A beach swim, a shark warning and a familiar summer ritual open up bigger questions about safety, fear, and what it means to feel alive.
Category: Religion
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Best of 2025 – Muted response to Trump’s appropriation of Christianity
“…and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert…” (Acts 20:29–31). (more…)
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Best of 2025 – The Pope, the media and the ‘normalisation’ of Trump
As world media and leaders normalise US President Donald Trump’s erratic behaviour, Pope Leo XIV must resist and keep his distance. (more…)
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Best of 2025 – Shameful distortion that lies at the heart of US conservative politics
The news of ceasefire and release of hostages in Gaza is cause for great rejoicing and for giving credit where it is due. But the big questions remain: where to from here, and how did the world allow this to happen in the first place? (more…)
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Vulnerability at the heart of Christmas
Christmas begins with fragility rather than power. The story of Jesus’ birth places vulnerability, dependence and shared humanity at its centre. (more…)
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Holding on to hope – a Christmas reflection
In the shadow of the Bondi massacre, Christmas and Hanukkah sit side by side this year. Acts of courage and faith remind us how light is kept alive in dark times.
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Faith that costs something: the Pope’s challenge to comfortable Christianity
A new Vatican document challenges wealthy Catholics to move beyond charity toward justice, solidarity and real encounters with the poor.
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Leo XIV: ‘Apostle of nonviolence’
Pope Leo isn’t just condemning wars, but also insisting that we “must reject the paradigm of war” itself and “prepare institutions of peace”. (more…)
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Raise the double standard high
There is a famous quote with many attributions but no firm source – “Sincerity is the most important thing in politics: once you can fake that, you’ve got it made!” (more…)
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Muted response to Trump’s appropriation of Christianity
“…and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert…” (Acts 20:29–31). (more…)
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Islamophobia in Australian schools: What the Special Envoy’s report means for education
Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia, Aftab Malik, recently released his landmark report: A National Response to Islamophobia: A Strategic Framework for Inclusion, Safety and Prosperity. (more…)
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The Pope, the media and the ‘normalisation’ of Trump
As world media and leaders normalise US President Donald Trump’s erratic behaviour, Pope Leo XIV must resist and keep his distance. (more…)
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Was the gospel preached at Charlie Kirk’s memorial service?
It is now more than a month since Charlie Kirk’s murder (10 September) and memorial service (21 September). (more…)
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Shameful distortion that lies at the heart of US conservative politics
The news of ceasefire and release of hostages in Gaza is cause for great rejoicing and for giving credit where it is due. But the big questions remain: where to from here, and how did the world allow this to happen in the first place? (more…)
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Charlie Kirk, Andrew Hastie and the ‘Christian’ West: Some Christian pushback
The horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk is being invested with all sorts of meaning, well beyond the personal tragedy it is for his family. (more…)
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Pope Leo is right: Uber-wealthy CEOs like Musk are paid too much
But there’s a solution: The recently introduced Tax Excessive CEO Pay Act would base the CEO-worker pay ratio on five-year averages of the total compensation for a firm’s highest-paid executive and median worker. (more…)
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Landmark report to combat Islamophobia in Australia launched
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese together with Dr Anne Aly, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, joined Special Envoy Aftab Malik in Sydney on Friday 12 September 2025 for the launch of the landmark report “A National Response to Islamophobia: A strategic Framework for Inclusion, Safety and Prosperity”. (more…)
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Gaza’s Christians refuse to abandon churches before Israeli attack
Two of Gaza City’s churches are in areas where Israel has ordered Palestinians to leave before a planned attack. (more…)
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Never again – so the world pledged
For 80 years the world has sympathised with and supported Israel through the prism of the indescribably brutal Holocaust. (more…)
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‘It is time to end this spiral of violence’ – Greek Orthodox and Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem
A joint statement by the Greek Orthodox and Latin Patriarchates of Jerusalem has called for an end to the killing. (more…)
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ABS decision to reuse biased, coercive Census religion question puts human rights in the spotlight
In about 12 months from now, Australians will again be asked to fill in a Census form that seeks information on all kinds of important questions. (more…)
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Caritas Internationalis statement on the man-made famine and assault on Gaza City
On 20 August 2025, Israeli forces stormed Gaza City, where nearly one million displaced civilians had sought refuge, many already starving. (more…)
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The Gaza crisis and the Australian Church
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has illustrated once again that Australian Catholics should not look to their church for high-level collective moral leadership. (more…)
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Interfaith groups come together to call for Gaza action
A coalition of Australian interfaith and community organisations — including leading Muslim, Christian, and Jewish groups — is calling on the Albanese Government to sanction Israel and to urgently recognise Palestine as a sovereign state. Full page advertisements have appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers. The signatories represent a broad spectrum of religious, ethnic and political affiliations, united in an unprecedented show of solidarity. Their joint message is clear. The time for action is now. (more…)
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Why are our Australian institutions so silent regarding the Gaza genocide?
A reality of our day: The Israeli Government, with the full support of the United States, is conducting genocide in Gaza. Numerous other countries, including Australia, as well as a multitude of corporations worldwide are complicit. (more…)
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New ethical multilateralism of the fraternal economy program of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences
We have arrived at a pivot of history. The world system that emerged at the end of World War II is over. The seeming truths of an earlier age have become dangerous illusions of our own age. (more…)
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Defining antisemitism and bringing the killing to an end
In a homily delivered last Sunday Frank Brennan said the best way to counter antisemitism is by extending hospitality to the stranger and to all work to end the killing. (more…)
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50 years of ‘the meddling priest’
Not only is Frank Brennan Australia’s best known Catholic priest, but he has also contributed much to Australia’s public life, above all to those most marginalised. (more…)
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Time to clarify the scope for bipartisan cooperation in a new Federal Parliament
It would be wise if the Prime Minister and the new Leader of the Opposition were to meet early in this new Federal Parliament to clarify what they think is the desirable and possible scope for bipartisan cooperation. (more…)
