Religion News Australia 2010 - 26 (July 4

Religion News Australia 2010 - 26 (July 4 - 11)

(10 July 10)
by Greg Spearritt

Religion News Australia

July 4 – 11, 2010

Religion news stories from Australia

(Research: Greg Spearritt)

abuse / arts & entertainment / catholic church / education / international stories / islam / judaism / politics / religion & society / other

ABUSE

Pedophile priest jailed for 'sadistic' sexual abuse of schoolboys (The Australian)

July 4 - AMONG the students of St Pius X Catholic High School, the abusive behaviour of pedophile priest John Sidney Denham was no secret.

Pell backs apology to abuse victims (ABC News)

July 5 - Sydney's Catholic Archbishop Cardinal George Pell says he strongly supports an apology to victims of sexual abuse by the Archbishop of Melbourne at the weekend.

Also: The archbishop apologises, but later rather than sooner (Sydney Morning Herald)

July 6 – (Opinion: Editorial) THERE is no doubt that the Catholic Archibishop of Melbourne, Denis Hart, is a man of deep conscience as well as strong personal conviction.

Also: The sins of the fathers – and an apology (Sydney Morning Herald)

July 5 – (Opinion: Barney Zwartz) The Vatican might have named 2010 the Year of Abuse Revelations, rather than the just concluded Year of the Priest. But in Melbourne, Archbishop Denis Hart has just made the most comprehensive apology for sexual abuse by clergy that I’ve yet come across.

Bishop says sorry to sex abuse victims (ABC News)

July 6 - The Catholic Bishop of Sale, Christopher Prowse, has apologised to victims of sexual abuse by the Clergy.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Creation (Perth Now)

July 10 – (Review) VIEWERS expecting a spirited philosophical debate in this intriguingly titled flick are going to be sorely disappointed.

CATHOLIC CHURCH

Heavens, Mary MacKillop musical planned (ABC News)

July 7 - Australia's saint-to-be Mary MacKillop is to be immortalised in an all-singing, all-dancing musical stage spectacular.

Rosary fashion offends Catholics (Adelaide Now)

July 11 - CATHOLICS are outraged after discovering rosary beads - sacred objects used in prayer - are being flaunted as a new fashion statement.

EDUCATION

Think tank proposes Australian students be taught positives about Islam and Muslims (The Courier-Mail, Brisbane)

July 11 - EVERY Australian school student would be taught positive things about Islam and Muslims and that Australia was a racist country, under a plan being proposed by an education think tank.

INTERNATIONAL STORIES

Abuse

Church revises sex crime rules (Sydney Morning Herald)

July 8 - ROME: The Vatican will soon publish revised rules detailing how the Catholic Church handles sex abuse cases.

Anglican Church

Gay bishop to divide Anglicans (The Australian)

July 6 - ALL hope of preventing a schism in the Anglican Church will end if an openly gay cleric becomes the next Bishop of Southwark in Britain.

Also: Anglican leaders fear split if gay priest is ordained bishop (Sydney Morning Herald)

July 9 - LONDON: An openly gay cleric has been prevented from becoming a Church of England bishop, amid fears the controversial ordination could further strain the Anglican movement, according to newspaper reports.

Church of England rejects women bishop plan (The Australian)

July 11 - THE Church of England was in turmoil after plans by its top leaders designed to avoid a split over allowing women bishops were voted down.

Also: Church of England rejects women bishops (The Age, Melbourne)

July 11 - The Church of England was in turmoil on Saturday after plans by its top leaders designed to avoid a split over allowing women bishops were voted down.

Buddhism

Dalai Lama celebrates 75th birthday (ABC News)

July 6 - The Dalai Lama will mark his 75th birthday today with thousands set to celebrate the occasion in his hometown-in-exile and events planned across the globe from Australia to Europe.

Also: Celebrations and sadness as Dalai Lama turns 75 (Sydney Morning Herald)

July 6 - The Dalai Lama turned 75 Tuesday, a milestone marked by celebrations in his hometown-in-exile but tinged by sadness that his compatriots in Tibet were unable to honour the occasion.

Catholic Church

Pope names new bishop in Germany (The Age, Melbourne)

July 8 - Pope Benedict XVI has named a new bishop for Augsburg, Germany, filling the post vacated when the former bishop resigned amid accusations of physical abuse, sexual harassment and alcoholism.

Islam

Shiite leader Fadlallah dies aged 74 (ABC News)

July 4 - Lebanon's Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah has died at the age of 74, a medical source at a Beirut hospital said.

French parliament to debate burqa ban (ABC News)

July 5 - A bill to ban the wearing of the burqa in public will go before France's parliament tonight.

Ponytails fail to make cut in Iran (ABC News)

July 6 - Iran's culture ministry has given its blessing to a number of "Islamic" haircuts for men, with ponytails failing to make the list, the ILNA news agency has reported.

Also: 'Decadent' Western hairstyles facing chop in Iran (The Australian)

July 6 - IRAN is to publish a catalogue showing permissible "Islamic" hairstyles for men.

Man's hand cut off for 'insulting Mohammed' (ABC News)

July 6 - Two men have been arrested in India after a college lecturer had his hand cut off for allegedly insulting the Prophet Mohammed.

Don't label all Muslims as extreme, US told (The Courier-Mail, Brisbane)

July 7 - MALAYSIAN Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has offered some insight for the US on dealing with the Muslim world: highlight successes, fund education, and do not fear openly debating radicals.

Former Hezbollah mentor had radical views about women (Sydney Morning Herald)

July 8 – (Obituary) Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah was one of the most revered clerics in the Shiite Muslim faith and a one-time spiritual mentor to the Lebanese political organisation and militia Hezbollah.

Sufi tragedy should be remembered (Sydney Morning Herald)

July 9 – (Opinion: Stephanie Dowrick) Intra-faith violence is just as tragic as enmity between religions.

The veil: woman's right or millstone? (The Australian)

July 9 – (Opinion: Ida Lichter) THE association of Islamic dress with militancy is the source of Western fears

UAE orders fatwa on vuvuzelas: report (Sydney Morning Herald)

July 10 - An Islamic edict in the United Arab Emirates has decreed that vuvuzela trumpets that blare above 100 decibels are religiously forbidden, a local daily reported on Friday.

Religious Violence

Flogged woman faces death by stoning (The Age, Melbourne)

July 4 - A 43-YEAR-old Iranian woman is facing death by stoning unless an international campaign launched by her children forces the authorities to quash what her lawyer calls a bogus conviction.

Also: Iran backs down on threat to stone mum (ABC News)

July 9 - Iranian authorities say a woman convicted of adultery will not be stoned to death.

Also: Stoning case review (The Age, Melbourne)

July 11 - IRAN has imposed a media blackout over the case of a 43-year-old mother of two who was sentenced to be stoned to death and whose fate is still unclear despite an apparent ''reprieve''.

Al-Qa'ida leaders in Pakistan accused over plot to bomb New York subway (The Australian)

July 8 - PROSECUTORS have accused al-Qa'ida leaders over an alleged attempt to bomb New York's subway as part of a campaign against US and British cities.

Al Qaeda suspects arrested in Europe (ABC News)

July 9 - Three suspected Al Qaeda members have been arrested in Norway and Germany.

15 killed in Baghdad on last day of Shiite holiday (Sydney Morning Herald)

July 9 - At least 15 people were killed on Thursday by bombs targeting the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who defied violence to take part in the final day of a Shi'ite religious holiday, officials said.

Other

Psychiatrist arrested over Russian sex orgy cult (The Australian)

July 8 - RUSSIAN investigators have arrested the former psychiatrist leader of more than 100 people who held "uncontrolled" sex orgies in southern Russia.

Octopus oracle keeps perfect record (ABC News)

July 8 - It won't come as much of a consolation to heartbroken German fans, but at least Paul, Germany's now world-famous "Octopus oracle", has maintained his perfect record.

Retiring Murali hails 'God's gift' (ABC News)

July 9 - Sri Lanka's record-breaking spinner Muttiah Muralidaran brushed aside criticism of his bowling action, calling his unorthodox style "a gift from God" as he officially confirmed his retirement from Test cricket.

ISLAM

Democracy is the right stuff (The Australian)

July 5 – (Opinion: Editorial) ISLAMIC organisation Hizb-ut-Tahir met in Sydney yesterday to discuss its campaign for a trans-national Islamic state and to denounce democracy, which local spokesman Uthman Badar calls, "a bankrupt and irrational idea".

Also: Jihadist group a threat to us all (The Australian)

July 6 – (Opinion: Melanie Phillips) WHATEVER its protestations, Hizb ut-Tahrir actively promotes terror and violence, says Melanie Phillips.

Also: Cry halt when Islamists take liberties (The Australian)

July 9 – (Opinion: Carl Ungerer and Anthony Bergin) THERE'S a case for clamping down on the confrontationist group Hizb ut-Tahrir.

Burqa finds its day in the sun on the Gold Coast (The Courier-Mail, Brisbane)

July 7 - MUSLIM women living on the Gold Coast have lashed out at calls to ban the burqa - partly because covering up helps protect them from the sun.

Move to ban burka in jail overruled as PC stand gathers support (The Australian)

July 10 - FEMALE prisoners who want to conceal their faces by wearing the burka will be allowed to do so by the South Australian government.

JUDAISM

Siblings given religious freedom of choice (The Age, Melbourne)

July 7 - A FATHER has won the right to stop his children from taking part in Jewish coming-of-age ceremonies, after a court agreed with the man that they should be able to make their own religious choices.

POLITICS

Secret women's business acknowledgment welcomed (ABC News)

July 5 - A new chapter is being written in one of Australia's most bitter political and cultural sagas.

Also: Ngarrindjeri in symbolic walk across Hindmarsh Island bridge (ABC News)

July 6 - Members of the Ngarrindjeri people have taken a symbolic walk across the Hindmarsh Island bridge, south of Adelaide.

Gillard talks God, gay nightclubs and manicures (ABC News)

July 7 - The asylum seeker debate may be the biggest issue in the country this week, but during an ABC Local Radio talkback session in Darwin today the Prime Minister got a taste of other burning questions on the minds of voters.

Don't judge Gillard on lack of faith: Abbott (Sydney Morning Herald)

July 8 - Prime Minister Julia Gillard should not be judged on her absence of faith, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says.

Power not a God-given right (The Australian)

July 10 – (Opinion: David Burchell) IT'S become increasingly clear in the past decade that religion did not actually die out simply because intellectuals may have willed it to; and that even as faith becomes more tenuous and variegated, its political implications become more complex.

Catholics led charge against communists (The Australian)

July 10 – (Opinion: Angela Shanahan) Many DLP supporters sacrificed their careers to save Australia from communism.

RELIGION & SOCIETY

Faith healing in the USA (Sydney Morning Herald)

July 5 – (Opinion: Dick Gross) In March 2008, 11-year-old Kara Neumann lay on a mattress on the floor of her family’s home in Wisconsin while parents and friends around her were praying.

Brethren deny anti-gay discrimination (The Age, Melbourne)

July 7 - A single telephone call has resulted in a landmark hearing that could determine if Christian groups can discriminate against gay people for religious reasons.

Also: Christian Brethren sued for barring camp to gay group (The Age, Melbourne)

July 8 - THE youth support group said it wanted to help gay youth tackle homophobia.

Banking not the devil's domain (The Australian)

July 10 – (Opinion: Niall Ferguson) WOULD-BE financiers must be taught there is a moral dimension to their business, says Niall Ferguson.

OTHER

Assault charges dropped in school camp exorcism case (ABC News)

July 6 - Prosecutors have dropped assault charges against eight men who had been accused of staging an exorcism, in exchange for restraining orders.

Ex-doomsday followers fight for money back (ABC News)

July 7 - One of two civil claims brought against religious group Agape Ministries may be settled out of court, a lawyer has told the Adelaide District Court.

Mel Gibson - portrait of a star on the edge of darkness (Perth Now)

July 10 - ANTI-Semitic, misogynist and a magnet for bad publicity. Mel Gibson is spiralling from Hollywood's A-list towards oblivion.