Religion News Australia 2012 - 19 (May 13

Religion News Australia 2012 - 19 (May 13 - 20)

(19 May 12)
by Greg Spearritt

Religion News Australia

May 13 - 20, 2012

Religion news stories from Australia

(Research: Greg Spearritt)

abuse / arts & entertainment / international stories / religion & society / other

ABUSE

Rabbi knew of molest rumours (The Age, Melbourne)

May 15 - THE ex-principal of a Melbourne Jewish school has changed his evidence about his knowledge of alleged paedophilia and conceded he was aware in the early 2000s of rumours that a former security guard had molested children.

Also: Student rape trial decision looming (The Age, Melbourne)

May 16 - A MELBOURNE magistrate will decide on Monday whether a former ''mentor'' to students at a Jewish school will be committed for trial for molesting and raping students.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

In a secular age, the big public galleries could do more (Sydney Morning Herald)

May 14 – (Opinion: Peter Hodge) Perhaps, as Alain de Botton suggests in Religion for Atheists, it is time we rethink the way art is organised in galleries.

INTERNATIONAL STORIES

Abuse

Philadelphia Catholic church's child abuse cover-up went to extraordinary security measures (Adelaide Now)

May 17 - EVIDENCE in a groundbreaking priest-abuse trial shows the men running the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia used elaborate methods to keep sex-abuse complaints from prying eyes.

Buddhism

China dismisses Dalai Lama murder plot claim (The West Australian)

May 15 - BEIJING (AFP) - China has accused the Dalai Lama of "deceiving the world" and "spreading false information" after Tibet's exiled spiritual leader said he was warned of a plot by Chinese agents to assassinate him.

Dalai Lama begins Austria visit (The West Australian)

May 18 - VIENNA (AFP) - The Dalai Lama arrived in Austria Thursday for a visit that will include a meeting with Chancellor Werner Faymann and is likely to irritate China, already angered by his previous stop in Britain.

Catholic Church

Pope's advice for hard economic times (The Australian)

May 14 - POPE Benedict XVI is promoting the church's prescription for coping with the economic crisis: share resources and pare lifestyles down to the essentials.

Vatican mystery grows as body exhumed (Sydney Morning Herald)

May 15 - Forensic police have swarmed the crypt of a Roman basilica to exhume the body of a reputed mobster as part of an investigation into one of the Vatican's most enduring mysteries: the 1983 disappearance of the teenage daughter of one of its employees.

Senior priest in the Legion of Christ order Thomas Williams admits fathering a child (The Australian)

May 16 - THE Legion of Christ religious order has been hit by another scandal after its most well-known priest admitted he had fathered a child several years ago.

Also: Another Legion of Christ scandal breaks as order admits it knew priest had fathered child (Herald-Sun, Melbourne)

May 16 - UPDATE: THE Legion of Christ religious order has admitted that it knew that its most famous priest had fathered a child years ago yet didn't remove him from teaching morality to seminarians or speaking publicly about ethics.

Also: Scandal-plagued Catholic order rocked by priest's affair (The West Australian)

May 16 - VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The scandal-plagued Legionaries of Christ Roman Catholic religious order suffered another major blow to its image on Tuesday when one of its most prominent members admitted to having fathered a child.

Also: Religious order knew of love child (Sydney Morning Herald)

May 17 - VATICAN CITY: The Legion of Christ religious order has admitted it knew its most famous priest had fathered a child years ago yet didn't remove him from teaching morality to seminarians or speaking publicly about ethics.

Also: Exclusive: Order knew for months about priest scandal: Vatican official (The West Australian)

May 17 - VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Leaders of the scandal-plagued Legionaries of Christ religious order knew that their most famous priest had fathered a child for many months before they acknowledged it this week, a top Vatican official told Reuters on Wednesday.

Islam

Extremists attack visiting voices in Indonesia (The Age, Melbourne)

May 15 - INDONESIA’S national police are considering banning a performance next month by pop diva Lady Gaga in the face of threats of violence by Islamic extremists.

Also: Police stop Lady Gaga Jakarta concert (ABC News)

May 16 - Lady Gaga has been refused a permit to perform in the Indonesian capital next month over security concerns after Islamic groups voiced strong objections to her "vulgar" style.

Copts to shun Islamists in Egypt's presidential vote (The West Australian)

May 15 - CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Coptic Christians complained of discrimination under Hosni Mubarak but fear it may get worse if an Islamist takes his place in next week's presidential election.

With state weak, Libyans look to God for help (The West Australian)

May 16 - ZLITAN, Libya (Reuters) - Mohamed Salem believes it was divine intervention that saved the Muslim holy site where he works from being destroyed.

US Politics

Religion as a partisan trump card (The Australian)

May 16 – (Opinion: Michael Gerson) MITT Romney did not rise on the power of his rhetoric.

Barack Obama's same-sex nod splits black vote (The Australian)

May 17 - BARACK Obama is struggling to persuade black religious leaders to support his endorsement of same-sex marriage, raising White House concerns about the enthusiasm of African-Americans for his re-election this year.

Obama caught up in pastor smear campaign (Sydney Morning Herald)

May 18 – (Opinion: Nick O'Malley) The President was to have been linked to the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, a controversial black leader in an advertising campaign being considered by a conservative super PAC.

Religious Violence

Iranian rapper draws Shi'ite wrath, death bounty (The West Australian)

May 14 - DUBAI (Reuters) - An Iranian rapper living in Germany has a $100,000 bounty on his head after an Islamist website offered a reward for anyone who kills him over a song that satirizes the Islamic Republic and irreverently addresses a historic religious figure.

Also: Iranian rapper faces song fatwa (The Age, Melbourne)

May 16 - AN IRANIAN rapper has become ''the Salman Rushdie of music'' after clerics in the Islamic republic issued fatwas calling him an apostate, which is considered punishable by death under the country's sharia law.

Extremists attack visiting voices in Indonesia (The Age, Melbourne)

May 15 - INDONESIA’S national police are considering banning a performance next month by pop diva Lady Gaga in the face of threats of violence by Islamic extremists.

Sacha Baron Cohen says he was chased by a group of Hasidic Jews and feared for his life (Daily Telegraph, Sydney)

May 19 - SACHA Baron Cohen ran for his life when he was chased by a rock-wielding gang of "Hasidic nutcases".

Georgia gay activists rally after religious attacks (The West Australian)

May 19 - TBILISI (AFP) - Dozens of gay rights supporters rallied for a second day in the Georgian capital Friday after being attacked by Orthodox Christians during their initial march in the deeply religious Caucasus state.

Other

No hint of world's end in oldest Mayan calendar (ABC News)

May 11 - Researchers say new analysis of the earliest known Mayan calendar, found in an ancient house in Guatemala, offers no hint that the world's end is imminent.

Pandering to popularity (Perth Now)

May 15 – (Opinion: Alle Connell) LAST week was a terrible week for people who want to live in the 21st century.

Russia's Patriarch launches Facebook page (The West Australian)

May 16 - MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Facebook page dedicated to Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill was launched on Tuesday to feed growing interest in the divisive religious figure who has embodied the church's thickening ties with newly inaugurated President Vladimir Putin.

Philippine rally demands Lady Gaga ban (The West Australian)

May 19 - MANILA (AFP) - Hundreds of protesters marched in the Philippine capital Saturday to demand a ban on pop phenomenon Lady Gaga's upcoming concerts, claiming her lyrics were anti-Christian.

RELIGION & SOCIETY

Doctors group says heterosexual marriage better for kids (ABC News)

May 14 - The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has distanced itself from a group of prominent doctors who say children are better off when raised by heterosexual parents, rather than same-sex couples.

Mormon mother gets ahead on her motor bike (Sydney Morning Herald)

May 14 - MOST picture Mormon missionaries in suits, spurning tea and coffee.

Time to say 'I do' on gay marriage (Courier-Mail, Brisbane)

May 15 – (Opinion: Paul Syvret) I HAVE worn the same gold band on my wedding finger for close to a decade now.

Truth is the forgotten family value (Sydney Morning Herald)

May 16 – (Opinion: George Monbiot) Cultural conservatives' moral concerns about marriage are based on a view of history that is almost entirely false.

Australians must embrace gay marriage (Perth Now)

May 16 – (Opinion: Jeff Kennett) TODAY, I call on the Catholic Church and the community to review its position on marriage.

No brothel in my backyard (Adelaide Now)

May 17 – (Opinion: David Penberthy) SOME years ago in the most excellent Sydney suburb of Marrickville I had an accidental and unusual encounter with a sex worker.

Judge ordered parents to vaccinate baby (The Age, Melbourne)

May 18 - A judge has ordered a mother and father take their newborn baby to hospital for urgent hepatitis B injections, despite the parents’ opposition to vaccinations.

Also: Parents ordered to vaccinate their baby (The Courier-Mail, Brisbane)

May 19 - A JUDGE has over-ruled parents who objected to their new-born baby receiving a potentially life-saving hepatitis B vaccine.

No falling by the wayside for this revamped institution (Sydney Morning Herald)

May 19 - ''SOMETIMES I have Christians come in here who say, 'You're doing a great job, Pastor. But these people need to be saved,''' says Graham Long.