Latest news with #AshWednesday
The Age
22-05-2025
- Politics
- The Age
A Lib MP, a Labor opponent and an open and shut case of cross-party unity
Here at CBD we are regularly accused of having hearts of concrete. But as if we pay attention to our parents! So regular readers may be surprised that even we cracked a little when we heard this tale of a long-lost childhood memento resurfacing years later – and from across the political divide. Who has reached their middle years without losing something of great emotional value along the shifting pathways of life? Certainly not Jason Wood. The federal Liberal MP for the outer Melbourne seat of La Trobe retained his seat with 52 per cent of the two-party-preferred vote despite a swing of more than 6 per cent to his Labor opponent, Jeff Springfield. Back in 2010, Wood lost an old wooden case made when he was a high school student at Ferntree Gully Technical School. It contained much he held dear: primary school medals; scouting photos; police memorabilia; newspaper clippings from the Ash Wednesday bushfires, when he was a teenager; a photo of Junior, his 85-kilogram Great Dane; his gold Duke of Edinburgh Award; a Christmas card from John Howard; and, most importantly, a treasured photo of his nana. Fast forward 15 years and Wood was reunited with the case days ago. And who returned it? None other than his Labor opponent, Springfield, who rang to concede and told him the item had been handed to him by a Labor supporter. 'We caught up for a brunch. I couldn't stop thanking him. I even gave him a hug. I am not a hugging guy, but I wanted to let him know how appreciative I was,' Wood told CBD, describing the case as having 'all my highlights' that he could now share with his daughter Jasmine.
Belfast Telegraph
21-05-2025
- Belfast Telegraph
Former PSNI officer challenges ‘Sean' allegations of anti-Catholic sectarianism in the force
Legal action by ex-PSNI officer alleging serious sectarianism droppedSam McBride and Jon Burrows debate the 'Sean' controversy A former police officer who was taking action surrounding alleged sectarianism in the police force is no longer doing so. Known by the alias Sean, the ex-officer who retired at 48 on medical grounds, was a member of a Tactical Support Group unit within the PSNI. He alleged in March that he was subject to sectarian abuse by fellow officers after becoming one of the PSNI's first Catholic recruits in 2002, saying he had faced sectarianism, including references to 'Fenian b******s', mockery of him for having ashes on his forehead on Ash Wednesday, and a fellow officer whistling 'The Sash'. After Sean's interview with the Belfast Telegraph, he engaged solicitor Kevin Winters, who said he was taking High Court action against the PSNI in relation to a plethora of incidents. Despite Chief Constable Jon Boutcher saying the allegations will not be investigated by a court or by the PSNI, Sean's solicitor says he's standing by everything he's alleged. Mr Boutcher said he'd also met the TSG unit which was 'concerned and hurt' by the claims and he was satisfied that 'there has not been sectarianism towards anybody on that team'. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Belfast Telegraph's Northern Ireland Editor Sam McBride who broke the story, and former PSNI Head of Discipline Jon Burrows, who strongly disputes the claims.
Sydney Morning Herald
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Unending struggle to make a better world was much valued
RACE MATHEWS March 27, 1935-May 5, 2025 My beloved husband Race Mathews died peacefully on May 5, 2025, from Alzheimer's disease, aged 90. He had a rich and fulfilling life as a family man, politician, academic, author and reformer, and served at three levels of government – local, state and federal. Charles Race Thorson Mathews (known as Race) was born on March 27, 1935, in Melbourne to Ray Mathews, an accountant in the taxation department, and Jean Mathews, a homemaker. They came from a long line of working-class families and were passionate Labor supporters. Race had a very happy childhood, with two younger brothers, David and Bill. Race began his political awakening by reading left-wing books in the library of Melbourne Grammar School and participating in the school's mock parliament. At Toorak Teachers' College he met his first wife, Jill, and married at 20. They had three children, Sean, Jane and Vanessa and moved to outer-suburban Croydon, where Race served on Croydon council, as well as becoming active in the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and running the Fabian Society. With his friend David Bennett, he developed Labor's policy on education and helped Gough Whitlam bring about 'Intervention' (reform) in the Victorian ALP in 1970. From 1967 to 1972, Race worked for Whitlam as his principal private secretary, (principal adviser) which he later said was 'the most tumultuous, and by far the most rewarding' time of his career, when he helped develop Whitlam's policies on education and Medibank (later Medicare). In 1970, tragedy struck when Jill died of cancer aged only 34, soon after giving birth to a daughter, Alida, who lived for only 24 hours. Race's parents moved in to help care for the three children, who were still very young. Race and I met in 1971 when I was a journalist at The Age, and we were married in 1972. A few months later, Whitlam became prime minister, and Race was elected MP for Casey. He served in the Whitlam government from 1972-75, chairing two parliamentary committees. During that time, we had two children, Keir and Talya. In 1976, Race became principal adviser to Victorian opposition leader Clyde Holding and then Frank Wilkes. In 1979, Race was elected MP for Oakleigh in the State Parliament and in 1982 Labor won government with John Cain as premier. Race served in the Victorian government for a total of 13 years, including five-and-a-half years as minister for police and emergency services and minister for the arts (which The Age dubbed 'the Minister for Pigs and Prigs'), and one year as minister for community services. While minister for police and emergency services, he modernised the police force, tightened gun laws and improved Victoria's disaster response, especially after the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires. As minister for the arts, he opened the Arts Centre on Southbank, established the Spoleto International Festival of the Arts, the Melbourne Writers Festival and oversaw Victoria's 150th celebrations. His two portfolios of police and arts overlapped in 1986, with the theft of Picasso's Weeping Woman from the National Gallery of Victoria by the Australian Cultural Terrorists, who wanted more funding for young artists. The painting was returned two weeks later unharmed. As Minister for Community Services, he strengthened child protection and oversaw de-institutionalisation of the intellectually disabled.
The Age
12-05-2025
- Politics
- The Age
Unending struggle to make a better world was much valued
RACE MATHEWS March 27, 1935-May 5, 2025 My beloved husband Race Mathews died peacefully on May 5, 2025, from Alzheimer's disease, aged 90. He had a rich and fulfilling life as a family man, politician, academic, author and reformer, and served at three levels of government – local, state and federal. Charles Race Thorson Mathews (known as Race) was born on March 27, 1935, in Melbourne to Ray Mathews, an accountant in the taxation department, and Jean Mathews, a homemaker. They came from a long line of working-class families and were passionate Labor supporters. Race had a very happy childhood, with two younger brothers, David and Bill. Race began his political awakening by reading left-wing books in the library of Melbourne Grammar School and participating in the school's mock parliament. At Toorak Teachers' College he met his first wife, Jill, and married at 20. They had three children, Sean, Jane and Vanessa and moved to outer-suburban Croydon, where Race served on Croydon council, as well as becoming active in the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and running the Fabian Society. With his friend David Bennett, he developed Labor's policy on education and helped Gough Whitlam bring about 'Intervention' (reform) in the Victorian ALP in 1970. From 1967 to 1972, Race worked for Whitlam as his principal private secretary, (principal adviser) which he later said was 'the most tumultuous, and by far the most rewarding' time of his career, when he helped develop Whitlam's policies on education and Medibank (later Medicare). In 1970, tragedy struck when Jill died of cancer aged only 34, soon after giving birth to a daughter, Alida, who lived for only 24 hours. Race's parents moved in to help care for the three children, who were still very young. Race and I met in 1971 when I was a journalist at The Age, and we were married in 1972. A few months later, Whitlam became prime minister, and Race was elected MP for Casey. He served in the Whitlam government from 1972-75, chairing two parliamentary committees. During that time, we had two children, Keir and Talya. In 1976, Race became principal adviser to Victorian opposition leader Clyde Holding and then Frank Wilkes. In 1979, Race was elected MP for Oakleigh in the State Parliament and in 1982 Labor won government with John Cain as premier. Race served in the Victorian government for a total of 13 years, including five-and-a-half years as minister for police and emergency services and minister for the arts (which The Age dubbed 'the Minister for Pigs and Prigs'), and one year as minister for community services. While minister for police and emergency services, he modernised the police force, tightened gun laws and improved Victoria's disaster response, especially after the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires. As minister for the arts, he opened the Arts Centre on Southbank, established the Spoleto International Festival of the Arts, the Melbourne Writers Festival and oversaw Victoria's 150th celebrations. His two portfolios of police and arts overlapped in 1986, with the theft of Picasso's Weeping Woman from the National Gallery of Victoria by the Australian Cultural Terrorists, who wanted more funding for young artists. The painting was returned two weeks later unharmed. As Minister for Community Services, he strengthened child protection and oversaw de-institutionalisation of the intellectually disabled.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
What do State Department cuts mean for religious freedom?
This article was first published in the State of Faith newsletter. Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox each Monday night. Cuts are coming to the U.S. State Department. The Trump administration confirmed last week that it will downsize and reorganize the federal agency in hopes of reducing what it describes as inefficiency and bloat. The announcement sparked concern among some religious freedom experts, who feared the State Department's Office of International Religious Freedom was on the chopping block. The office, which is led by the U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, tracks faith-related violence around the world and recommends sanctions on countries that discourage religious diversity or otherwise harm people of faith. The office has helped the U.S. establish a reputation as the world's foremost religious freedom champion, but that doesn't mean it enjoys universal support. When I profiled then-U.S. ambassador-at-large Sam Brownback in 2019, several sources said they were frustrated with how the office functioned and how little its research seemed to matter in the grand scheme of the State Department. 'People who work as our foreign service officers around the world are as intelligent a group of people as you'll find in any U.S. government agency,' one former ambassador told me. 'But it is surprising how often there is a comparative lack of understanding of the important role that religion and religious practices play in the lives of people around the world.' In a statement on upcoming changes, a spokesperson for the State Department said the reorganization will help the Office of International Religious Freedom have a bigger voice in the government's human rights work. The office is expected to be part of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor moving forward. 'This will help ensure that the promotion of religious freedom and the effort to counter antisemitism remain at the center of our human rights diplomacy, not separate,' a State Department spokesperson told the National Catholic Register. Key moments from Pope Francis' funeral Deion and Shedeur Sanders praised God amid NFL draft stress Doctor describes Pope Francis' final moments — and the prayer that followed his death What the Supreme Court said Tuesday about LGBTQ rights, public schools and a children's book on same-sex marriage Dyngus Day is a Polish holiday that marks the end of Lent, the somber religious season that stretches from Ash Wednesday to Easter. It developed out of pagan cleansing rituals that marked the start of spring, as well as Catholic traditions tied to Easter, according to The Washington Post. On Dyngus Day in Poland, revelers go to Easter Monday Mass — and then start chasing one another with water and tree branches. 'They came to my house once, and my dad opened the door, and they literally flooded the house,' said Agnieszka Zagórska, who grew up in Poland, to The Washington Post. 'When I grew up, it was a nightmare. Going to church, it was crazy.' Polish-Americans in Buffalo, New York, have embraced Dyngus Day in recent years. The city hosts a Dyngus Day parade, which features water gun fights and people dressed as pierogis and other famous Polish treats. 'Dyngus Day is something to laugh about — its participants don't take themselves too seriously while swatting pussy willows or shooting Super Soakers — but it is steeped in Polish traditions," per The Washington Post. Although I followed Pope Francis' papacy pretty closely, I know next to nothing about the cardinals in line to be the next pope. I enjoyed digging into Religion News Service's guide to the 'likely contenders,' which separates notable candidates into conservative, moderate and progressive camps. Americans are going through something of a friendship crisis right now, but it likely has more to do with the quality of their friendships than the quantity, according to The Atlantic. Writer Faith Hill argues that the crisis will be solved when people put more time into the relationships they already have, rather than going to an endless series of new events. 'Instead of seeking more and more people, hoping for a spark, maybe you're better off working on the friendships that you already have—you know, the ones you're neglecting while playing badminton with strangers," she says. Did my Q&A with one of this season's teams convince anyone to start watching 'The Amazing Race'? Last week's episode put religion in the spotlight again with a cross-finding mission and Bible translation challenge in Sofia, Bulgaria.
