Queensland

Faith perspectives on palliative care

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queensland faith communities council

How do we support the spiritual needs of patients who are terminally ill? Watch the following videos to learn more about various faith perspectives on palliative care, including: Bahá’í, Tibetan Buddhist, Celtic Pagan, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Representatives of these faiths share a brief outline of their beliefs and how they apply in end-of-life situations. They offer practical advice concerning appropriate ways to interact with a patient and their loved ones in the lead up to death and the period immediately following.

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Cairns bishop condemns ‘ignorant, divisive’ parishioners peddling anti-vaccine myths

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Cairns bishop condemns 'ignorant, divisive' parishioners peddling anti-vaccine mythsBishop James Foley of Cairns says Catholic parishioners in Cairns are spreading vaccine misinformation based on “erroneous ideas”. The Cairns Local Government Area has recently surpassed the 70 per cent full vaccination rate. Bishop Foley says rumours that unvaccinated parishioners are not welcome at church are unfounded.

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Queensland: Faith Communities Make Noise For Climate

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Sacreed People - Sacred Earth Brisbane
More than one hundred Australian faith communities will ‘sound the alarm’ for the climate as part of a major global multi faith Day of Action on Thursday 11 March at 11am local time. Churches will ring bells, Rabbis will sound the shofar, Imams will call the Azan and other groups are holding silent vigils to draw attention to a series of demands of Prime Minister Scott Morrison for climate justice.

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Closing of Griffith University’s Centre for Interfaith Dialogue and Culture

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Griffith University Closing of Griffith University's Centre for Interfaith Dialogue and Culture

Emeritus Professor Desmond Cahill – Chair of Religions for Peace Australia – writes on the closure of Griffith University’s Centre for Interfaith Dialogue and Culture. This talk was delivered on the evening of the Closing Ceremony (Thursday 17 December, 2020 at 6pm) by Religions for Peace Queensland representative Ron Black, of the Baha’i Community.

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Queensland: Catholics and Jews in Conversation

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Catholic-Jewish dialogue Brisbane

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and The Executive Council of Australian Jewry held their 22nd Annual Conversation this week, on the subject of “How Does Our Faith Tradition Speak into the Current Pandemic and How Do We Draw on the Richness of our Respective Traditions”

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Queensland: International Day of Peace

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Emeritus Professor Gillian TriggsDuring the Season of Creation, St John’s Cathedral in Brisbane hosts Professor Gillian Triggs, former chair of the Australian Human Rights Commission, who will deliver the 2020 International Day of Peace lecture, “Shaping Peace Together” co-hosted by the University of Queensland Rotary Peace Centre and the United Nations Association of Australia. Professor Triggs will deliver the lecture from Geneva – a youtube video of the lecture is given.

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Queensland: Women’s Night of Spirituality

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St Ignatius Parish ToowongSt Ignatius Parish, Toowong, Queensland, will conduct a Women’s Night of Spirituality on evening of 28 July 2020. Sr Angela Mary Doyle RSM AO will speak about her journey leaving the warmth of her large family in Ireland. Sr Maeve Louise Heaney VDMF who will perform her own musical items especially chosen for the occasion. This will be an online event, available on Youtube.

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Queensland: Taking a Proactive Role in Mobilising Faith Communities during COVID-19

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Griffith University - Centre for Interfaith & Cultural Dialogue

Faith communities are uniquely situated to positively and negatively influence the success of Queensland’s’ COVID-19 responses in three areas: faith communities and places of worship, vulnerable groups in society, and community services. To this end, the Centre for Interfaith and Cultural Dialogue at Griffith University brought faith communities together to discover – and report to the Queensland Government – the concerns and needs highlighted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

This report outlines key issues facing faith communities in Queensland during the COVID-19 pandemic as reported from the communities themselves. The methods and findings of the project support improving connections between faith communities and state leadership for sharing lessons learned, improving support for vulnerable groups, and ensuring key health messaging is communicated to strengthen public safety.

The Centre for Interfaith and Cultural Dialogue at Griffith University acted as a link to faith communities, helping to facilitate connections between faith groups to identify issues and opportunities via:

  • a. a questionnaire distributed from 14-27 April 2020, and
  • b. an online Community Forum on 28 April 2020.

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Brisbane: WCC’s Commission of Churches on International Affairs meets

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WCC Commission of Churches on International Affairs in BrisbaneThe 57th meeting of the WCC’s Members of the Commission of Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) gathered for the Prayer service in St. John’s Anglican Cathedral in Brisbane, Australia, opening the 57th CCIA meeting on 19 February 2020. Agenda of the meeting include impacts of the climate change and nuclear testing on the countries in the Pacific region.[/caption] (CCIA) has convened from 19 to 21 February in Brisbane, Australia focusing on the priority issues of Pacific region.

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Queensland: Australians Sharing a New Story

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Initiatives of Change logoInitiatives of Change will revisit the Community Trust Building Dialogue event – for the power of personal story-sharing was valued so this time the emphasis will be on small group story sharing. This will take place at the Griffith University Center for Intercultural and Interfaith Dialogue, Nathan Campus, on 14 December 2019 at 3pm.

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Queensland: Chenrezig Institute Courses

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Chenrezig Logo with dragonsChenrezig Institute is a Buddhist retreat and study centre nestled in the hills of the Sunshine Coast hinterland in Queensland, Australia. Established in 1974, the Institute was among the first Tibetan Buddhist centres in the Western World and remains one of the largest. Several courses are offered in November 2019.

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Queensland: Trust-building and the Vibrancy of Western Multicultural Societies: The Christian- Muslim experience

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St Francis and the Muslim Sultan of Palestine, Syria, and Egypt: al-Malik al-KamilDave Hale and Adis Duderija will present talks on the topic on the occasion of celebrating the meeting 800 years ago between the Christian St Francis and Muslim Sultan of Palestine, Syria, and Egypt: al-Malik al-Kamil at the Multifaith Centre Griffith University, on October 17.

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Op Ed: It’s time to replace Religious Instruction with Worldviews Education in Australian schools

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School studentsThe religion in schools debate is heating up again — this time with a group, Queensland Parents for Secular State Schools, calling for a parliamentary review of Religious Instruction (RI) in state schools.

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Brisbane: Safer Churches Conference 2019

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National Council of Churches Safe Church Program logoThe 9th biennial Safer Churches Conference will be the first conference held by the National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA) Safe Church Program since the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommendations were released in December 2017. The theme for the conference, “Transforming Cultures: Listening, Reflecting, Acting” will provide the framework across the two-day event, at the Mercure Hotel, Brisbane on 16-17 September 2019.

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