The Pacific Conference of Churches admits there has been a lack of urgency by the church in addressing gender-based violence in the region. Its general-secretary James Bhagwan said they have also been complicit. He said a monitoring system is being planned in which faith communities will be held accountable to the commitments they make to Read more
One of two Islamic primary schools in the country says there is a desperate need for more schools for Muslims. Iqra Elementary School in West Auckland officially opened its new building in New Lynn last Wednesday. It has come a long way since it first started in 2016 when it had only 15 students, crammed Read more
At least three Filipino Catholic bishops have joined growing protests in Manila against what they described as China’s “continuous bullying of the Philippines.” Bishop Arturo Bastes of Sorsogon said the sinking of a Filipino fishing boat and the abandonment of its crew by a Chinese vessel last week was a “manifestation” of China’s lack of Read more
A new Chilean archbishop-elect has resigned after making contentious comments about Jews in a CNN interview last month. Pope Francis has accepted Fr Carlos Eugenio Irarrázaval Errazuriz’s resignation. The Santiago diocese says Errazuriz’s resignation “was the fruit of dialogue and joint discernment”, in which Francis valued Errazuriz’s “spirit of faith and humility … in favor Read more
New Zealand authorities are investigating a prominent Samoan church with links to a cryptocurrency labelled as a fraudulent pyramid scheme. The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) probe into the Samoan Independent Seventh Day Adventist Church (SISDAC) – which has branches in New Zealand, Australia and Samoa – comes amid a seperate investigation by Samoa’s Central Read more
A 29-year-old man has been detained in connection with the April 21 attacks in Sri Lanka that left more than 250 people dead, Interpol says. The Sri Lanka national was taken into custody in the Middle East and deported to the Indian Ocean island nation on Friday, alongside four other suspects. The Easter Sunday suicide Read more
Jacob Lowenstein’s arsons of two churches was “a determined attempt to make a statement against religion”, said the judge who jailed the 28-year-old for six years nine months. Judge Saunders said Lowenstein saw his actions as a way of getting back at his father for his strict religious upbringing. He had tried to reach out Read more
A man abused by notorious paedophile Christian Brother Edward “Ted” Dowlan is suing Cardinal George Pell, alleging the disgraced Cardinal did nothing to protect him. The man was a student at East Melbourne’s Cathedral College when he was abused by Dowlan, who was first jailed in the 1990s for abusing boys in the 1970s and Read more
Human rights lawyer Sonja Cooper told Morning Report some survivors were unclear on whether their interviews with the Royal Commission had been part of the official hearings. The Royal Commission into the abuse of children in state care denies any “mock” or “pilot” sessions are taking place during the inquiry. Read more
The Institute for the Works of Religion, often referred to as the Vatican bank, made a profit of 17.5 million euros (about US$19.8 million) in 2018, just over half the profit reported in the previous year, according to its annual report. The bank, which had made a profit of 31.9 million euros in 2017, said Read more