The Religion and Ethics Report - Separate stories podcast

Mass demonstrations have roiled Turkiye’s biggest city of Istanbul. Protesters are angry at the jailing of the popular mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, on corruption charges that they say are concocted. The mayor was shaping up as the strongest rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who’s been in power for 22 years.

What’s the verdict on the 2025 budget, announced this week by Treasurer Jim Chalmers, from those who work with Australia’s most vulnerable people? 

What’s the verdict on the 2025 budget, announced this week by Treasurer Jim Chalmers, from those who work with Australia’s most vulnerable people? SUE KING is manager of advocacy and research at the faith-based welfare agency Anglicare Sydney.Mass demonstrations have roiled Turkiye’s biggest city of Istanbul. Protesters are angry at the jailing of the popular mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, on corruption charges that they say are concocted. The mayor was shaping up as the strongest rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who’s been in power for 22 years. While public support for Erdogan has slipped markedly, for much of his rule, he’s been popular. In large measure, that’s because Erdogan’s leaned heavily into Turkiye’s religious culture. David Tonge is author of the new book, The Enduring Hold of Islam in Turkey: The Revival of Religious Orders and the Rise of Erdogan.

Why are clergy regarded as office holders rather than staff? We speak to  Reverend Chris Bedding,  an Anglican priest and executive officer of the Faith Workers Alliance.   2025 is a jubilee year for the Catholic Church, traditionally a time for renewal and the forgiveness of debt and sin.  But with Pope Francis still in recovery from double pneumonia, pilgrims are finding new ways to mark the jubilee.And why are Donald Trump, and the United States itself,  poor role models for true conservatives. Andrew West speaks with Peter Hitchens, a popular conservative columnist for The Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday.

The re-election of Donald Trump last November thrilled many on the right, especially nationalists wanting to adapt his America First ideology to their own countries. And some Christians looked past Trump’s personal history of multiple divorce and sexual scandal to suggest this was an age of religious rebirth.But for one of Britain’s leading conservatives, Donald Trump, and the United States itself, are poor role models for true conservatives. Peter Hitchens is a popular columnist for The Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday.

Australia’s High Court recently upheld a long-standing law that says priests are not employees of their churches. They are “office holders”. So where does this leave the large majority of clergy ? 

2025 is a jubilee year for the Catholic Church, traditionally a time for renewal and the forgiveness of debt and sin. For millions of Catholics, it also brings an opportunity for a pilgrimage to Rome – and that would normally involve being part of a mass or public prayer led by the Pope. But with Pope Francis still in recovery from double pneumonia, pilgrims are finding new ways to mark the jubilee. Hermione Kitson reports from Rome.

An uneasy calm had settled over Syria, and religious minorities were more hopeful they could survive the new regime. But what are the implications of recent clashes with loyalists to the Assad regime?

In the global south, the pope's message about poverty and climate change resounds loudly.

The Catholic nuns ran Ward 17 at St Vincent's Hospital, where they nursed hundreds of HIV AIDS patients. Sister Nolan remembers David Polson and the prejudice he and other patients encountered.