Category: Religion

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December 11, 2015 — George Pell “too unwell” to appear before Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

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Cardinal George Pell’s legal team communicated to the Royal Commission on this date that he was too unwell to travel to Australia from the Vatican in order to give evidence in person. It’s possible that Pell was actually ill – he was quite old, and had had medical problems in the previous few years – but it was widely viewed as a stalling tactic by the general public in Australia.

And given that when he did finally testify he was charged with several crimes, it’s hard to think that it was anything else.

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February 25, 2004 — Niyazov bans beards in Turkmenistan

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Just in case there was any remaining doubt that he was a raving loony, Saparmurat Niyazov, President For Life of the Central Asian Republic of Turkmenistan after it won its independence from the Soviet Union, decided to ban the wearing of beards or long hair by men. (It is unclear whether or not women were still permitted to grow beards, but probably not.) Among other things, he also banned gold teeth, lip-synching during concerts and the wearing of make up by television newscasters.

Despite Niyazov’s death two years later of a heart attack, human rights in Turkmenistan remain very poor, with the nation running second only to North Korea in freedom of the press.

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September 11, 2001 — The World Trade Centre is destroyed in a terrorist attack

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It is the defining moment of the modern era. If you were old enough to remember it at the time, then you remember how you heard it, remember the image of the plane hitting the second building, remember it all.

Four separate planes were hijacked by terrorists belonging to Al Qaeda. One was brought down by the passengers when they realised what it was supposed to do. The other three were rammed into buildings – one into the Pentagon, one into each of the two towers of the World Trade Centre in New York City. Nearly 3000 people were killed in the attacks, and more died in the aftermath, killed trying to rescue others.

The reaction was one of shock, grief and anger. Within weeks, the world was plunged into war, first in Afghanistan, then in Iraq – a state from which it is yet to emerge.

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October 20, 1996 — The Catholic Church announces the “Melbourne Response”

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The Melbourne Response was a program by the Catholic Church in Victoria aimed at responding to the rising number of complaints of sexual abuse being made against Catholic clergy in that state. It came from the highest levels of the church in the state, being led by Archbishop George Pell of Melbourne.

It was a great success, according to the Catholic Church.

It was less of a success according to the victims and their families, who were treated with suspicion, disdain, a lack of empathy (a charge often leveled against Pell in particular), pitifully small cash settlements and non-disclosure agreements. Some years later, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse would not be impressed by the Melbourne Response, but it sure saved the church a lot of money and kept a lot of people from going public, and isn’t that what’s really important (to George Pell)?

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September 15, 1984 — Prince Harry is born

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The younger son of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, Harry (in full: Henry Charles Albert David Windsor; formally: Prince Henry of Wales), currently stands fourth in line for the throne (and gets further back each time he gains a nephew or niece). He is perhaps best known for being the only member of the Royal Family to be photographed wearing Nazi regalia, and for marrying an American woman who was not entirely white – the latter is regarded as far more controversial by the British press.

Despite his occasional embarrassments to the family, Harry is held in high esteem for his military service and sporting prowess. Although it’s clear, with his recent departure from the royalty and subsequent public statements, that this esteem is slipping, and Harry may wind up doing more damage to the institution of the monarchy than anyone since his great-uncle Edward.

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June 21, 1982 — Prince William of England is born

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The eldest child of Prince Charles (himself the eldest child and heir of the current Queen of England), Prince William Arthur Phillip Louis Windsor is first in line to the British throne, and quite likely to be King of England someday. In fact, given his father’s advanced age on ascending to the throne, probably sooner rather than later – in which event, the current His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales will become His Majesty King William V of the United Kingdom.

William’s mother was the now-deceased Diana Spencer, whom his father separated from some years previously. Despite the personal tragedy of his mother’s death and the pressure-cooker of media attention that flourishes around the Royal Family in England (and to a lesser extent, throughout the British Commonwealth, Europe and the United States), William appears to be a reasonably well-adjusted young man who appears to have absorbed the media and people skills of his father, grandmother and great-grandmother, and the sense of humour of the former.

Photo of Prince William aged 39
By Royal Navy – This file has been extracted from another file, OGL 3, Link

As mentioned in:

Heartland — The The

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March 24, 1980 — Archbishop Oscar Romero is assassinated

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Oscar Romero was a passionate advocate of social justice and human rights. As the Catholic Archbishop of San Salvador (the capital of El Salvador), this made him one of the repressive government’s most highly placed and widely respected opponents. He repeatedly called for the soldiers who served on the Salvadorian “Death Squads” to lay down their arms and end their brutal repression of their fellow Christians.

In order to send a message in no uncertain terms, he was shot and killed while celebrating mass on Sunday, March 24, 1980. His funeral on the following Saturday was disrupted by further assaults. Although in the short term Romero’s opponents succeeded in silencing him, they made of him a martyr to the cause of all who would oppose them. Today, thirty years later, Oscar Romero is a candidate for sainthood in the faith he gave his life for.

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July 23, 1979 — Ayatollah Khomeini bans western music from Iran

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The Iranian Revolution of 1979 was a decisive turn against Western influences, and a new, theocratic constitution that effectively made Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini dictator for life as part of a return to Islamic values. Among these was the banning of almost all Western culture, including most modern music. (With the exception of some music by Queen – the late great Freddie Mercury was of Persian descent, after all.)

Khomeini is gone now, but the bans remain in place.

Ruhollah Khomeini in Jamaran.jpg
By Jamaran – http://www.imam-khomeini.ir/fa/, Public Domain, Link

As mentioned in:

Triumph of the Swill — Dead Kennedys

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April 1, 1979 — Iran officially proclaimed an Islamic Republic

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Although the revolution against him began in January 1978, the Shah did not flee Iran until January of 1979. Ayatollah Khomeini returned from exile shortly thereafter, and while revolutionary and loyalist forces fought, the military declared itself neutral and sat out the fight.

On March 30 and 31, 1979, a referendum was held, and the Iranian people voted overwhelmingly to become a theocratic state. On April 1, it was proclaimed that the nation would henceforth be called the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Khomeini would be its president.

Imam Khomeini in Mehrabad.jpg
By Also uploaded by en:User:Sa.vakilian in en.wiki and by sajed.ir. It has released under GFDL license.
“باز نشر کلیه مطالب این سایت شامل مقالات، اخبار، صوت و تصویر و … به طور کامل و یا چکیده آن با ذکر منبع بلامانع است.
«کلیهٔ مطالب تحت مجوز مستندات آزاد گنو (GFDL) منتشر می‌شوند», GFDL, Link

As mentioned in:

We Didn’t Start The Fire — Billy Joel

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September 29, 1978 — Pope John Paul I dies after only 33 days in office

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One of the briefest reigning popes, Pope John Paul I (his papal named honoured his two immediate predecessors, John XXIII and Paul VI) died at the age of 65, apparently of a heart attack. Inevitably, conspiracy theories regarding his death were widespread later that same day – institutions as powerful and secretive as the Vatican tend to breed them like flies.

Still, it is interesting that John Paul I was one of the most liberal Popes in many years (possibly even moreso than the current Pope Francis), and that his expressed positions on many issues dismayed the more conservative Catholics. His two immediate successors to the Papal throne were both very much hardline conservatives, who were quick to throw cold water on some of John Paul’s planned reforms. The former Cardinal Albino Luciani’s greatest legacy would be his papal name – his successor called himself John Paul II. (Disappointingly, no subsequent pope has named himself George Ringo.)