The Religion and Ethics Report - Separate stories podcast

Monday, April 21, 2025 -- news sites globally announce the death of Pope Francis at 88. Even though his health has been fragile for months, the news still stuns the world.The news breaks just hours after Francis has given his Easter Sunday blessing and is to become the biggest religious story of 2025.And the funeral becomes a major geo-political event.Soon, inside the Vatican, the politicking for a new Pope begins in earnest...GUESTS:Colm Flynn from the Catholic broadcaster EWTN Claire Giangrave from the Religion News Service Clare Johnson from the Australian Catholic University Noel Debien ABC’s senior religion specialist Papal historian Miles Pattenden of Oxford University Sandie Cornish of the Australian Catholic UniversityThis program was made on the lands of the Gadigal People

If the first hundred days of a papacy can shake up the Catholic church, how much drama occurs over 80 years? For journalist Philip Shenon, there has been a constant tension – how much should the church judge the modern world and how much mercy should it extend? Philip’s the author of a sweeping new history of the church since World War II. It’s called Jesus Wept – Seven Popes and the Battle for The Soul of the Catholic Church. It chronicles the triumphs, controversies, and politics of the popes before Leo. GUESTPhilip Shenon, author and journalistThis program was first broadcast in August and was made on the lands of the Gadigal People.

Rabbi Zalman Kastel is the founder of Together for Humanity, which works across all faiths and cultures to encourage religious harmony. He knew several of those murdered in the Bondi Beach Chanukah attack. Even amid the darkness of the anti-Semitic violence, and the despair of many fellow Jewish Australians, he says he’s determined to keep up the challenging but necessary work of inter-religious dialogue.Peter Kurti, Anglican priest and senior fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies, has been charting the rise of anti-Semitic incidents in Australia since the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas and the Israeli military response. He believes the federal government has been reluctant to tackle specific anti-Jewish prejudice.Andrew Jakubowicz, emeritus professor of sociology at the University of Technology, Sydney, agrees Australian multiculturalism is under strain after the Bondi massacre, but says it can survive if governments focus on curtailing violent behaviour rather than religious condemnation. GUESTS:Rabbi Zalman Kastel, head of Together for Humanity and leader in interfaith relationsPeter Kurti, Director of the Culture, Prosperity & Civil Society program at the Centre for Independent StudiesAndrew Jakubovicz is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Technology Sydney - his research areas include new media and social change, racism and ethnicity, public policy and marginalised minorities.

As Australians begin Christmas and summer breaks, around the world 50 million people will toil in modern slavery. That’s according to the International Labour Organisation.South Asia and Southeast Asia are among the worst places for exploitation. It’s something anti-slavery advocates are urging consumers to investigate when they consider Christmas purchases.GUEST:Grace Wong is chief advocacy officer for the International Justice Mission, a faith-based anti-slavery organisation. International Justice Mission's Christmas campaign against human trafficking

Religion specialist Noel Debien with a preview of religious stories in 2026 - including the consistory in Rome in first week of January, plus the installation of Dr Sarah Mullally as the Archbishop of CanterburyGUEST:Noel Debien is the new editor of the Religion and Ethics Unit at Radio National