Welcome to Eureka Street

back to site
Forgot your password?
Subscribe

Keywords: Pedophilia

  • RELIGION

    The Plenary Council: Restoring the Third Rite

    • Bill Uren
    • 05 October 2021
    15 Comments

    As a result of the pandemic, like other religious observances, the availability of the Sacrament of Penance has been drastically curtailed, and it is unlikely that recourse to the sacrament will be as frequent as previously even when the restrictions are lifted. Further, the confidence of the laity in the inviolability of the seal has, understandably, been undermined, a consequence of which may again be that recourse to the sacrament will be in decline. 

    READ MORE
  • RELIGION

    Ensuring justice for all after the Royal Commission

    • Frank Brennan
    • 17 February 2017
    3 Comments

    The commission's forensic scrutiny of past actions of church officials in no way constitutes an interference with the freedom of religion. Its spotlight is to be welcomed, provided only that it is shone on a truly representative sample of all institutions which have been found wanting and provided the same light filter is applied to all institutions. I do however have a problem with the commission making findings on issues like the want of compassion when those findings are made only against a Church.

    READ MORE
  • RELIGION

    Why the seal of the confessional should remain in tact

    • Frank Brennan
    • 05 December 2016
    18 Comments

    One distinctively Catholic practice is personal confession in which an individual confesses to God their sins and seeks forgiveness in the presence of and at the hands of a priest. Some groups and individuals are proposing to the royal commission that the seal of the confessional no longer be inviolable. I was quoted in The Australian saying, 'If a law is introduced to say that a priest should reveal a confession, I'm one of those priests who will disobey the law.' Being also a lawyer, let me explain.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    Silence won't make abuse go away

    • James Fry
    • 19 August 2015
    6 Comments

    We tell victims of of crimes including bullying, domestic violence and child abuse, that help will come their way if they are prepared to speak up. But on several occasions, I spoke to those responsible for my welfare and safety, only to have such pleas ignored. For others it can be worse, with Child Abuse Royal Commission revealing victims being blamed for the crimes against them, and sometimes being delivered into the hands of other pedophiles.

    READ MORE
  • RELIGION

    Buddhism's challenge to Christian churches

    • Jenny Stewart
    • 27 October 2014
    38 Comments

    Christianity is a warm, people-centred faith. Buddhism is cool and cerebral. Christianity offers narrative and prophecy of human failing and human glory. The Buddhist sutras are impenetrable discourses on the absolute. Yet Christianity in Australia seems to be fading.

    READ MORE
  • RELIGION

    In defence of Cardinal Pell

    • Frank Brennan
    • 22 April 2014
    30 Comments

    I write to defend Cardinal Pell in the wake of Elizabeth Farrelly's claim in the Fairfax press that Pell, when appearing before Justice McClellan at the Royal Commission, proposed a 'priestly child abuse insurance scheme'. Pell is not one of my fans, and neither am I one of his. But I think Farrelly has unfairly kicked him when he is down, and muddied the waters about what is a critical issue for the victims of child sexual abuse.

    READ MORE
  • RELIGION

    The Mary MacKillop reality test

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 14 October 2010
    4 Comments

    It is possible to represent MacKillop as a brave woman, a feisty woman, her own woman, a feminist before her time, a woman who resisted clerical tyranny, a scourge of pedophilia and an activist for the poor. Each of these descriptions misses what was central in her.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    Best of 2009: Empathy for paedophiles is not sympathy for the devil

    • Michael Mullins
    • 04 January 2010
    4 Comments

    A bill passed hastily by the NSW Parliament last week, specifically to force released paedophile Dennis Ferguson out of his home, effectively enshrined hate in legislation. Like drug addiction, paedophilia is a problem that requires community empathy, rather than ostracism. September 2009

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    Empathy for paedophiles is not sympathy for the devil

    • Michael Mullins
    • 28 September 2009
    22 Comments

    A bill passed hastily by the NSW Parliament last week, specifically to force released paedophile Dennis Ferguson out of his home, effectively enshrined hate in legislation. Like drug addiction, paedophilia is a problem that requires community empathy, rather than ostracism.

    READ MORE
  • RELIGION

    Pope visit holds mirror up to 'grappling' US Catholics

    • Binoy Kampmark
    • 28 April 2008
    2 Comments

    Did the Pope's first visit to the US usher in any significant changes for the Church in that country? Benedict acknowledged that child abuse was a problem that had to be confronted, but would not divorce it from the broader assault on community values.

    READ MORE
  • INTERNATIONAL

    Honour killings an expression of immigrant alienation

    • David Rosen
    • 19 March 2008
    3 Comments

    The United Nations estimates that 5,000 honour killings occur annually. These killings are a rebellion against modernity, attempts to hold on to older traditional values, especially concerning social relations and sexuality.

    READ MORE