Posts Tagged ‘Australia’

Australian church leaders urge forgiveness for cricketers

Thursday, April 5th, 2018

Australian church leaders have urged congregations to forgive the country’s disgraced cricketers. The scandal that has exposed the country’s top cricketers cheating tactics has prompted church leaders to offer congregations guidance on forgiveness over the Easter weekend. Read more

Australian court told some Pell charges will be dropped

Monday, March 26th, 2018

The Australian court has been told some of the alleged historical sexual offence charges against Cardinal George Pell will be dropped. Prosecutor Mark Gibson told the court last Friday one of Pell’s accusers is medically unfit to give evidence, so the charges cannot proceed. No other details were given. Another charge against Pell was dropped Read more

Catholic groups in Australia demand leadership change

Monday, March 26th, 2018

Catholic groups meeting in Canberra last Friday have demanded a change Catholic Church leadership. They say the current leaders are “locked in a misogynistic and unaccountable culture” that has failed to adequately respond to the child sexual abuse scandal and is denying the need for urgent reform. Read more

Australian Anglican priest – guns loved more than kids

Monday, February 19th, 2018

An Australian Anglican priest has reacted publicly to the most recent mass-shooting in the United States. Following last week’s slaughter of 17 pupils at a Florida school, he adjusted his church’s billboard to read: “WHEN WILL THEY LOVE THEIR KIDS MORE THAN THEIR GUNS”. Read more

Slavery in Australia: 4,300 people today

Thursday, February 15th, 2018

Slavery is alive and well not just in the global economy, but also in Australia. “Most people think human trafficking and slavery a thing of the past that need not concern them. But as we speak, there are 4,300 slaves in Australia and 40.3 million slaves worldwide,” Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP says.

Same-sex marriage law passed in Australia

Monday, December 11th, 2017

Same-sex marriage has been passed into law in Australia. The new legal definitions and requirements resulting from the law change took effect last Saturday. Weddings using the new legislation can be celebrated from 9 January 2018. A commentary about the new laws has been published. This notes: “The legal definition of marriage in the Marriage Read more

Australian Catholic teachers strike

Monday, December 4th, 2017

Thousands of Australian Catholic teachers and support staff are said to be at “boiling point” after their Catholic employers put an enterprise agreement to a vote without gaining union endorsement. Catholic teachers from about 350 schools in New South Wales (NSW) and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) walked off the job yesterday to attend rallies. Read more

Australia’s Catholic Church in crisis

Monday, December 4th, 2017

During the past 12 months, Australia’s Catholic Church has had to face several moral issues. These include a sex abuse crisis as the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse published reports about abuse at Catholic schools and institutions, losing the same-sex marriage referendum and Victoria government’s upper house voting to allow euthanasia. Read more

Adelaide’s Archbishop misses court

Thursday, November 30th, 2017

Adelaide’s Archbishop, Philip Wilson, has been unable to appear in court in a trial about his alleged covering up of child sexual abuse. Wilson’s lawyers say he is medically unfit to give evidence because of physical and mental health issues. In 2015 he was charged with covering up a Hunter Valley priest’s abuse, which took Read more

Dutton’s refugee ploy undermining New Zealand

Thursday, November 23rd, 2017

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has made finding a solution to the Manus Island standoff a priority. The remaining refugees and asylum seekers of the Lombrom Naval Base insist that their new locations in Lorengau closer to community areas will be unsafe, and refuse to leave. During this crisis, the Turnbull government has become visibly Read more