Each year, the King of Jordan on behalf of UN World Interfaith Harmony Week allocates prizes to the most effective event for World Interfaith Harmony Week, the first week of February, every year. This year, for 2018, the Interfaith Centre of Melbourne has won the First Prize.
Earth Hour: What is the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change?
The Australian Religious Response to Climate Change (ARRCC) is a movement that encourages regular people of faith to step up and make a difference.
Grand Mufti of Australia elected
The new spiritual leader of Australia’s Sunni Muslim community, Abdul Azeem Afifi, has begun his three-year term as Grand Mufti with a strong condemnation of religious extremism, declaring we must keep Australia “safe and secure”.
PNG: Design of Baha’i House of Worship Unveiled
PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea — In a historic event earlier today, the design for the national Baha’i House of Worship of Papua New Guinea (PNG) was unveiled. The House of Worship will be one of two national Baha’i temples to be constructed in the world in the coming years, signifying a new milestone for the Baha’i world community.
Buddhist Nuns Ordained
Four Australian Tibetan Buddhist sramaneris (female novice nuns) who in early March 2018 took their bhikshuni/bhikkhuni vows.
Sikh Environment Day
March 14 is an important day for Sikhs as it marks the enthronement day of seventh Sikh Guru, Guru Har Rai, who is remembered for his love for nature and care for animals. He is perhaps the first environmentalist in the South Asia who during his reign from 1644 to 1661 started and promoted herbal gardens and wild life refuge. EcoSikh has been facilitating the celebration of this day as Sikh Environment Day since 2010.
DOHA – Final Declaration on Religion and Human Rights
The 13th International Conference for Interfaith Dialogue on the topic of Religion and Human Rights was held in Doha on February 20 and February 21, 2018. The conference entitled “Religions and Human Rights”, was held with the participation of a group of two hundred and thirty-nine (239) scholars from the three monotheistic religions of Islam, Christianity and Judaism, as well as participants from Qatar.
Stay Close to Syria’s Children
Religions for Peace worked with Syria’s top religious leaders, women and youth leaders, and also on the level of local mosques and churches. The effective and heartwarming small projects advanced by mosques and churches provided greatly needed services and helped nurture solidarity among Syrians.
Tasmania: March 2018
Greetings of peace!
Happy UN International Women’s Day! Spare a thought for all the contributions given to the faith traditions by women and for the safety of women everywhere. It was not so long ago that the UN statistics showed that soldiers in a theatre of war were safer than ordinary women in their own houses and neighbourhoods around the world.
Buddhist group admits sexual abuse by teachers
One of the west’s largest Buddhist organisations has admitted to sexual abuse by its teachers, announcing it will take urgent measures to tackle the problem. Leaders of Shambhala International, which has more than 200 meditation centres across the world, including several in Australia, admitted to major failures in how it dealt with “abhorrent sexual behaviour”.
An expert on faith-based abuse talks about how Buddhists can address sexual misconduct
Michael Salter is a criminologist specializing in gendered violence, child abuse, and mental health. He is also a lecturer in criminology and member of the Centre for Health Research at the University of Western Sydney in Australia. Ten years ago, he started researching the benefits of meditation for child abuse survivors, and, in doing so, found a personal connection to Buddhism. He says that Buddhism has provided him with the compassion and stability he needs to do his work as a criminologist. Dr Michael Salter was also involved in the recent Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
Victoria: Women’s Interfaith Model Passover Seder
The National Council of Jewish Women of Australia will conduct a Women’s Interfaith Model Passover Seder at the Eva Besen Centre, Caulfield North on Wednesday, 21 March. This is a women-only event, an interfaith event and has been a fully booked out program when it has been provided in the past.
