Australia’s focus on the Pacific region ignores needs and priorities identified by the region’s political and Church leaders, says Caritas Australia’s chief executive officer. Paul O’Callaghan spoke out after Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced an expansion of assistance to the Pacific. The assistance will include introducing long-term loans for new infrastructure projects. Infrastructure is Read more
An Australian religious freedoms report which has reviewed religious protections in Australia says it should be more difficult for schools to turn away gay students. According to Philip Ruddock, the author of the as yet unreleased document, the report suggests narrowing the scope of existing sex discrimination laws. “We weren’t suggesting that the law should Read more
The Australian Catholic Church has welcomed Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s apology to survivors of institutional child sexual abuse and recommitted to working with the community to eliminate child sexual abuse. Leaders of Catholic Religious Australia (CRA) and the Australian Catholic Bishops released a statement after the prime minister’s address to parliament saying: ““The National Apology Read more
Great shocks to the system often can jar loose utterly new responses from institutions typically given to maintaining the status quo. Other times, the effect can be to reopen debates from the past which, not so long ago, seemed definitively closed. That latter scenario may be unfolding in Australia right now, pivoting on once-intense debates Read more
Australia’s drought-affected farmers are about to benefit from $1 million raised by a 10-year old boy and his classmates. Jack Berne and his classmates at Sydney’s St John the Baptist Primary School raised the money through ‘A Fiver For A Farmer’ campaign on GoFundMe. The campaign, which was launched in July, urged people to spare Read more
Australia’s first Pentecostal prime minister Scott Morrison and his family are members of the Sutherland Shire’s Horizon Church in Sydney. Housed in a 1200-seat auditorium, Horizon is a Pentecostal Christian church where pastors give rousing sermons, and followers can sometimes speak in tongues and engage in “divine healing”. Read more
Some Australian trade unions want to restrict the right of religious organisations to decide who to employ according to candidates’ responses to Church teaching on sexuality. Under Australian federal and state laws, some religious organisations are exempt from laws that protect workers from losing their jobs as a result of their gender identity or sexuality. Read more
The Salvation Army wants the Australian government to expel foreign diplomats implicated in cases of slavery in Canberra. This week the Australian Senate committee will hear evidence from industry and human rights bodies about the government’s draft Modern Slavery Bill. Despite media reports on the issue over the past year, the draft bill does not Read more
Australia’s prime minister Malcolm Turnbull wants Pope Francis to sack Archbishop Philip Wilson. Wilson should not be allowed to remain an archbishop while he appeals against his conviction, says Turnbull, who is a Catholic. The National Council of Priests (NCP) in Australia agrees with Turnbull. “While the Archbishop is exercising his constitutional right to appeal Read more
Archbishop Philip Wilson has gone from church leader with a reputation for dealing professionally with sex abuse cases to being stoned by all and sundry in the national village square. The calls to resign come not only from victims, anti-church crusaders and commentators of every ilk, but also eminent Catholics who fear he may cause Read more