Keywords: Towards Healing
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RELIGION
- Pat Power
- 14 November 2012
61 Comments
Fifty years ago, Pope John XXIII called Catholics to 'read the signs of the times' to bring the light of the Gospel on to every aspect of the life of the Church. Unless women and married people are made part of Church governance, there will continue to be a lack of balance and reality in its teaching, especially around sexuality.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 02 November 2012
36 Comments
What is to be done in the name of law and justice for the victims of abuse? Clearly the Church cannot be left alone to get its house in order. The State may have a role to play, but our elected politicians need assistance from lawyers committed to justice, not lawyers acting primarily to protect or condemn the Church.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 01 November 2012
'Even without the political static which is drowning us all out down there in Canberra, there is real doubt whether the Gillard bluff 'Don't get on a boat because you might end up in Nauru' can do what the Howard bluff could not deliver.' Full text from Fr Frank Brennan SJ's Law and Justice Oration at the Law and Justice Foundation 2012 Justice Awards Dinner, Parliament House, Sydney.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 24 July 2012
42 Comments
Most, if not all priests, would prefer to go to jail than disclose material from confession. The seal of the confessional is a red herring when it comes to protecting children. If confessional reporting were mandatory, chances are that the perpetrator would simply not come to confession.
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AUSTRALIA
- David Cappo
- 06 March 2012
21 Comments
The Protecting Victoria's Vulnerable Children Inquiry has set a new benchmark. A particular challenge to churches is the recommendation regarding mandatory reporting for clergy and church personnel. Any equivocation on this would be viewed with disdain by the community.
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EUREKA STREET TV
- Peter Kirkwood
- 10 February 2012
Much reporting in the mainstream media heightens the sense of threat represented by militant Islamic minorities. William Swing, founder of one of the largest international interfaith organisations, seeks to mobilise believers from all traditions to work towards common goals.
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ARTS AND CULTURE
- Alison Sampson
- 02 November 2011
22 Comments
'Did I have a brother once?' asks a little boy, no longer sure. His mother's eyes fill with tears. 'Yes, darling. A long time ago, you had a baby brother of your own.' He shouts triumphantly, 'I did have a brother!' and runs off. We mothers glance at each other, then look away. There are no words.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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ARTS AND CULTURE
- Diane Fahey
- 14 December 2010
3 Comments
The one on the left, wearing crimson tights, promises the world, probes with his pitchfork for hidden desires, sports a prehensile tail able to wrap around your mind ... his counterpart, in snowy alb, meditates on your right shoulder, sending into your soul's bloodstream a thirst for peace ...
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 01 November 2010
3 Comments
There is an emerging Aboriginal middle class. The contested questions in those communities relate to the expensive delivery of services including health, housing and education. The contested issue in the urban community is over self-identification as Aboriginal by persons of mixed descent.
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