The first plans for British settlement in Manly, NSW, Australia, emerged in the 1820s following the acquisition of land from the local Gayemagal people. A smallpox outbreak at the end of the 18th century severely reduced their population, paving the way for the British settlement. Around 1850, the NSW Legislative Council granted the Catholic Church Read more
Australia’s Catholic bishops have approved a liturgy which incorporates elements of Aboriginal language and culture. A motion was passed at the plenary meeting of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference in Sydney on Tuesday approving the Mass of the Land of the Holy Spirit (Missa Terra Spiritus Sancti) for use in the Diocese of Broome in Read more
An Australian priest backing the Indigenous Voice referendum to parliament fears the result will leave Australians divided. That will be a tragedy, he says. Father Frank Brennan (pictured), a Jesuit priest and human rights lawyer, blames leadership on both political sides for not seeking common ground. He hopes a “reconciling spirit” will blow through parliament’s Read more
A volunteer ethics teacher in Australia has been stood down for telling students the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Stolen Generations were taken from their families because of poor parenting. The volunteer allegedly told the primary school age children that what they had been taught about why the children were removed was false. The real Read more
I recently travelled to Darwin and was surrounded by the living and remnant artefacts of the indigenous faiths by which the first Australians ordered their lives. It was another example, if ever I needed one, of the power of spirituality and its necessity for many, or indeed most, communities. The doyens of New Atheism taunt Read more