Queensland Synod News

Poland’s Roman Catholic bishops have urged the media to respect the decision of a top archbishop to resign due to accusations that he acted as an informer for Poland’s former communist secret police. "The church in Poland needs to look humbly and in truth at its past, present and future," said the statement, signed by the Polish bishops’ conference president, ...

The new Roman Catholic archbishop of Warsaw has refused to resign after two separate commissions stated that he had knowingly collaborated with Poland’s communist-era secret police. "This is a falsification," said the Rev. Stanislaw Wielgus in a statement on 5 January, just hours before he was officially to take office as Warsaw archbishop. "There is absolutely no documentation which proves ...

The general secretary of the World Council of Churches’ has asked God to grant Iraq "the mercy, justice and compassion that it has long been denied" and for an end to the fear and death that marked Saddam Hussein’s rule "and that continue now". "We pray that those who hold power in Iraq now and in the future will create ...

A delegation of British church leaders are spending several nights in Bethlehem, the now beleaguered town where Jesus was born, but whose Christian population has dramatically dwindled in recent years. To mark Christmas, the delegation, led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, arrived in Bethlehem on 21 December after walking a section of the ancient pilgrimage route from Jerusalem ...

Scientists are warning that in years to come, incense – the fragrant scent commonly associated with Christmas – could be increasingly in short supply. The warning comes as use of incense undergoes its yearly peak in the run-up to Christmas. Incense is derived from frankincense, an aromatic resin tapped from Boswellia trees. The Bible tells of the infant Jesus being ...

The Moderator of the Uniting Church in Queensland Rev Dr David Pitman has expressed deep concern over the decision of the Director of Public Prosecutions Leanne Clare to take no further action in regard to the death in custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee. Speaking in Brisbane today Dr Pitman said, “That this decision is in such clear conflict with the findings ...

The Queensland Council of Social Service says the proposed three to four thousand bed prison in Gatton does not make economic sense. “It is blatantly clear that imprisoning a person is much more expensive than working to prevent people committing crime and being put in jail,” says QCOSS Director Jill Lang. “We believe spending well over $2billion for a large ...

Rev Dr David Pitman, Moderator of the Uniting Church in Australia, Queensland Synod, meets with Premier Peter Beattie and Minister for Corrective Services Judy Spence today as part of a Heads of Churches delegation. He will question the minister about the 4000 bed Gatton prison. “The government says it makes no apology for being tough on serious crime,” says David. ...

UnitingCare Queensland has today joined the Queensland Synod of the Uniting Church and the Queensland Council of Social Service to oppose the construction of a new prison precinct in South East Queensland. The Director of UnitingCare Queensland, Anne Cross, says providing assistance to families and children in need gives UnitingCare a deep understanding of the importance of providing access to ...

Publicly-funded schools in England and Wales are to be told by the government that material distributed to educational establishments advocating alternatives to the Darwinian theory of evolution should not be used in the teaching of science. The guidance follows the recent distribution by the Truth in Science group of material promoting the teaching of the theory of "intelligent design", which ...