This Sunday, Pope Benedict will celebrate mass in Sydney before an expected congregation numbering around half a million people. One leading Australian academic who will not be participating in the World Youth Day celebrations is Catholic academic, Max Charlesworth.

The new sectarianism is quite different from the old sectarianism. Yet it is real enough. From European settlement in 1788 until about the mid 1960s, Australia was afflicted with a prevailing distrust of Catholics - many were of Irish descent - who formed the nation's largest minority. In those days sectarianism was essentially driven by Protestants. Not any more, writes Gerard Henderson.

Pope Benedict landed in Australia on Sunday where he says he will apologize for a sexual-abuse scandal that rocked the Roman Catholic Church in the country, vowing that everything possible would be done to prevent a recurrence.

A poll by social networking giant MySpace brands the Catholic Church "out of touch" with young people, just days from its World Youth Day event.

Ignorance of sex is widespread among students. And while schools may be condemned if they teach responsible behaviour, they are also criticised if they don't offer sex lessons.

A prominent Melbourne psychologist has taken Age art critic Robert Nelson to task over his views on child nudity and art, accusing him of relying on "psychobabble" and discarded theories to back his position.

Australia is one of the least devout countries in the Western world, although two-thirds of its population identifies itself as Christian, an international survey comparing religious expression in 21 countries has found.

The South Australian Government was at odds with the Church of Scientology last night after backing the right of a senior state minister to brand its members "bastards".

The emotional and social impacts of divorce are felt for decades after a marriage breaks down, leaving a generation of older Australians vulnerable to loneliness and poor health.

As a fellow Christian, Kevin Rudd could raise thorny, but important, issues with the pontiff.

The woman who told her pastor she felt as though her "whole heart had been ripped out" was surrounded by hundreds of mourners who sent messages tied on balloons into the sky for Jack, 8, Maddie, 7, and Bon, 16 months.

The mobile device dubbed the Jesus Phone for the 'miracles' it performs is about to have its second coming.

Let me count the ways Age art critic Robert Nelson misused his daughter - and misled the public, writes Andrew Bolt.

Convicted pedophile Dennis Ferguson, who is being cared for by a church group, will be moved from a property outside Carbrook, southeast of Brisbane, once court proceedings are finalised, Queensland Police Minister Judy Spence said.

What a bunch of deranged, wowserish, ignorant philistines we are. And when I say "we" I mean me and others who express any misgivings about any photograph of any naked child in any context.

Kevin Rudd is adamant. He is revolted by images of naked children. "Frankly, I can't stand this stuff," he says. What, then, does Rudd make of portraits of naked children created in the name of the Christian faith he espouses?

More Australians would tick the "no religion" box on the Australian census form - if only they could find it, according to the director of the Australian National Secular Association.

The little girl on the cover of this week's "Art Monthly" has a name, and it is Olympia.

The art magazine which published photographs of a naked six-year-old girl has damaged the artistic community with its shock tactics, says Museum of Contemporary Art director Liz Ann Macgregor.

Is Australia a nation of serial monogamists? If an international comparison to be presented at a conference this week is any guide, the answer is yes.

Controversial Australian euthanasia campaigner Philip Nitschke could be hit with a fine of up to $NZ10,000 ($A7,900) for publicly showing a euthanasia film in New Zealand that has yet to be classified there.

The latest furore over artwork depicting naked children has pitted Prime Minister Kevin Rudd against one of Australia's leading art critics.

The head of the Australian Anglican Church, Phillip Aspinall, has warned a breakaway conservative faction that its members risked a legal battle if they tried to overstep the laws of the church.

The Anglican Church has agonised over the issues of homosexuality, gay clergy and the ordination of women for a very long time. But just last weekend a most serious schism emerged between the liberal and conservative factions of the church.

The head of the Australian Anglican Church says it will not be unaffected by the divisive row engulfing the worldwide communion, in which a dispute over homosexuality and women bishops has led to talk of a schism.