serving the faith communities of the Goulburn Valley
The Future of Indigenous Reconciliation – Reflecting on the past and building towards the future – will be a topic at the forthcoming Sydney Writers Festival on Thursday 22 May from 4:00pm. This event will be livestreamed at the Shepparton Library, and all libraries in the Goulburn Valley Regional Library Service at the same time.
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Google is rolling out its Gemini AI chatbot to kids under 13. It’s a risky move. The rollout will leave parents playing a game of whack-a-mole with new technologies as they try to keep their children safe. Is Gemini AI better than ChatGPT? Gemini is noted for its imaginative responses. ChatGPT is more terse, concise and accurate in its summaries than Gemini. Tricknology is the downside of human values and the latest technology. Human values are not elimiated – nor superseded by any advances in technology. Hence, tricknology. Nonetheless, parents should be in control of the content their children access.
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The Shepparton Region Reconciliation Group will conduct a Sorry Day Commemoration at Monash Park, Shepparton on Monday 26 May, commencing at 10:10am. The Shepparton Region Reconciliation Group invites you to join us this Sorry Day as we pause to remember and acknowledge the Stolen Generations and the impacts of those policies that caused such pain and suffering to individuals, families and communities over so many generations.
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In the spirit of Nostra Aetate, the Australian Council of Christians and Jews sends greetings to Pope Leo XIV. This election of Pope Leo inspires hope that he will continue to foster mutual respect and understanding between Catholics and the Jewish community.
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Hysnii Merja, Imam of Moslem Mosque, Shepparton, has published Funeral Book, Guide to Islamic Funeral Rites and Practices. This book focusses on funeral rites, processes, and ethics as taught in the Qu’ran and in the tradition of the Prophet.
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Religion News Service — On May 6, just days before Buddhists around the world celebrate the holiday of Vesak, Sotheby’s Hong Kong will put relics of the Buddha — what Sotheby’s calls the “Piprahwa Gems of the Historical Buddha”— on the auction block.
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The Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run will visit Shepparton on Tuesday 29 April, arriving at Victoria Park Lake around 4:30 PM. There will be a peace run with the Torch around Victoria Park Lake. If there are sufficent interested persons, a Peace Walk will be undertaken around the Lake.
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Vesak, a most important Buddhist festival is known as either Vesak, Wesak or Buddha Day, and is celebrated annually on the full moon of the ancient lunar month of Vesakha, which usually falls in May, or in early June. There will be a celebration of Vesak in Queens Gardens, Shepparton, on Saturday, 10th of May 2025, from 4.00 pm to 6.00 pm.
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25 April is the day for paying tribute to all Australian comrades-in-arms who served and died in all wars: ‘Lest we forget’. In the Great War 20 soldiers of Muslim background also fought for Australia while in the Second World War about 200 of them. With many other Australians Muslim minority groups fought for common cause as ‘One for All, All for One’. From a multicultural angle, the following is a story of one of forgotten soldiers who can be a good example for many young Muslims in Australia.
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Mahmoud Abbas also known by the kunya Abu Mazen is a Palestinian politician who has been serving as the second president of the State of Palestine. Today, he recognised Pope Francis as a “faithful friend of Palestine”.
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“In the atmosphere of great Easter joy, this morning, Monday of Holy Week, came the sad news of the death of Pope Francis, a precious brother in Christ, with whom from the first moment of his ascension to the papal throne, we had a fraternal friendship and cooperation for the good of our Churches, for the further rapprochement of our Churches, for the good of humanity.
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Both Muslims and Christians revere Jesus, but they have different interpretations of his life, mission and role in salvation. At Easter, shared themes of resurrection and hope offer space for dialogue.
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The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem proclaim to the world an Easter message of life and hope. “It is the same message first announced to the women who had come to mourn at Christ’s tomb,” the text notes. “The Lord had risen indeed!”
The Way to Freedom (Part 1: The Journey)" is a heartfelt documentary that follows the journey of refugees fleeing war-torn countries in search of safety and a new life in Australia. The film chronicles the experiences of local immigrants in Greater Shepparton, from their first steps upon arrival to their integration into the community.
The King of Kings is a 2025 animated Christian film written and directed by Seong-ho Jang, loosely inspired by the children’s book The Life of Our Lord by Charles Dickens. The film stars the voices of Kenneth Branagh, Uma Thurman, Mark Hamill, Pierce Brosnan, Roman Griffin Davis, Forest Whitaker, Ben Kingsley and Oscar Isaac. The King of Kings was released in the United States by Angel Studios on April 11, 2025
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Hot cross buns aren’t just a sweet snack that appears around Easter. They carry centuries of storytelling in their dough. From ancient gods to modern supermarkets, these sticky spiced buns have crossed many borders and beliefs. Today, you can buy them in all kinds of flavours. But their story is far richer than chocolate chips and salted caramel.
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In 2025, for only the third time, the Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run will circumnavigate the entire continent of Australia, starting in Canberra on 24 April, running clockwise to visit all capital cities, with millions of footsteps through forests, across deserts, along beaches, highways and byways, visiting hundreds of schools, community groups, civic leaders and events, returning to Canberra on 13 August.
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Antisemitism has no place in Australian society, and changing the law in in several states (including hate speech) will send a quick message that governments are taking the problem seriously. But taking it seriously also means doing whatever else we can as a society to ensure no one experiences hate or violence for who they are or what they believe.
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Bodh Gaya, India — As he stood in a queue outside a makeshift tent kitchen for breakfast, 30-year-old Abhishek Bauddh could not help but reflect on the throngs of people around him in Bodh Gaya, Buddhism’s holiest site.
Bauddh has been visiting the town in eastern India’s Bihar state, where the Buddha gained enlightenment, since he was 15. “But I have never seen such an atmosphere. Buddhists from all over the country are gathering here,” he said.
For once, they are not in Bodh Gaya only for a pilgrimage. They are part of a protest by Buddhists that has erupted across India in recent weeks over a demand that control of Bodh Gaya’s Mahabodhi Temple, one of the faith’s most sacred shrines, be handed over exclusively to the community.
The Unification Church is a church US intelligence said helped overthrow a government, invited Donald Trump to speak at its events and saw former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet its founder. The Unification Church, a religious movement derived from Christianity, has had deep connections to world politics for decades.
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