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We were a group of seven people from Australia, wishing to visit four major sites in India that symbolize the great religions of the South Asian nation: Delhi for the Muslims, Varanasi for the Hindus, Bodh Gaya for the Buddhists, and Kolkata for the Christians. We wanted to live our own faith more fully through understanding the faith of others.

We were Rev. Dr. John Dupuche, a senior lecturer at MCD University of Divinity, and Honorary Fellow at Australian Catholic University; Claudia Barduhn; Kate Daddo, a Baha'i; Pamela Ferrar, an Anglican; Tom Thomas from the Mar Thoma Syrian Church; Sister Corrie Van Den Bosch, of the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of Service; and Rev Robert Stickland, a married priest of the Ukrainian Catholic Church who chairs the Interfaith Network of Greater Dandenong. We work in Australia, helping to make Australia an outstanding example of religious harmony and diversity.

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Source: DIMMID

 The MELA Interfaith Association organized a multifaith pilgrimage to India from Saturday 6 February to Friday 19 February 2016 with the purpose of visiting religious sites that are sacred to Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity, to study texts from our sacred writings, to discuss points of agreement and disagreement, and so sense the religious experience that is proper to these faiths. The major locations visited were Delhi, Varanasi, Bodh Gaya and Kolkata.

The Census of Population and Housing provides a snapshot of Australia's people and their dwellings. It provides the basis for estimating Australia's population which is used to distribute government funds and plan services. The Census helps Australians understand who we are, where we live and how we are changing.

The first Census was held in 1911 and since 1961 they have been conducted every five years. Australia's seventeenth national Census of Population and Housing will be held on Tuesday, 9 August 2016.

Springvale South is home to Melbourne’s first Buddhist primary school. Hoa Nghiem Primary School, which opened earlier this year, has 16 students from prep to grade 4, but will expand to grade 6 next year.  

While it is the only Buddhist primary school in Melbourne, there is another one in Daylesford and there are some high schools across Australia.

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Source: Leader

Diane Moore, director of Harvard Divinity School's Religious Literacy Project to The Huffington Post, and five other religion professors from Harvard University, Harvard Divinity School and Wellesley College are kicking off a free online series on world religions open to masses.

The series will include six classes on different subjects that will each run for four weeks.

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Source: The Huffington Post

Forty religious leaders have written to the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, urging him to drop the proposal to hold a plebiscite on marriage equality, saying a public campaign on the issue would be damaging to same-sex couples and religious people alike.

The group of Buddhist, Baptist, Anglican and Uniting church leaders sent the letter to the prime minister on Tuesday.

Turnbull supports changing the Marriage Act to allow same-sex unions but vowed to stick with the Coalition’s plan to hold a plebiscite on the issue after taking the prime ministership from Tony Abbott in September.

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Source: The Guardian

Victoria's first interfaith service celebrating the legal profession took place at Government House in the first week of February.

The event saw rabbis joining representatives from the Victorian Council of Churches, the Islamic Council of Victoria, the Buddhist Council of Victoria, the Hindu Community Council of Victoria and senior judges, barristers and other law professionals from many backgrounds.

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Source: Jewish News

Churches across Australia are invoking the historical concept of sanctuary, opening their doors to asylum seekers facing removal back to offshore detention centres.

One of Australia's senior Anglican leaders said places of worship were entitled to offer sanctuary to those seeking refuge from brutal and oppressive forces.

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Source: ABC