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The Age
21-04-2025
- Politics
- The Age
Well-travelled Pope never made it to Australia - or to his home country
His international journeys could never equal those of Pope John Paul II, one of the most travelled leaders in world history. In his 26.5 years as pope, John Paul II visited 129 countries – several repeatedly – on 104 trips. He visited Australia twice: for a multi-city tour in late 1986, and in January 1995 when he travelled to Sydney for the beatification of Mary McKillop. Pope Benedict XVI visited Sydney in July 2008 for World Youth Day, delivering mass to a crowd of more than 400,000 people at Randwick Racecourse. The closest Francis came to Australia was last September when, aged 87, he travelled to Timor-Leste, where the population is estimated to be 97 per cent Catholic, and to Papua New Guinea. The 12-day trip – the longest the Pontiff had spent away from the Vatican – also took him to Indonesia and Singapore. Despite efforts by Australia's Catholic leaders to push for a brief papal visit, possibly to Darwin, Francis' faltering health was given as the reason for not including Australia in his gruelling itinerary. Parts of his papacy overlapped with Australia's Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which heard historical evidence against Cardinal George Pell, whom Francis had appointed to oversee the Vatican's finances. Pell was convicted, jailed, then cleared by the Australian High Court, but the issue of the Church's response to clerical abuse remained in Australian minds. Anti-Pell protesters clashed with the faithful during the cardinal's funeral in Sydney in 2023. However, Francis did not shy away from confronting the issue of child abuse while visiting Canada in 2022, when he apologised for the historical abuse of Indigenous children in Catholic-run schools. 'I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the indigenous peoples,' he said. There were more notable absences than Australia from the Pope's world travels, including that of his own home country. As pope, he never visited Argentina, the country of his birth, where he became archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 before being made a cardinal in 2001. During Argentina's election campaign in 2023, the now president, the Trump-style Javier Milei, called Francis an 'imbecile' for pursuing social justice and the 'son of a bitch who preaches communism'. The pontiff later indicated he'd forgiven Milei and said he was planning to travel home late last year, adding that he worried about his country because 'its people are suffering so much'. In the end, Francis' health problems defeated his hope of a home-country visit. He never made it to China, either, despite professing a wish to do so. His trip last year – particularly to Singapore, where the population is only 19 per cent Christian but which strongly supports China's engagement in the region – was seen partly as an extension of Francis' desire to further improve relations between the Vatican and China. The delicate relationship had progressively warmed since 2018, when a series of agreements granted about 10 Chinese bishops recognition both within China and by the pope. Flying home after leaving Singapore, Francis told journalists that 'China, for me, is a dream, that is to say that I would like to visit China'. Loading Many of his previous trips were to relatively poor countries in Africa, to politically troubled nations in South America, and to eastern European countries emerging since the Cold War. Among his first visits were to Jordan, Israel and Palestine in 2014, when he engaged with Muslims, Jews and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Francis's commitment to social justice, which was often reflected in his choice of destination and for the messages he delivered in defence of the poor and of immigrants, could be traced back to his time as a priest and archbishop in Argentina. There, he became known as a 'villero priest' (slum priest) for working among the most impoverished inhabitants of shanty towns. As archbishop, he doubled the number of priests in the slums. He was the first pope to take the name Francis. It was in honour of St Francis of Assisi, a lover of the poor. He was also more than capable of taking part in world affairs at the highest level. As the first Latin American pope, Francis was considered a key architect of the reopening of diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba in July 2015. Two months later, he visited both Cuba and the US, a symbolic link between the two countries, previously disconnected for 70 years. Loading He met president Barack Obama at the White House and became the first pontiff to address a joint session of the United States Congress. Francis was not a supporter of US President Donald Trump's policies and never travelled to the US to meet him. Instead, Trump and his family went to the Vatican in 2017 to meet the Pope for a short discussion behind closed doors. Photos showed a beaming Trump and a glum Francis. Soon after Trump returned to the Oval Office this year, Francis – who had earlier described Trump's plan to deport millions of migrants as 'a disgrace' – wrote an open letter to America's Catholic bishops, saying criminalising migrants and taking measures built on force 'will end badly'. 'I exhort all the faithful of the Catholic Church ... not to give in to narratives that discriminate against and cause unnecessary suffering to our migrant and refugee brothers and sisters,' he said. It seems unlikely that Francis, had he lived, would have travelled to Washington any time soon.
Sydney Morning Herald
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Well-travelled Pope never made it to Australia - or to his home country
His international journeys could never equal those of Pope John Paul II, one of the most travelled leaders in world history. In his 26.5 years as pope, John Paul II visited 129 countries – several repeatedly – on 104 trips. He visited Australia twice: for a multi-city tour in late 1986, and in January 1995 when he travelled to Sydney for the beatification of Mary McKillop. Pope Benedict XVI visited Sydney in July 2008 for World Youth Day, delivering mass to a crowd of more than 400,000 people at Randwick Racecourse. The closest Francis came to Australia was last September when, aged 87, he travelled to Timor-Leste, where the population is estimated to be 97 per cent Catholic, and to Papua New Guinea. The 12-day trip – the longest the Pontiff had spent away from the Vatican – also took him to Indonesia and Singapore. Despite efforts by Australia's Catholic leaders to push for a brief papal visit, possibly to Darwin, Francis' faltering health was given as the reason for not including Australia in his gruelling itinerary. Parts of his papacy overlapped with Australia's Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which heard historical evidence against Cardinal George Pell, whom Francis had appointed to oversee the Vatican's finances. Pell was convicted, jailed, then cleared by the Australian High Court, but the issue of the Church's response to clerical abuse remained in Australian minds. Anti-Pell protesters clashed with the faithful during the cardinal's funeral in Sydney in 2023. However, Francis did not shy away from confronting the issue of child abuse while visiting Canada in 2022, when he apologised for the historical abuse of Indigenous children in Catholic-run schools. 'I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the indigenous peoples,' he said. There were more notable absences than Australia from the Pope's world travels, including that of his own home country. As pope, he never visited Argentina, the country of his birth, where he became archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 before being made a cardinal in 2001. During Argentina's election campaign in 2023, the now president, the Trump-style Javier Milei, called Francis an 'imbecile' for pursuing social justice and the 'son of a bitch who preaches communism'. The pontiff later indicated he'd forgiven Milei and said he was planning to travel home late last year, adding that he worried about his country because 'its people are suffering so much'. In the end, Francis' health problems defeated his hope of a home-country visit. He never made it to China, either, despite professing a wish to do so. His trip last year – particularly to Singapore, where the population is only 19 per cent Christian but which strongly supports China's engagement in the region – was seen partly as an extension of Francis' desire to further improve relations between the Vatican and China. The delicate relationship had progressively warmed since 2018, when a series of agreements granted about 10 Chinese bishops recognition both within China and by the pope. Flying home after leaving Singapore, Francis told journalists that 'China, for me, is a dream, that is to say that I would like to visit China'. Loading Many of his previous trips were to relatively poor countries in Africa, to politically troubled nations in South America, and to eastern European countries emerging since the Cold War. Among his first visits were to Jordan, Israel and Palestine in 2014, when he engaged with Muslims, Jews and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Francis's commitment to social justice, which was often reflected in his choice of destination and for the messages he delivered in defence of the poor and of immigrants, could be traced back to his time as a priest and archbishop in Argentina. There, he became known as a 'villero priest' (slum priest) for working among the most impoverished inhabitants of shanty towns. As archbishop, he doubled the number of priests in the slums. He was the first pope to take the name Francis. It was in honour of St Francis of Assisi, a lover of the poor. He was also more than capable of taking part in world affairs at the highest level. As the first Latin American pope, Francis was considered a key architect of the reopening of diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba in July 2015. Two months later, he visited both Cuba and the US, a symbolic link between the two countries, previously disconnected for 70 years. Loading He met president Barack Obama at the White House and became the first pontiff to address a joint session of the United States Congress. Francis was not a supporter of US President Donald Trump's policies and never travelled to the US to meet him. Instead, Trump and his family went to the Vatican in 2017 to meet the Pope for a short discussion behind closed doors. Photos showed a beaming Trump and a glum Francis. Soon after Trump returned to the Oval Office this year, Francis – who had earlier described Trump's plan to deport millions of migrants as 'a disgrace' – wrote an open letter to America's Catholic bishops, saying criminalising migrants and taking measures built on force 'will end badly'. 'I exhort all the faithful of the Catholic Church ... not to give in to narratives that discriminate against and cause unnecessary suffering to our migrant and refugee brothers and sisters,' he said. It seems unlikely that Francis, had he lived, would have travelled to Washington any time soon.
Arab Times
17-02-2025
- Politics
- Arab Times
Australia plans to deport 3 violent criminals to Nauru
MELBOURNE, Australia, Feb 17, (AP): Australia will soon deport three violent criminals including a convicted murderer to Nauru even though they are not citizens of the tiny Pacific atoll, after an Australian court ruled that dangerous immigrants can no longer be imprisoned indefinitely. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said on Sunday that three "violent offenders' had been issued 30-year Nauru visas on Saturday. Opposition leader Peter Dutton said on Monday that more than 200 immigrants with criminal records who could not be deported would remain in Australia despite the Nauru deal. "The government's claiming they're going to get rid of three criminals, but there'll still be more than 200 left,' Dutton told reporters. Nauru's President David Adeang was due to give a statement to local news outlets on Monday about "new arrangements with Australia on the resettling of non-citizens,' according to a post on the government's Facebook page on Sunday. The statement was not available online Monday afternoon and Adeang's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An Australian High Court decision in 2023 overturned the government's policy of leaving in detention immigrants who failed Australia's character test, usually because of criminal conduct. The government said they could not be deported. Countries including Afghanistan are considered unsafe for their nationals to be repatriated. Iran refuses to accept Iranians who are not returning voluntarily. The test case was brought by a member of Myanmar's persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority identified in court as NZYQ. NZYQ was brought to Australia in a people smuggler's boat in 2012 and raped a child soon after being released into the Australian community. He served a prison sentence and was then transferred into indefinite immigration detention until he won his court case. More than 200 immigrants who cannot be deported have been released from detention as a result of the NZYQ case. Some have committed more crimes and have returned to prison. The opposition has accused the government of failing to protect the community by freeing dangerous immigrants. The issue has damaged the government's popularity and elections are due by May 17. Ian Rintoul, the Sydney-based director of the Australian advocacy group Refugee Action Coalition, said the three men scheduled to be sent to Nauru received lawyers on Monday. They intended to challenge their deportations in court, Rintoul said.
The Hill
17-02-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Australia plans to deport 3 violent criminals to Nauru
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia will soon deport three violent criminals including a convicted murderer to Nauru even though they are not citizens of the tiny Pacific atoll, after an Australian court ruled that dangerous immigrants can no longer be imprisoned indefinitely. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said on Sunday that three 'violent offenders' had been issued 30-year Nauru visas on Saturday. Opposition leader Peter Dutton said on Monday that more than 200 immigrants with criminal records who could not be deported would remain in Australia despite the Nauru deal. 'The government's claiming they're going to get rid of three criminals, but there'll still be more than 200 left,' Dutton told reporters. Nauru's President David Adeang was due to give a statement to local news outlets on Monday about 'new arrangements with Australia on the resettling of non-citizens,' according to a post on the government's Facebook page on Sunday. The statement was not available online Monday afternoon and Adeang's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Australian High Court forces the release of more than 200 immigrants An Australian High Court decision in 2023 overturned the government's policy of leaving in detention immigrants who failed Australia's character test, usually because of criminal conduct. The government said they could not be deported. Countries including Afghanistan are considered unsafe for their nationals to be repatriated. Iran refuses to accept Iranians who are not returning voluntarily. The test case was brought by a member of Myanmar's persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority identified in court as NZYQ. NZYQ was brought to Australia in a people smuggler's boat in 2012 and raped a child soon after being released into the Australian community. He served a prison sentence and was then transferred into indefinite immigration detention until he won his court case. More than 200 immigrants who cannot be deported have been released from detention as a result of the NZYQ case. Some have committed more crimes and have returned to prison. The opposition has accused the government of failing to protect the community by freeing dangerous immigrants. The issue has damaged the government's popularity and elections are due by May 17. Three immigrants plan to fight deportation to Nauru in court Ian Rintoul, the Sydney-based director of the Australian advocacy group Refugee Action Coalition, said the three men scheduled to be sent to Nauru received lawyers on Monday. They intended to challenge their deportations in court, Rintoul said. One was an Iraqi and another an Iranian. Rintoul did not know the nationality of the third, but did not think he was NZYQ. Australia pays Nauru, a nation of 13,000 people, to house asylum seekers who attempt to reach Australia by boat. Australia has all but ended the trafficking of asylum seekers from Southeast Asian ports by refusing to resettle any who arrive by boat. Rintoul said almost 100 asylum seekers who remain Australia's responsibility are in Nauru waiting to be resettled. Burke declined to say how much Australia was paying Nauru to resettle the three criminals. Nauru had chosen them, and Burke declined to say why they were selected. Burke said more immigrants that Australia cannot deport could be sent to Nauru.
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Australia plans to deport 3 violent criminals to Nauru
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia will soon deport three violent criminals including a convicted murderer to Nauru even though they are not citizens of the tiny Pacific atoll, after an Australian court ruled that dangerous immigrants can no longer be imprisoned indefinitely. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said on Sunday that three 'violent offenders' had been issued 30-year Nauru visas on Saturday. Opposition leader Peter Dutton said on Monday that more than 200 immigrants with criminal records who could not be deported would remain in Australia despite the Nauru deal. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. 'The government's claiming they're going to get rid of three criminals, but there'll still be more than 200 left,' Dutton told reporters. Nauru's President David Adeang was due to give a statement to local news outlets on Monday about 'new arrangements with Australia on the resettling of non-citizens,' according to a post on the government's Facebook page on Sunday. The statement was not available online Monday afternoon and Adeang's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Australian High Court forces the release of more than 200 immigrants An Australian High Court decision in 2023 overturned the government's policy of leaving in detention immigrants who failed Australia's character test, usually because of criminal conduct. The government said they could not be deported. Countries including Afghanistan are considered unsafe for their nationals to be repatriated. Iran refuses to accept Iranians who are not returning voluntarily. The test case was brought by a member of Myanmar's persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority identified in court as NZYQ. NZYQ was brought to Australia in a people smuggler's boat in 2012 and raped a child soon after being released into the Australian community. He served a prison sentence and was then transferred into indefinite immigration detention until he won his court case. More than 200 immigrants who cannot be deported have been released from detention as a result of the NZYQ case. Some have committed more crimes and have returned to prison. The opposition has accused the government of failing to protect the community by freeing dangerous immigrants. The issue has damaged the government's popularity and elections are due by May 17. Three immigrants plan to fight deportation to Nauru in court Ian Rintoul, the Sydney-based director of the Australian advocacy group Refugee Action Coalition, said the three men scheduled to be sent to Nauru received lawyers on Monday. They intended to challenge their deportations in court, Rintoul said. One was an Iraqi and another an Iranian. Rintoul did not know the nationality of the third, but did not think he was NZYQ. Australia pays Nauru, a nation of 13,000 people, to house asylum seekers who attempt to reach Australia by boat. Australia has all but ended the trafficking of asylum seekers from Southeast Asian ports by refusing to resettle any who arrive by boat. Rintoul said almost 100 asylum seekers who remain Australia's responsibility are in Nauru waiting to be resettled. Burke declined to say how much Australia was paying Nauru to resettle the three criminals. Nauru had chosen them, and Burke declined to say why they were selected. Burke said more immigrants that Australia cannot deport could be sent to Nauru. ___ Associated Press writer Charlotte Graham-McLay in Wellington, New Zealand, contributed to this report.
