The Religion and Ethics Report - Separate stories podcast

How did a young man go from being a racist teenage thug,  who did gaol time, to one of the world’s leading Catholic writers. You can thank that lovable character from the G.K. Chesterton novels, Father Brown. JOSEPH PEARCE became captivated by the gentle, crime-solving priest, turned his life around and became a biographer of Chesterton and J.R.R. Tolkien. He brought his extraordinary story to Australia recently as a guest of Hartford College, a liberal studies school in Sydney.Joseph Pearce is a US based British philosopher and author

The election of Pope Leo XIV is having an immediate and concrete effect in Australia – but in a way you might not have imagined. In the Fair Work Commission, the country’s Catholic bishops are pushing for a major pay increase for the lowest paid workers. And they’re using a famous statement from one of Pope Leo’s predecessors – Leo XIII – way back in 1891. Professor Tom Barnes is an economist with the Australian Catholic University. He helped write and present the submission.Everyone deserves a proper and decent burial. Even those who have lived a life of crime or scandal can surely expect some dignity in death. But what if the deceased is a war criminal -- specifically a Nazi? In Germany, an organisation established after World War I to help locate and re-bury the remains of some of the millions who died has found itself in an ethical dilemma. Nicholas Casey is a staff writer for The New York Times magazine. He explored this question in a recent cover story. GUESTS:Nicholas Casey, writer and journalist - author of Unburying the Remains of the Third ReichTom Barnes, Economist with the Australian Catholic University and contributor to the Catholic Church's Wage Submission

The Anglicans of Melbourne have gone all the way to London to find their new archbishop.Last weekend they elected Richard Thorpe, currently the Bishop of Islington.It could be quite a shake up for Melbourne, where Anglicanism has balanced traditional-style worship with a more low-key evangelicalism.Bishop Thorpe's background suggests he prefers a more charismatic style.GUEST:Madeleine Davies is Senior Writer at the Church Times

From an Australian perspective the commemoration of war has long been wrapped up with our national identity.Both 20th C world wars have loomed large for many Australians, and we continue to commemorate our war dead - note the Federal Government has just dropped over half a billion taxpayer dollars on a refurb of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.Everyone deserves a proper and decent burial. Even those who have lived a life of crime or scandal can surely expect some dignity in death. But what if the deceased is a war criminal -- specifically a Nazi? In Germany, an organisation established after World War 1 to help locate and re-bury the remains of some of the millions who died, has found itself in an ethical dilemma. A fascinating story called Unburying the Remains of the Third Reich by Nicholas Casey , a journalist and staff writer at The New York Times based in Madrid. 

The election of Pope Leo XIV is having an immediate and concrete effect in Australia – but in a way you might not have imagined. In the Fair Work Commission, the country’s Catholic bishops are pushing for a major pay increase for the lowest paid workers. And they’re using a famous statement from one of Pope Leo’s predecessors – Leo XIII – way back in 1891. Professor Tom Barnes is an economist with the Australian Catholic University. He helped write and present the submission.

Humanitarian aid is trickling back into Gaza, after the Israeli government allowed a small number of trucks to enter the enclave. The prospect of starvation looms over the enclave. A permanent ceasefire in Gaza – not yet on the table – is only the first step to ending the crisis. Does the two-state solution have any future? Veteran peace negotiators Israeli GERSHON BASKIN and Palestinian SAMER SINIJLAWI are heading to Australia with the New Israel Fund to discuss prospects. GUESTS:Gershon Baskin is an Israeli columnist, social and political activist. Samer Sinijlawi is a Palestinian political activist and the founding chairman of the Jerusalem Development FundBoth will be guests of the New Israel Fund Australia

The California technology region of Silicon Valley once styled itself as the epitome of Obama-era cool, with CEOs in untucked tee-shirts spouting progressive politics. Now it sees itself as a new Jerusalem. But is there crafty politics behind the religious trend? Vanity Fair writer ZOE BERNARD explains how Christianity went from stigma to status symbol in the Silicon Valley of the Trump era. GUEST: Freelance feature writer and journalist Zoë Bernardwrote Vanity Fair's article Christianity Was “Borderline Illegal” in Silicon Valley. Now It’s the New Religion

Humanitarian aid is trickling back into Gaza, after the Israeli government allowed a small number of trucks to enter the enclave. The prospect of starvation looms over the enclave. A permanent ceasefire in Gaza – not yet on the table – is only the first step to ending the crisis. Does the two-state solution have any future? Veteran peace negotiators Israeli GERSHON BASKIN and Palestinian SAMER SINIJLAWI are heading to Australia with the New Israel Fund to discuss prospects. The California technology region of Silicon Valley once styled itself as the epitome of Obama-era cool, with CEOs in untucked tee-shirts spouting progressive politics. Now it sees itself as a new Jerusalem. But is there crafty politics behind the religious trend? Vanity Fair writer ZOE BERNARD explains how Christianity went from stigma to status symbol in the Silicon Valley of the Trump era. GUESTS:Gershon Baskin is an Israeli columnist, social and political activist. Samer Sinijlawi is a Palestinian political activist and the founding chairman of the Jerusalem Development FundBoth will be guests of the New Israel Fund AustraliaZoe Bernard is a freelance journalist and author of  Christianity Was “Borderline Illegal” in Silicon Valley. Now It’s the New Religion

In April, a new book by the 14th Dalai Lama was published called “Voice For The Voiceless: Over Seven decades of struggle with China for my land and my people”.The Dalai Lama reveals that his reincarnated successor could be born in what he calls “the free world”.It would break with centuries of tradition – and raise the stakes in the dispute with China over control of the Himalayan region that the Dalai Lama fled in 1959.It also raises the intriguing prospect of the next Dalai Lama being found in Australia.Dr Zoe Bedford is the Executive officer from The Australia Tibet Council.

Religion specialist Noel Debien speaks with Eparch’s vicar general Fr Simon Ckuj, who accompanied Cardinal Mykola Bychok CSrR, Eparch of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in Australia and Oceania to Rome for the conclave.Cardinal Bychock was made the Catholic Church’s youngest cardinal by Pope Francis on 7 December 2024.Father Ckuj relates what the appointment of Pope Leo means for Australian Catholics and particularly to the Ukrainian diaspora.