Newlyweds nicknamed ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by Italian media had both refused to resign so other could keep job
A man and woman have been fired from their jobs at the Vatican bank because they flouted a ban on marriage between employees.
The young couple, nicknamed “Romeo and Juliet” by the Italian media, got married in August, after the bank imposed a rule banning marriage between employees aimed at preventing nepotism.
Continue reading...One exercise in History of Australia, a student workbook and teaching manual, asks pupils to discuss how Aboriginal people were ‘blessed’ by the British coming
Peter Cain, the ACT’s shadow attorney general, has apologised “wholeheartedly” for a 2002 workbook he wrote which does not mention the frontier wars and paints a rosy picture of how Christian settlers helped First Nations peoples.
In History of Australia, a student workbook and teacher’s manual published by Light Educational Ministries, Cain wrote that when the British arrived, “some were afraid of the Aboriginals; some treated them badly”.
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Continue reading...Some question the appointment of an official who has worked on controversial countering violent extremism programs
The Albanese government has announced British Australian public servant Aftab Malik as the special envoy to combat Islamophobia in Australia after months of delays.
But it has also sparked criticism, with some people within the Muslim community calling into question the thinking behind the appointment.
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Continue reading...Rockville Centre diocese in New York settles with more than 530 victims after proposed deal comes close to failure
A Roman Catholic diocese in Long Island, New York, announced a new bankruptcy settlement on Thursday that would pay more than $323m to about 530 sex abuse survivors who alleged they were abused by priests when they were children.
The diocese of Rockville Centre, which serves about 1.2 million Catholics in Nassau and Suffolk counties, said earlier this year that it did not think a bankruptcy settlement would be possible after abuse survivors rejected the diocese’s previous $200m settlement offer.
Continue reading...Calls rise for Benedict Willard to be punished after recusing himself from Lawrence Hecker case on morning of trial
Court watchdogs and advocates for victims of sexual abuse are calling for a New Orleans judge to be punished and voted out of office after he controversially delayed the trial of retired Catholic priest charged with child rape and kidnapping – on the morning of jury selection.
Judge Benedict Willard’s critics say his angry outbursts have been a problem over more than two decades on the bench. But they are raising fresh concerns after Willard’s decision to remove members of the local district attorney’s office during a rape trial in August reverberated to affect the eagerly anticipated trial of Lawrence Hecker, 93, on Tuesday.
Continue reading...‘If anyone could undo … the will of Louisiana … the Catholic church can and will,’ says survivor whose case is targeted
Months after Louisiana’s supreme court upheld the constitutionality of a state law that let child molestation victims sue for long-ago abuse, despite arguments to the contrary by a Roman Catholic diocese, another church organization is asking the federal government to strike the statute down.
Behind the request in question are the Dominican Sisters of Peace and a law firm that boasts about having represented Catholic institutions in Louisiana courts for more than a century. Another of the law firm’s clients in question, the archdiocese of New Orleans, is offering clergy molestation victims less than 10% of what they are requesting in a bankruptcy settlement, in part by arguing the so-called “lookback window” law doesn’t apply to more than 600 abuse claims.
Continue reading...Commemorations of 45 people ‘experimentally’ gassed reveal dark moments in the Netherlands’ history
They call them stumbling stones – little brass plaques in the pavement marking addresses where Holocaust victims once lived.
As the Netherlands marks 80 years of liberation, a row has sprung up about placing Stolpersteine for 45 Dutch political prisoners – Jewish activists, communists, critical Christians – who were “experimentally” gassed by the Nazis at the Bernburg psychiatric clinic in Germany in 1942.
Continue reading...Zara Mohammed calls for review of Downing Street’s non-engagement policy with Muslim Council of Britain
The head of the Muslim Council of Britain has called for an explanation and a review of the government’s policy of non-engagement with the body after her appeals for contact during the summer riots were ignored.
Zara Mohammed, who was elected more than three years ago as the MCB’s youngest and first female secretary general, said there had been a “quite shocking” lack of contact with the new government at a time when mobs were targeting Muslims and mosques.
Continue reading...Report reveals how US Christians, Catholic schools and Islamists fight sex education, LGBTQ+ and equal rights
Extreme religious groups and political parties are targeting schools around the world as part of a coordinated and well-funded attack on gender equality, according to a new report.
Well-known conservative organisations aim to restrict girls’ access to education, change what is on the curriculum, and influence educational laws and policies, according to Whose Hands on our Education, a report by the Overseas Development Institute.
Continue reading...Apollo Quiboloy, who is also wanted in US on child trafficking charges, hands himself over to police after ultimatum
An influential pastor wanted in the US on child trafficking charges has been arrested in the Philippines, after a 16-day manhunt across a vast compound that included a network of underground tunnels and dozens of buildings.
Apollo Quiboloy, the founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) church, who claims to be the “appointed son of God” and was a spiritual adviser of the former president Rodrigo Duterte, is facing various charges, including in the US where he is wanted over alleged trafficking of women and girls as young as 12.
Continue reading...The pontiff visited the small town of Vanimo after delivering mass to an estimated 35,000 people in the capital of Port Moresby
Pope Francis travelled to Vanimo, on Papua New Guinea’s remote north-west coast, after celebrating a mass in the capital of Port Moresby in front of an estimated audience of 35,000 people.
The pope received an enthusiastic welcome in the town located on a peninsula close to the border with Indonesia. He was greeted by members of the small Catholic community who are served by missionaries from his native Argentina.
Continue reading...Funds will help communities living on the Codrington estate, which was home to two sugar plantations
An Anglican church group is to launch a £7m reconciliation project in Barbados to atone for the atrocities of transatlantic slavery and compensate descendants of enslaved people.
United Society Partners in the Gospel (USPG), a UK-based missionary organisation created in 1701 to convert people in the colonies to Christianity, will work with local and regional partners in the Caribbean to allocate money to education and entrepreneurial grants and historical research. It will also support land ownership among descendants of enslaved people.
Continue reading...Pontiff lands in Jakarta before travelling on to Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Singapore over 12 days
Pope Francis arrived in Muslim-majority Indonesia on Tuesday to kick off a four-nation tour of the Asia-Pacific that will be the longest and farthest of the 87-year-old’s papacy.
The head of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics touched down in the capital, Jakarta, for a three-day visit devoted to inter-religious ties, and will then travel to Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Singapore.
Continue reading...Pontiff’s itinerary, including visits to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, reflects importance of Asia to Catholic church
Pope Francis is to embark on the longest, farthest and perhaps most challenging trip of his pontificate as he begins a 12-day Asia-Pacific tour that is expected to highlight environmental threats, emphasise interfaith dialogue and reinforce the importance of Asia for the Catholic church.
The 87-year-old will set off on Monday on a tour taking in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore, a trip that will clock up more than 20,000 miles by air.
Continue reading...New examination supports claim remains are of Teodomiro, a key figure in establishing Camino de Santiago pilgrimage
Scientists believe a set of ancient bones discovered in north-west Spain almost 70 years ago are those of the bishop whose devotion to St James the Apostle paved the way for the Camino de Santiago path taken by countless footsore pilgrims over the past 12 centuries.
According to historical sources and oral tradition, Bishop Teodomiro of Iria Flavia discovered the remains of St James – who was martyred in Jerusalem between the years AD41 and 44 – in an abandoned cemetery in what is now the Galician city of Santiago de Compostela. Teodomiro is said to have received the revelation in the early ninth century after days of fasting and meditation – and with a little help from a visionary local hermit.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Justin Welby condemns violent disorder of recent days as ‘unchristian’
The archbishop of Canterbury has warned Christians they should not be part of any far-right groups, criticising the use of Christian imagery in this summer’s riots as “an offence to our faith”.
Writing in the Guardian, Justin Welby condemned the violent unrest, which he described as “racist”, “anti-Muslim, anti-refugee and anti-asylum seeker”. His intervention follows a week of disorder that began after a mass stabbing of children at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport last month.
Continue reading...The PM wants the focus to be on first-term achievements and cost-of-living relief but question marks remain over religious freedoms and gambling ads
After a five-week break, the spring session of the parliamentary year is about to begin. Early election rumours continue to swirl – the “break in case of emergency” date bandied around the corridors of power remains 7 December. Calmer heads will point out that voters would only hit the polls on that date if the political situation appeared irrevocably difficult for the Albanese government, given that the last months of the year will be dominated by the US election and its outcome.
Either way, there are only nine months until the very last date the next election could be held. That doesn’t leave a lot of time for the Albanese government to complete its first-term agenda, regardless of whether it returns Australians to the polls before May. Albanese wants the focus to be on cost-of-living relief and the reforms the government has already passed through parliament, but stumbling blocks threaten to derail the agenda.
Continue reading...Critics call Tory leadership candidate’s comments around far-right protests ‘nasty divisive rhetoric’
Robert Jenrick has been criticised by a rival for the Conservative leadership and Muslim parliamentarians for saying police should “immediately arrest” any protesters shouting “Allahu Akbar”, the Arabic phrase that means God is great.
The former immigration minister was speaking on Sky News about the accusations that police have been treating far-right marches and violence more harshly than other protests.
Continue reading...Louisiana’s Jeff Landry was defending a law requiring display of text in all public schools starting next year
The far-right Louisiana governor, Jeff Landry, has told parents who don’t want the Ten Commandments hung in up classrooms across the state – as now required by law there – to tell their children to “not look at them”.
The Republican’s remarks came at a news conference on Monday defending the mandate, about two months after Louisiana became the first state in the country to order the Ten Commandments to be displayed in all public school classrooms.
Continue reading...Report by Co-op Funeralcare highlights shift towards unusual venues, pets at services and glittery coffins
Traditional sombre funerals in religious settings are increasingly being replaced by “celebrations of life” with personal touches held at more unusual locations in the UK, according to a study.
Dr Who-themed farewells, glittery coffins and mourners dressed in football shirts are among requests received by funeral directors.
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