The nurturing and respect for Life is a central doctrine of all faiths on Earth. Yet today we are endangering life on Earth with unacceptably high and rising levels of greenhouse gas emissions. These gases are destabilizing the global climate system, heating the Earth, acidifying the oceans, and putting both humanity and all living creatures at unacceptable risk.
Brave New World Seminar ~ Prof. Joe Camilleri OAM
Professor Joseph Camilleri OAM returns to St Michael’s to deliver three exciting lectures offering a new perspective on how we are travelling in the 21st Century. The presentations will combine interviews with guests and conversation across the generations to help us probe the present and re-imagine the future.
Prayer for Safety During a Hurricane
This is a prayer for safety to be said as a hurricane approaches, as well as during the storm. It includes additional options for customizing the prayer, which are shown in [brackets], and does not include references to any particular storm.
Victoria: Ganesh Festival
The 2018 Melbourne Ganesh Festival – held on occasion of Ganesh Chaturti – will be held at the Werribee Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday, 15 September 2018 from 11:00AM.
Rebuilding Pastoral Health and Integrity after the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
“… And What Would God Think?”
Keynote address presented at the Health and Integrity Conference held in Melbourne at the University of Divinity on 27th – 29th August 2018 after the December 2017 release of the Report of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse sponsored by the University of Divinity, three Catholic religious orders (Franciscans, Redemptorists and the Passionists), the Yarra Theological Union and Carroll and O’Dea Lawyers.
Tibetan Buddhist Rinpoche confirmed to have engaged in “physical, sexual, emotional abuse”
The author of the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, Soygal Rinpoche, has been subject of abuse claims by his followers. An independent investigation confirms “physical, sexual, emotional abuse” by Sogyal Rinpoche.
The report by law firm Lewis Silkin details multiple allegations of physical, sexual, emotional and psychological abuse, as well as accounts of “living a lavish, gluttonous and sybaritic lifestyle,” and “tainting the appreciation of the Dharma.
Europe: Ecumenical pilgrims start journey to advocate for climate justice at UN climate talks
A group of ecumenical pilgrims started a journey towards the 2018 World Climate Conference hosting city Katowice, in Poland, where high level talks about the preservation of creation will take place. “Go then!” (Geht doch!, in German) is the motto of the Ecumenical Pilgrimage for Climate Justice that took off in Bonn, Germany, on 9 September.
National Apology to Survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse
The government has announced when it will deliver the national apology to survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse: 22 October.
There are only 800 places, with 400 going to organisations that support survivors, and the other 400 open to a ballot. A website has been created for people to join the ballot for places at the National Apology
The Guardian: Why Faith is becoming more and more popular
If you think religion belongs to the past and we live in a new age of reason, you need to check out the facts: 84% of the world’s population identifies with a religious group. Members of this demographic are generally younger and produce more children than those who have no religious affiliation, so the world is getting more religious, not less – although there are significant geographical variations.
Peak Interfaith Dialogue has first Melbourne meeting
Delegates representing the peak national organisations of Australian Jews, Christians and Muslims met in Melbourne this week to discuss Australia’s unique religious and interfaith environment and ways of strengthening relationships.
Royal Commission: Catholic Church must reform canon law in wake of child sex abuse royal commission
Amid international media hype and confusing reporting, Australia’s Catholic leaders delivered their official response to the Royal Commission on Institutional Responses to Sexual Abuse last week.
So, has the Australian Catholic Church “rejected mandatory reporting“, as Al Jazeera published? Or did The Hindu get it right with their headline: “Australian Catholic leaders vow to end abuse cover-up“?
The devil is, as always, in the detail. And there is a lot of detail.
The joint response from the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) and Catholic Religious Australia (CRA), which represents nuns, sisters and brothers, monks and friars, says bishops and religious leaders accept most of the recommendations of the royal commission.
Simultaneously, the long-awaited Truth, Justice and Healing Council (TJHC) report, a self-analysis commissioned by the ACC and the CRA, was made public — it’s a bitter medicinal pill Catholic leadership themselves had paid for and asked to be administered.
The bottom line is that the diverse and independent parts of a complex Catholic Church in crisis have managed — for better or for worse — to pull themselves together and form a coordinated response.
Western Australia: Abraham Day
The University of Notre Dame Australia – Freemantle Campus – will host an interfaith event celebrating the three religious traditions of Christianity, Judaism and Islam that share a common origin in Abraham on Wednesday 5 September at the Drill Hall, Freemantle.
