Religion News Australia 2011 - 1 (Dec 26

Religion News Australia 2011 - 1 (Dec 26 - Jan 2)

(01 January 11)
by Greg Spearritt

Religion News Australia

Dec 26, 2010 – Jan 2, 2011

Religion news stories from Australia

(Research: Greg Spearritt)

abuse / arts & entertainment / catholic church / education / international stories / religion & society / uniting church

ABUSE

Church 'silent' on abuse reforms (The Age, Melbourne)

Dec 28 - MELBOURNE'S Catholic Archdiocese has failed to announce or fully implement changes requested by Victoria Police to the church's sexual abuse inquiry process, more than a year after serious deficiencies were exposed.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Gervais and the art of staying fresh (The Courier-Mail, Brisbane)

Dec 30 – (Interview) Q: Your stand-up work, including Animals, has, at times, become a target for religious zealots, primarily because of the comments you make about there not being a God.

CATHOLIC CHURCH

Gay lobbyists seek meeting with church (The Courier-Mail, Brisbane)

Dec 28 - CANBERRA: Gay rights advocates want to meet with the head of the Catholic church in Australia to discuss why parishioners are being told to oppose same-sex marriage.

Church mourns 'exceptional' bishop (Sydney Morning Herald)

Dec 28 - One of Australia's youngest Roman Catholic bishops, a tireless worker with young people and refugees, has died in a Melbourne hospital.

Also: Bishop of Sandhurst mourned (ABC News)

Dec 29 - Victoria's Catholic community is mourning the death of the Bishop of Sandhurst, Joe Grech.

Also: Sandhurst bishop dies (The Age, Melbourne)

Dec 29 - THE Catholic Church is mourning the bishop of the Bendigo-based diocese of Sandhurst, an ardent campaigner for refugees and young people, who died yesterday after an illness.

Also: Popular bishop and an inspiration (The Age, Melbourne)

Dec 31 – (Obituary) JOE Grech was a bishop of the people, loved by young and old.

Adaminaby Church rises from the ashes (ABC News)

Dec 29 - The finishing touches are being put to a church that was destroyed by fire four years ago in the New South Wales Snowy Mountains.

Archbishop highlights asylum seekers' plight (ABC News)

Jan 1 - Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide Philip Wilson says all asylum seeker claims should be assessed as soon as possible.

EDUCATION

Chaplains in schools are 'inadequately supervised' (Sydney Morning Herald)

Jan 1 - THE schools chaplaincy program is being investigated by the Commonwealth Ombudsman after a highly critical report of its operation in the Northern Territory.

Christianity has role in learning (The Australian)

Jan 2 – (Opinion: David Daintree) In its 20 pages, the draft ancient history curriculum mentions religion twice. There is no reference to Christianity anywhere in the document.

INTERNATIONAL STORIES

Abuse

Leading Belgian Catholic priest Francois Houtart admits sex abuse of cousin (The Australian)

Dec 30 - ANOTHER scandal has hit the Catholic Church in Belgium after a priest being promoted as a candidate for next year's Nobel Peace Prize confessed to sexually abusing his eight-year-old cousin 40 years ago.

Religious sex fiend asks psychic's aid (The Courier-Mail, Brisbane)

Jan 2 - JAILED Doomsday cult leader William Kamm has turned to a psychic despite his grand claims to receive messages from God and the Virgin Mary.

Catholic Church

China calls for 'concrete actions' from Vatican (The West Australian)

Dec 28 - BEIJING (AFP) - China said Tuesday it hoped the Vatican would take "concrete actions" to heal a rift with Beijing, after the pope criticised curbs on religious freedom in the country during his Christmas Day message.

Also: China takes aim at Pope on rights (ABC News)

Dec 29 - China has criticised Pope Benedict for claiming that Beijing limits the freedoms of millions of Chinese Catholics.

Pope to issue new rules to counter financial crimes (The Australian)

Dec 30 - THE Vatican is to unveil new rules intended to counter financial crimes and make its financial activities more transparent.

Also: Pope's decree vows to tackle money-laundering in Vatican (Sydney Morning Herald)

Dec 31 - Pope Benedict XVI created a new financial authority Thursday aimed at tackling allegations of Vatican money-laundering and "financing of terrorism" after an embarrassing probe into Vatican bank officials.

Pope to hold peace summit with religious heads (The West Australian)

Jan 2 - VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict, worried over increasing inter-religious violence, will host a summit of world religious leaders in Assisi in October to discuss how they can better promote peace, he announced on Saturday.

Also: Pope to host peace meet in October (The Australian)

Jan 2 - POPE Benedict XVI has announced plans to host an inter-religious peace meet in October.

Islam

Top Gear stars cause row after burqa-style stunt (Sydney Morning Herald)

Dec 29 - The stars of the hit motoring show Top Gear have sparked religious criticism after dressing in burqa-style clothing while filming an episode in the Middle East.

Also: Top Gear's religious road rage (Adelaide Now)

Dec 30 - JEREMY Clarkson and his Top Gear co-stars have sparked religious outrage in their latest stunt.

Le Pen sees votes in Islamism fight (Sydney Morning Herald)

Dec 28 - PARIS: Marine Le Pen has promised to defend France from creeping ''Islamisation'' just weeks before she is expected to take over from her father as head of the National Front party.

Islamists lead Pakistan strike in political crisis (The West Australian)

Dec 31 - ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Business centers shut down in Pakistan on Friday in a strike called by Islamists to pressure the ruling party which is scrambling to stop its main coalition partner from pulling out of the governing coalition.

Violence as Pakistan strikes over blasphemy law (The Age, Melbourne)

Jan 1 - Violence flared Friday as police and protesters clashed during a mass protest strike that closed businesses across Pakistan over a bid to end the death penalty for blasphemy.

Judaism

Addis Ababa Jews see no quick route to promised land (The West Australian)

Jan 2 - ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - In a run-down synagogue built from corrugated iron sheets in the north east of the Ethiopian capital, preacher Wagaw Moges addresses a crowd of dozens gathered for weekday prayers.

Religious Violence

Pope condemns Christmas church attacks (ABC News)

Dec 26 - Pope Benedict XVI condemned Christmas Day attacks on churches in Nigeria and the Philippines as "absurd violence" on Sunday.

UK terror suspects remanded in custody (Sydney Morning Herald)

Dec 28 - Nine men suspected of plotting attacks on the US Embassy and the London Stock Exchange were charged with terrorism-related crimes on Monday and jailed until their next court appearance.

Iraq bombers hit grieving families (The Age, Melbourne)

Dec 29 - BACK-TO-BACK suicide bombings at a government compound in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi have killed 19, heaping more tragedy on the families of victims of a similar recent bombing.

Christmas gift-wrapped bomb kills woman (The Australian)

Dec 29 - A WOMAN has been killed as she unwrapped a Christmas present with a bomb hidden inside, police in the Philippine capital said.

Boko Haram sect claims Nigeria attacks (The West Australian)

Dec 29 - A radical Muslim sect has claimed responsibility for the Christmas Eve bombings and church attacks in Nigeria that killed at least 38 people, and the group threatened new attacks to avenge local violence against Muslims.

Lucky few Iraqi Christians find refuge in France (The West Australian)

Dec 30 - PARIS (Reuters) - A French mission to rescue victims of a church massacre in Baghdad has raised questions about the fairness of such operations, with rights groups calling for the rescue of all Iraq's threatened groups, not just Christians.

Four Danish terror plot suspects remanded in custody (Sydney Morning Herald)

Dec 30 - Courts in Denmark and Sweden on Thursday remanded four men in custody over a foiled plot to carry out a Mumbai-style killing spree at a Danish newspaper that published caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.

Iraqi suspected of plotting terror attack released (The Australian)

Dec 31 - AN IRAQI asylum seeker accused of plotting a shooting attack on the Copenhagen office of a newspaper that published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed has been freed due to an apparent lack of evidence.

Nigeria police arrest 92 over northern sect attack (The West Australian)

Dec 31 - KANO, Nigeria (AFP) - Police have arrested 92 suspected members of a radical Islamist sect in raids after a series of attacks that killed eight people in northern Maiduguri city, a police chief said Thursday.

Christians killed in Baghdad bomb attacks (ABC News)

Dec 31 - Two Iraqi Christians have been killed in a wave of apparently coordinated bomb attacks in the capital just two months after militants massacred 46 Christians in a city church.

Danish attack plot suspect linked to Islam (The Australian)

Jan 1 - ONE OF five men held over a foiled plot to massacre staff at a Danish newspaper had twice been arrested abroad suspected of terror links, the foreign ministry and media say.

Egypt church blast toll rises to 21 (ABC News)

Jan 1 - A car bomb explosion outside a Christian church in the northern Egyptian city of Alexandria has killed 21 people and wounded more than 20 others.

Also: 21 killed in Egypt church bombing (Sydney Morning Herald)

Jan 1 - At least 21 people died and others were injured early Saturday in a New Year's Day car bomb attack on a church in Alexandria, hitting Egypt's Christian community, the biggest in the Middle East.

Also: Hosni Mubarak condemns Egyptian church attack (The Australian)

Jan 2 - PRESIDENT Hosni Mubarak urged Egypt's Christians and Muslims to unite and confront terrorism after a New Year's day car bomb killed 21 people.

Other

India's city-dwellers get angrier as society changes (Sydney Morning Herald)

Dec 27 - With its religious retreats for meditation and yoga, India has long been sought out by Western visitors eager to escape the rat race and return home better prepared to face life's challenges.

Polygamist sect leader fronts court (Adelaide Now)

Dec 30 - A POLYGAMIST sect leader remained mute during arraignment on bigamy and child sex abuse charges.

Lord help pastor who helped self (Sydney Morning Herald)

Dec 30 - DALLAS: A pastor facing charges of burgling a parishioner's home on Christmas Eve says she had no criminal intent.

Bosnia's 'patient' fight for religious tolerance (The West Australian)

Jan 1 - ROZANJ, Bosnia-Hercegovina (AFP) - Defying an icy downpour, an imam and a Catholic priest made their way up the Majevica mountain in northeastern Bosnia to meet two Orthodox priests whose church was burgled.

RELIGION & SOCIETY

Girl, 14, better off in 'destructive cult' (Sydney Morning Herald)

Dec 27 - A TEENAGER has been ordered by the Family Court to live with her father in a religious community, despite her mother's claims it was a ''destructive cult'' that exposed the girl to harm.

Gay couples okayed as foster parents (The Courier-Mail, Brisbane)

Dec 27 - A NSW government department says there are plenty of opportunities for same sex couples to foster children, despite a recent ruling allowing religious charities to ban gays from becoming foster parents.

Also: Politicians won't act on churches gay foster parent discrimination (Herald-Sun, Melbourne)

Dec 28 - BOTH the NSW government and opposition have ruled out any changes to the state's anti-discrimination laws in the wake of a ruling that charities could bar gay couples as foster carers on religious grounds.

Also: A discriminating decision (The Australian)

Dec 28 – (Opinion: Editorial) THE controversial issue of whether religious charities can discriminate against same-sex couples who apply to foster children represents a clash of competing rights.

Also: Religious charities putting doctrine above children's interests (The Age, Melbourne)

Dec 30 – (Opinion: Jen Vuk) The worst harm is done by refusing to allow same-sex couples to foster.

The right word on Christmas celebrations (Adelaide Now)

Dec 30 – (Opinion: Dean Jaensch) POLITICAL correctness in the run-up to Christmas seemed to be increasing.

Let's forget the fire and brimstone (The Australian)

Dec 30 – (Opinion: Chris Patten) IT has been a better year for God.

Sun and salvation make a divine holiday for fun-seeking souls (Sydney Morning Herald)

Jan 1 - SANDCASTLES and surf lessons might seem unlikely places to find the good news of Jesus Christ thousands of children on family holidays along the NSW coast this summer will find the Lord's word hard to avoid.

Is the world going to end in 2012? (Sydney Morning Herald)

Jan 2 – (Opinion: Nicolas Brasch) IF YOU'RE worried that the world is going to end in 2012, relax!

UNITING CHURCH

Foster-care ruling dividing the Uniting Church (The Age, Melbourne)

Dec 28 - THE Uniting Church faces a split over a ruling that has allowed an affiliated charity to stop a gay couple from fostering children.