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A mass led by Bishop Anthony Randazzo at the St Patrick’s Catholic Church East Gosford.

Pope picks Australian bishop for powerful Vatican position

Anthony Randazzo will be the first Australian to lead a Vatican office since the late cardinal George Pell.

  • Emily Kaine and Julie Power

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Palestinian-Australian academic Randa Abdel-Fattah has already sold out her appearance at Sydney Writers’ Festival.

Randa Abdel-Fattah sells out Sydney Writers’ Festival appearance

The academic was sensationally dumped from Adelaide Writers’ Week in January, sending the festival into meltdown. Her Sydney appearance has already sold out.

  • John Buckley
Sam said the abuse left him unable to tell his children he loved them.

A nun allegedly raped Sam. Then she introduced him to another abuser

Sam says he was flogged, raped and abused at a NSW boys’ home. A landmark ruling may help him get justice.

  • Amber Schultz and Michaela Whitbourn
St Columba’s Primary School went into lockdown on Thursday afternoon.

School locked down after man attempts to break into car with child inside

Police were called to reports of a man trying to break into a car near the school about 3:30pm on Thursday.

  • Julius Dennis
Margaret Tighe in 2017.

She was the most divisive figure in Australia’s anti-abortion battles. But even her adversaries acknowledged her stamina

Margaret Tighe’s lifelong fight against abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research reshaped state and federal elections, hardened political debate and enraged her opponents.

  • Rob Harris
Pilgrims honour the bones of St Francis during the first public display inside the St Francis Basilica.

‘Gives me goosebumps’: Thousands flock to Assisi as St Francis’ bones go on display

The display caps an 800-year saga over his bodily remains and confirms the enduring appeal to Christians of venerating a saint’s relics.

  • Nicole Winfield and Gregorio Borgia
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It took decades for Patricia Sykes to find the courage to return to the Abbotsford Convent, where she lived in an orphanage as a child.

Art and ghosts meet as women reclaim the shadows of Abbotsford Convent

The faint echoes of the Magdalene laundries still linger in the convent’s walls. Some former residents have been brave enough to return; others will never cross the threshold again.

  • Cassandra Morgan
Meloni fresco and the scrubbed out Meloni fresco.

Meloni-esque angel’s face plastered over after outcry

The painting of a cherub with a face bearing a remarkable resemblance to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni appears to have had a hasty fix-it job.

  • Silvia Stellacci, Nicole Winfield and Trisha Thomas
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

In Italy, church and state investigate the appearance of an angel seemingly modelled on Meloni

Officials are trying to find out how a religious artwork came to take on striking likeness to the Italian prime minister.

  • Nicole Winfield and Trisha Thomas
Former Prime Minister John Howard gives Words of Remembrance at the State Funeral Service for the Ronald Boswell at St Stephen’s Cathedral in Brisbane, Friday, January 16, 2026. Ron Boswell was a formidable senator for the Nationals for more than three decades. (AAP Image/Russell Freeman) NO ARCHIVING *SINGLE USE*AAP*

‘Pretty effective’ to the end: Conservative giants gather to farewell Ron Boswell

Two prime ministers were among a who’s who of the political class who gathered in Brisbane to farewell Ron Boswell, the Nationals senator who fought for the heart of his party.

  • Cameron Atfield