDUCATION

School ethics classes at risk in NSW (The Age, Melbourne)

June 22 - Proposed ethics classes in NSW are at risk after the Department of Education ruled full-time teachers cannot conduct the lessons.

Creationism creeps into NSW schools (The Australian)

June 25 - STUDENTS at one NSW school were told by an untrained scripture teacher they would "burn in hell" if they didn't believe in Jesus

INTERNATIONAL STORIES

Abuse

Cardinal in corruption probe (The Age, Melbourne)

June 23 - A SENIOR cardinal has defended his record at the head of a powerful Vatican body after prosecutors placed him under investigation as part of a sweeping corruption scandal.

Disgraced bishop faces new sexual abuse claims (The Age, Melbourne)

June 23 - A SECRET Vatican file on a disgraced German bishop alleges he is a ''severely alcoholic man'' who preyed sexually on young priests.

Police raid Belgian church in paedophile probe (ABC News)

June 24 - Police have raided the headquarters of the Belgian Catholic church following accusations of child sex abuse involving Church figures, a spokesman for Brussels prosecutors said.

Also: Church paedophilia raids 'went too far' (ABC News)

June 25 - The head of the Catholic church in Belgium has complained that police raids on Church property the previous day during investigations into paedophile priests went too far.

Also: Belgian police raid church authorities (The Australian)

June 26 - THE home and office of the former head of the Catholic Church in Belgium were raided by police yesterday.

Also: Bishops detained in Belgian child sex raid (ABC News)

June 27 - A Belgian archdiocese is considering legal action over police raids during which Roman Catholic bishops were detained and a cathedral crypt was searched.

Catholic Church

Vatican, Vietnam look to improve ties (Sydney Morning Herald)

June 27 - The Pope will appoint a representative for Vietnam in a first step toward establishing diplomatic relations between the Vatican and the communist nation.

Islam

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono minister burnt by porn scandal (The Australian)

June 22 - INDONESIA'S celebrity porn scandal has reached into the heart of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's cabinet.

Religious Violence

Best we can do is to pull out of Afghanistan (The Australian)

June 23 – (Opinion: Michael O'Connor) THE war in Muslim Afghanistan cannot be won by the armed forces of a Christian country.

Indonesia rearrests embassy bomber (The Age, Melbourne)

June 24 - An Indonesian terrorist who helped assemble the bomb used in the 2004 attack on Australia's Jakarta embassy has been re-arrested just months after his release from prison.

Hanging of eight-year-old turns many against Taliban (The Age, Melbourne)

June 25 - THE Taliban's execution of an eight-year-old accused of ''collaborating'' with foreign forces has proved too much even for Afghans hardened by three decades of fighting.

Taliban commander, US soldier killed (The Age, Melbourne)

June 26 - A senior Taliban commander disguised as a woman has been killed by Afghan and international forces after he opened fire with a pistol and tried to throw a grenade south of the capital Kabul.

Al-Qaeda's 'first lady' a middle-class mother (The Age, Melbourne)

June 27 - SAUDI Arabia is reviewing its terrorism strategy after the detection of a female-run network that was fund-raising for al-Qaeda.

Blast shakes Kabul as US military chief visits (The Age, Melbourne)

June 27 - The Afghan capital was rocked Saturday by an accidental blast just as Washington's military chief promised business as usual despite the sacking of the US commander of foreign forces.

Other

Oldest portraits of Christ's apostles found (ABC News)

June 23 - Archaeologists and art restorers using new laser technology have discovered what they believe are the oldest paintings of the faces of Jesus Christ's apostles.

Also: Rome finds oldest icons of four Apostles beneath its streets (Sydney Morning Herald)

June 24 - SANTA TECLA, Rome: The earliest known icons of four of Christ's apostles have been found in an elaborately decorated chamber in a catacomb beneath the streets of Rome.

American Beauty actress Mena Suvari weds in Vatican City (News.com.au)

June 27 - AMERICAN actress Mena Suvari wed concert promoter Simone Sestito today in a private church within the walls of Vatican City.

ISLAM

No burkas at religious freedom taskforce (The Australian)

June 25 - GRACE Portolesi bristles at the suggestion her pro-burka religious freedom taskforce is a half-hearted attempt to build tolerance

JUDAISM

Rabbi's fraud charges dropped (ABC News)

June 22 - Fraud charges against an Adelaide rabbi and his wife have been dropped in Adelaide Magistrates Court.

Also: Charges dismissed against rabbi (The Age, Melbourne)

June 22 - Multiple fraud-related charges against an Adelaide rabbi have been dropped after an investigation stretching back several years.

POLITICS

Christian voters put Rudd, Abbott to the test (ABC News)

June 22 - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott have been put to the test by Australia's Christian leaders in what could be the final week of Parliament before the next election.

Here God is anything but dead (The Age, Melbourne)

June 22 – (Opinion: Gerard Henderson) Religion still matters if last night's roll-up at the 2010 Make It Count event, organised by the Australian Christian Lobby, is any guide.

Burka ban MP accused of chasing bigot vote (ABC News)

June 23 - New South Wales MP Reverend Fred Nile has introduced a private members bill to the state's parliament, calling for people to be banned from wearing full face covering in a public place.

Also: Nile unveils bill to ban people hiding their faces (Sydney Morning Herald)

June 23 - THE Reverend Fred Nile has again called for a ban on the burqa, the head and body veil worn by some Muslim women, saying it oppresses women and could be used as a disguise by terrorists.

Also: NSW Premier rejects burqa ban bill (The Age, Melbourne)

June 23 - NSW Premier Kristina Keneally doesn't support a proposal to ban women from wearing burqas in public, saying she wants a NSW which is "open and tolerant".

Also: Nile is denying Muslim women their freedom (Sydney Morning Herald)

June 24 – (Opinion: Widyan Al Ubudy) The curtains have opened and the burqa has yet again taken centre stage on the political agenda.

Also: Full-face burka lifts the veil on Western feminists' insecurities (The Australian)

June 26 – (Opinion: Angela Shanahan) I HAVE often been asked to write about the veil. NSW morals campaigner Fred Nile would like women to cover up more, one might think.

Oh Lord, the prime minister is a woman (Sydney Morning Herald)

June 26 – (Opinion: Amanda Wilson) There are lessons for Julia Gillard from an earlier redheaded ruler…

Strange mix of politics and faith (Sydney Morning Herald)

June 26 – (Opinion: Joel Gibson) Julia Gillard may have been the first Prime Minister in Australia's history to eschew the good book when being sworn in this week.

Woman on a mending mission (Sydney Morning Herald)

June 26 – (Opinion: Lenore Taylor) In the space of a single night Australians found themselves with a chatty, left-wing, female, non-religious Prime Minister when they had voted for a nerdy, Christian bloke from the right.

RELIGION & SOCIETY

Thinking men and women need clear conscience on gay adoption (Sydney Morning Herald)

June 26 – (Opinion: Lisa Pryor) Those gays are after the children again.