Keywords: Church Sex Abuse
-
RELIGION
- Andrew Hamilton
- 13 October 2011
25 Comments
Most churches are ageing and limited in their ability to engage with governments. As well as controvesies such as the Bill Morris dismissal and the handling of sexual abuse, the Australian Bishops visiting Rome this week will discuss ways to build on the strenghts of the Church in Australia.
READ MORE 
-
RELIGION
- Andrew McGowan
- 16 September 2011
29 Comments
Sexual offenders among clergy and church workers have often used their privileged status to act as though they were above the law. By using parliamentary privilege to name an alleged perpetrator, Senator Nick Xenophon has acted in a way that is, ironically, all too similar.
READ MORE
-
RELIGION
- Gerry O'Hanlon
- 26 July 2011
13 Comments
The surprise in the Irish Prime Minister's frank and undiplomatic speech on sexual abuse is that his target was not the Irish culprits but the Vatican itself. He articulated the anger of the Irish people towards the Vatican, which is undoubtedly on a learning curve on these matters.
READ MORE
-
AUSTRALIA
- Michael Mullins
- 25 July 2011
29 Comments
Senator Nick Xenophon's call to protect children by ending the seal of confession was an affront to freedom of religion. But he speaks for many Australians, whose goodwill is necessary to preserve such religious practices.
READ MORE
-
RELIGION
- Andrew Hamilton
- 21 July 2011
30 Comments
A petition circulating among Australian Catholics offers a sombre picture of the state of the Church. To some Catholics petitions seem inappropriate. But they have the value once attributed to canaries in the mineshaft: their witness is dismissed at the mine owners' peril.
READ MORE
-
RELIGION
- Andrew Hamilton
- 16 June 2011
33 Comments
Benedict uses large theoretical constructs to reflect on the condition of Western societies and the Church. This can simplify complex realities and provide a focus for reflection and conversation. But the weaknesses of this approach are revealed when he blames bad moral theory for sexual abuse by the clergy.
READ MORE
-
RELIGION
- Andrew Hamilton
- 02 June 2011
21 Comments
The media said the US Catholic Bishops' John Jay report blamed the 1960s sexual revolution for church sex abuse. More significantly, it implied that the roots of the sexual abuse crisis instead lie in the shallow Catholic culture of earlier decades.
READ MORE
-
RELIGION
- Andrew Hamilton
- 16 May 2011
38 Comments
The treatment of Bishop Bill Morris risks further blurring the image of the Church. The story told of a good man who encouraged his church, who was resolute in dealing with sexual abuse, but was removed in an untransparent process, will confirm many in their distrust of the Church.
READ MORE
-
RELIGION
- Neil Ormerod
- 23 March 2011
32 Comments
I received a letter from a former student. Ten years ago, he had suddenly vanished without warning or further communication. Now he was about to reveal the reasons for his disappearance. It was the sort of story I had heard often before.
READ MORE
-
RELIGION
- Michael Kelly
- 20 February 2011
41 Comments
In earlier generations, Australian priests were treated as tribal heroes. But the sexual abuse scandals and their inept management by Church authorities have dealt lethal blows. The paradigm is broken and needs a full review.
READ MORE
-
RELIGION
- Andrew Hamilton
- 14 October 2010
4 Comments
It is possible to represent MacKillop as a brave woman, a feisty woman, her own woman, a feminist before her time, a woman who resisted clerical tyranny, a scourge of pedophilia and an activist for the poor. Each of these descriptions misses what was central in her.
READ MORE
-
RELIGION
- James Martin
- 13 October 2010
3 Comments
MacKillop can be properly seen be as someone drawn into the sexual abuse scandal a century before the rest of the Catholic Church was. As a result, she might be someone that victims and their families feel drawn to in prayer.
READ MORE