As Australia welcomes in the Chinese New Year, Compass explores what it all means. As well as marking the beginning of the lunar year, it’s a time when the Chinese community pays respect to their elders, and when good fortune is abundant.
Evelyn Lowah, a respected Torres Strait Islander and born-again Christian, is a popular radio presenter in Cairns in far north Queensland. She and her cousin Thomas Seveka play Gospel music and talk with local people about what’s going on in their community.
As the world grapples with the Global Financial Crisis, Compass asks: Should our lives be ruled by the almighty dollar? In the 21st century money has become the measure of all things, but what does money really mean to us?
A powerful film that explores how five American Christian families have handled having a gay child. Among them are the parents of the first openly gay Episcopal Bishop in the US, Gene Robinson.
Is Judaism Christianity's guilty secret? Leading British writer Howard Jacobson, himself a Jew, examines the origins and consequences of Christian belief.
British journalist, former Conservative Party politician and lapsed Catholic Michael Portillo investigates the legacy of the Roman Emperor Constantine. He was the first Christian Roman emperor and he transformed Christianity.
British theologian Dr Robert Beckford explores how warring pagan tribes in Britain became one nation under a single religion - Christianity. In this extraordinary story, which begins with the fall of the Roman Empire 400 years after the birth of Jesus, he charts the precarious survival of Christianity in the Celtic West and Ireland.
Acclaimed war correspondent Rageh Omaar examines the effect the 900 year old Crusades have had on the world today. In the West, he argues, the Crusades are a chapter of Christian history that has little impact on our everyday lives, but in the Middle East many believe that the Crusades are happening again.
There’s a modern day revival in the age-old habit of pilgrimage, and parishioners from St Joseph’s Church in Subiaco, Perth have created their own, Camino Salvado. Compass joins the inaugural pilgrimage for a six day walk from Perth to the Benedictine Monastery at New Norcia.
The extraordinary story of one of world’s great, lost masterpieces: Caravaggio’s "The Taking of Christ". This film traces the painting's journey from its birth in Rome in 1602 to its amazing re-discovery in 1990.
The last place you might expect to find a chaplain is dodging bullets in Afghanistan. This film follows two British Royal Marine chaplains as they travel around 'their parish' bringing faith to the frontline.
Examines the covert Catholic ritual of exorcism in Italy where half a million people are turning to exorcists for help each year. Pope Benedict XVI recently hailed the importance of the rite and for the first time the Vatican is backing a course to prepare a new generation of exorcists.
This Anzac special follows Sister Susan Connelly’s campaign to have East Timor’s unique wartime contribution recognised, with a ‘Companion of the Order of Australia’. During WW2 the Timorese risked their lives to help the Australian Commandos known as “Sparrow Force”.
What if you were highly intelligent, but remained trapped within a disorder that made others see you as inarticulate, odd or disabled? This film explores the line between ability and disability by following four Australian adults who are autistic.
Nearly 400 years after being tried by the Roman Catholic Inquisition, Galileo again faces charges of heresy. Leading scientists, scholars, barristers, politicians and churchmen take part in a unique performance event staged by the University of NSW and filmed by Compass.
Melbourne psychiatrist Sidney Bloch returns to South Africa, the country of his birth, with his teenage son. Sid has been plagued by guilt for “not doing enough” when segregation was introduced during the apartheid era more than 40 years ago.
This program explores the Catholic Church in Australia during one of the most dynamic periods in its recent history, the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). Vatican II challenged elements of Catholicism unquestioned since the 16th century.
Three Nigerian Catholic priests are sent to save Tasmania’s struggling church. But will the dwindling congregations and the resistance of the local clergy prove too hard a cross to bear?
Three Nigerian Catholic priests are sent to save Tasmania’s struggling church. But will the dwindling congregations and the resistance of the local clergy prove too hard a cross to bear?
Three Nigerian Catholic priests are sent to save Tasmania’s struggling church. But will the dwindling congregations and the resistance of the local clergy prove too hard a cross to bear?
Three Nigerian Catholic priests are sent to save Tasmania’s struggling church. But will the dwindling congregations and the resistance of the local clergy prove too hard a cross to bear?
Filmed before, during and after his final days on the High Court of Australia this documentary explores the personal, moral and spiritual convictions of Michael Kirby – one of the country’s greatest legal minds. It charts his formative years, his Christian faith and his 40 year relationship with his partner Johan van Vloten.
In the final week of the World Cup, Compass presents the story of the team that never played. In the 1970s South African soccer players were among the best in the world, but because they supported the international sporting bans against the apartheid regime, these unsung masters never had the chance to play on the world stage.
A provocative series examining the history and impact of Christianity through the personal views of leading British figures. In this episode former Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe explores the Reformation.
This programme reveals how Christianity became the world's largest religion despite, rather than because of, Western missionary zeal. British writer and Christian Kwame Kwei Armah begins his journey in Latin America to understand why Christianity is so successful there.
For more than 1500 years Christians saw the Bible as the primary source of knowledge, but in the 17th Century a scientific revolution challenged the Christian view of the world. Eminent scientist Colin Blakemore interviews scholars and churchmen in order to understand how science transformed Christianity over the last four centuries.
Leading British lawyer and committed Catholic Cherie Blair investigates Christianity over the last 100 years and explores its future prospects. She examines the challenges posed by war, and political oppression in the 20th century which culminated in the Holocaust.
This is the story of three women who were once nuns. Although they took their vows for life, they found they couldn’t keep them.
Ahead of Saturday’s federal election Geraldine Doogue talks to four high profile politicians at the forefront of their political parties. Featured are the Liberal Party’s Joe Hockey; The Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce; the Labor Party’s Tanya Plibersek; and, The Greens Senator Christine Milne.
Compass investigates the rules about sex within three different faiths. For Muslims sex within marriage is seen as an act of worship, although in the public arena the emphasis is on de-sexualising the body.

