Australian Christians are not suffering from religious persecution says Baptist minister, leading Australian religious figure and social justice advocate Tim Costello. He is asking fellow Christians to “calm down” about their alleged persecution. His comments come amid a brewing political storm over how the government should act to protect against religious discrimination. Costello, a senior Read more
Australia’s Victorian Government has reintroduced a bill to Parliament which would make it easier for people to change the gender recorded on their birth certificate to male, female or any other gender descriptor of their choice. The reform is aimed at improving existing laws, where Victorians can only change their birth certificate after they have Read more
The Catholic Church in Australia is looking for more collegial models of governance in Catholic schools, hospitals and charities. It is presently reviewing the clerical and hierarchical models that have failed dioceses and parishes during the ongoing child sex abuse crisis. Collegial models would see the significant participation of laypeople says Jack de Groot, who Read more
Many have asked whether the Catholic Church can survive the shock of the conviction of Cardinal George Pell and the impact on its credibility, even utility. Yet to assume that the institution is exclusively the Church is to miss the point: Cardinal Pell has been sentenced, not Australia’s Catholics. Believers, and those who identify with Read more
A multi-faith ceremony may take the place of the Lord’s Prayer each day before the state parliament in Victoria, Australia opens. Since 1918 the Our Father has been said before the state parliament opens its daily sessions. The proposal is being reviewed by a Victoria Legislative Council committee, the state parliament’s upper house. Gavin Jennings, Read more
Manus Island detainees must be released. Mental illness among those incarcerated on the island are rife, says the bishops conference of Papua New Guinea (PNG). The general secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference of PNG, Giorgio Licini, has written to Prime Minister Peter O’Neill saying PNG leaders should negotiate a deadline with Australia to release Read more
A report which the humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF/ Doctors without Borders) released this week says the island nation of Nauru is facing a mental health crisis. The Indefinite Despair report includes medical data MSF gathered during the past year while it was contracted by the Nauruan government to deliver mental health services. These Read more
Former Australian archbishop, Philip Wilson, is appealing his conviction for not reporting allegations of child sexual abuse disclosed to him in the 1970s. Wilson told the court via electronic communication that he is innocent and had no recollection of the accusations of abuse committed by Fr James Fletcher when Fletcher was charged with child sex Read more
Gay teachers should ensure they keep their relationships well hidden from the eyes of students at religious schools, says Melbourne’s archbishop Peter Comensoli. It would be preferable if they and their partners live some distance away from the school in which they teach, he suggests. Comensoli made the comments on Monday when he was giving Read more
Catholic Australian Senator Barry O’Sullivan declared himself a woman before parliament last week so he could speak about abortion issues. He made the declaration after several female lawmakers said he’d never understand women’s choices about their reproductive health. “I’m going to declare my gender today, as I can, to be a woman, and then you’ll Read more