Welcome to Eureka Street

back to site

Keywords: Sexual Abuse

  • RELIGION

    Is another Catholic school shutdown on the horizon?

    • John Warhurst
    • 03 July 2024

    In 1962, Goulburn was the centre of national attention when Catholic schools closed in protest over a lack of government funding and control. Students overwhelmed public schools. Could this happen again? An Australian archbishop suggests it as an option if religious freedom in Catholic schools is threatened.

    READ MORE
  • RELIGION

    Everyone agrees we should protect the vulnerable, but who exactly are they?

    • Justin Glyn
    • 03 July 2024

    None of us — even those experiencing vulnerability, whether temporary or resulting from a permanent infirmity of some kind — should be perceived as an object of protection; instead, each one of us is a collaborator in our own care, and in the care of others.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    Bruise-free ministry

    • Michael McVeigh
    • 01 July 2024

    Last month, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference released a pastoral statement on religion and sport. And while commending sport’s ability to promote growth in individuals and foster healthy communities, if sport is to be a field of mission, it should be more willing to dive into those places where the 'bruises' occur.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    For better laws on family violence, we need better data

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 27 June 2024

    In addressing family violence, the immediate emphasis must be to protect women and children. But if the only response is harsher penalties in addressing any social problem, it is bound to be ineffective. Regulation depends also on understanding why people are drawn to behave badly and how the culture that supports it can be changed.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    What's the harm in a bit of porn?

    • Bill Farrelly, David Halliday
    • 30 May 2024

    We don’t need more statistics to prove that addiction to alcohol, gambling and illegal drugs plays a huge role in domestic violence. But what about addiction to pornography? Until now, public conversation on this has been minimal. Despite a wealth of research linking pornography consumption with sexual violence, why are we so afraid to discuss this elephant?

    READ MORE
  • RELIGION

    Painful times for Church reformers

    • John Warhurst
    • 29 May 2024

    We are now witnessing a changed dynamic within the movement for church reform. The balance within its component parts has changed towards a more pessimistic view. A minority is still hopeful; a few even remain optimistic, but most are struggling.

    READ MORE
  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Sins of the fathers

    • Ken Haley
    • 29 March 2024
    2 Comments

    Recent years have made clerical child sexual abuse a badge of shame within Australia’s Catholic hierarchy, and rightly so. But Anne Manne’s new book, Sins of the fathers, will give pause to those who blame these offences on the rule of hieratic celibacy.

    READ MORE
  • RELIGION

    Best of 2023: The Empty Honour Board

    • Michele Gierck
    • 11 January 2024

    In his latest book, The Empty Honour Board: A School Memoir, Martin Flanagan reckons with the legacy of abuse in the Catholic Church by looking back at his experiences at boarding school in Tasmania. In an interview with Michele Gierck for Eureka Street, Martin talks about the process of uncovering what happened all those years ago. 

    READ MORE
  • RELIGION

    The Empty Honour Board: In Conversation with Martin Flanagan

    • Michele Gierck
    • 18 August 2023
    5 Comments

    In his latest book, The Empty Honour Board: A School Memoir, Martin Flanagan reckons with the legacy of abuse in the Catholic Church by looking back at his experiences at boarding school in Tasmania. In an interview with Michele Gierck for Eureka Street, Martin talks about the process of uncovering what happened all those years ago. 

    READ MORE
  • RELIGION

    Professional supervision after the Royal Commission

    • Jamie Calder
    • 21 June 2023
    5 Comments

    The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse made a recommendation for professional supervision within religious and pastoral environments. But can professional supervision repair broken trust, ensure accountability, and promote a more ethical approach to care in the face of past failings?

    READ MORE
  • RELIGION

    Best of 2022: What now for senior clergy who covered up abuse?

    • Miles Pattenden
    • 12 January 2023

    Many Catholics will have found the news from Germany this past week painful. A law firm, Westpfahl Spilker Wastl, has presented findings in its investigation into historic sexual abuse in the Munich archdiocese. Running to 1,000 pages, the report is shocking: it lists at least 497 victims for the period 1945–2019 and identifies 235 probable offenders including 173 priests and nine deacons.

    READ MORE
  • RELIGION

    Roe vs Wade: The Bishops’ dilemma

    • Miles Pattenden
    • 26 May 2022
    19 Comments

    News leaked earlier this month that the US Supreme Court plans to overturn its most famous decision, that in Roe vs Wade (1973) which protects a pregnant woman's freedom to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction. The decision has attracted much criticism both in the past and now on account of its dubious legal reasoning – in particular, its attempt to link the right to abort to a right to privacy which itself was notional and not specified in the US Constitution.

    READ MORE