This Month
Cardinal guilty of mass fraud in Vatican ‘trial of the century’
The former papal confidant, who oversaw the management of Holy See funds, faces jail time after the verdict in the landmark court case.
- Anthony Faiola and Stefano Pitrelli
- Opinion
- Education
Too many Australian students still failing
Only just over half of the country’s 15-year-olds can demonstrate more than elementary skills expected at their year level.
- Jennifer Hewett
October
ASIO on high alert as Middle East explodes
ASIO boss Mike Burgess says the agency has increased its vigilance since the Hamas attacks on Israel.
- Matthew Cranston
Francis the feminist pope puts women centre stage
The church’s three-week long synod will consider whether women should be ordained and be given roles of authority.
- NICOLE WINFIELD and TRISHA THOMAS
August
Why you’re probably fascinated by women who kill
Reports of domestic murder underscore fears about society’s most fundamental institutions: home, family and community.
- Dianne Berg
July
- Opinion
- Education
Time that teachers were taught properly too
For two generations, Australian teachers have been sent into classrooms without the knowledge on how humans learn, how to run their classrooms or how to lead learning.
- Elena Douglas
February
Dozens dead after migrant boat breaks apart near Italian coast
The incident reopened a debate on migration in Europe and Italy, where the right-wing government’s tough new laws for migrant rescue charities have drawn criticism from the United Nations and others.
- Frances D'Emilio
Pell endured ‘modern-day crucifixion’, Abbott tells funeral
The former PM used his eulogy to rail against George Pell’s since-overturned conviction as John Howard, Peter Dutton, Alan Jones gathered for the Sydney service.
- Samantha Hutchinson
January
Catholic Church’s go-to lawyer joins rival firm after Corrs saga
Richard Leder says he believes his lucrative church clients will follow him to his new firm after Corrs sensationally dropped them as a client for child abuse work last July.
- Hannah Wootton
‘Unwavering courage’: Vatican holds funeral for George Pell
Pope Francis gave a final blessing for the Australian cardinal who lamented that the current papacy was a “disaster” and a “catastrophe”.
- Frances D’Emilio
- Opinion
- Letters to the Editor
Letters: Chinese envoy well-versed in diplomacy
China’s man in Canberra; Sun Cable fiasco; safeguard mechanism and alternative technologies; China’s reaction to travel rules; George Pell and the church; alcohol advice.
Pope praises Pell’s ‘perseverance in his hour of trial’
Pope Francis’ condolence telegram lauded the Australian for his religious conviction and his work on Vatican finances. It also referenced the child abuse saga.
- Hans van Leeuwen
George Pell: the most powerful and controversial Catholic in Australia
A deeply divisive figure during his life, the Cardinal is no less polarising in death.
- Andrew Clark
Pell leaves complex legacy as Abbott remembers ‘a saint for our times’
Politicians’ reactions to George Pell’s death ranged from accolades that he was “a fine man” and “saint” to “a new entrant” to hell.
- Hannah Wootton
George Pell: a priest who endured scandal and success
To his supporters, the cardinal was at the heart of the struggle for the soul of the church in a secular world. To his enemies, he was a dogmatic and abrasive bully who surrounded himself with yes-men.
- Don Woolford
Church lays Benedict to rest, if not its divisions
A strange era in the modern church has come to an end, in which two popes – one resigned and one in power, one conservative and one liberal – coexisted in the tiny confines of the Vatican.
- Jason Horowitz
Benedict supporters demand sainthood as Pope presides at funeral
Three of the last five popes have been made saints, but only about a third of all pontiffs have been canonised in the church’s 2000-year history.
- Philip Pullella and Crispian Balmer
- Opinion
- Letters to the Editor
Letters: What’s wrong with perishing?
Populate or perish; urban-rural divide; political motherhood statements; Medicare inadequacies; compensation for coal producers; Pope Benedict’s legacy.
- Analysis
- Religion
Benedict’s death leaves Catholic conservatives bereft
Conservatives are mourning the loss of a leader who championed the traditions, doctrines, and church law and order they cherished.
- Jason Horowitz
December 2022
He lied about working for Goldman Sachs, but he still got elected
A newly elected Republican congressman in the US is accused of making up claims about his ancestry, education, employment, charity work, and property ownership.
- Josie Ensor
