About this season
Compass is an Australian weekly news-documentary program screened on ABC Television on Sunday nights. Presented by Geraldine Doogue, the program is devoted to providing information about faith, values, ethics, and religion from across the globe.
Episodes (51)
0. Good Friday Special
Aired 21 April 2000 • 30 min
Compass presents a special program for Easter. A time for all of us, believers and non-believers alike to reflect on sacrifice, renewal and hope.
1. Rivals for Paradise (Part 1)
Aired 2 January 2000 • 30 min
It has been a secret war between two rival faiths that has lasted for eighty years. For the Communists, the vision was of workers' paradise here on Earth; for the Catholics it was a heavenly paradise promised after death.
2. Rivals for Paradise (Part 2)
Aired 9 January 2000 • 30 min
An intriguing look at the powerful alliance of Church and State - between Roman Catholicism and the American Government that destroyed the Soviet Empire.
3. Black Sea : Voyage of Healing
Aired 16 January 2000 • 30 min
Black Sea : Voyage of Healing mixes environmental issues, nationalist economic issues, mass tourism issues, and Orthodox Church politics into a program which is as much a tourist's travelogue as an information piece.
4. The Commitment
Aired 23 January 2000 • 30 min
Finding approaches to abusive families.
5. The Time to Die
Aired 30 January 2000 • 30 min
Filmed over three weeks at St Christopher's Hospice in South East London, it follows the last weeks of Kevin, Hazel and Doris, who are all dying of cancer.
6. Papabile
Aired 6 February 2000 • 30 min
Who will be the next Pope? As the papacy of John Paul II enters its final phase, there is much speculation about who is likely to succeed him.
7. The Slaves Of God
Aired 13 February 2000 • 30 min
The Slaves Of God is a video journey to the all-male "enclosed" Russian and Greek Orthodox Christian monks of this famed peninsula, Mount Athos, in northern Greece.
8. Joanna Lumley In The Kingdom of The Thunder Dragon
Aired 20 February 2000 • 30 min
9. George Pell
Aired 27 February 2000 • 30 min
He is forthright... He has strong convictions... His controversial leadership style has caused friction among his flock. Join Geraldine Doogue for a frank conversation with the Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, George Pell...
10. Three Million Gods
Aired 5 March 2000 • 30 min
Hinduism is proportionately, the fastest growing religion in Australia today. Whether due to an influx of Hindu migrants of Indian extraction or the increasing involvement of Australians from a Judeo-Christian background.
11. Ancient Voices Part 1 - The Mystery Of The Taj Mahal
Aired 12 March 2000 • 30 min
Compass heads to India in search of the hidden spiritual message behind one of the world's most elegant wonders.
12. Ancient Voices Part 2 - Blood And Flowers
Aired 19 March 2000 • 30 min
The extraordinary violence and beauty of the Aztec Empire. Behind this artistic and ordered society were Gods who demanded human sacrifice on a massive scale... a story of "Blood and Flowers"...
13. Ancient Voices Part 3 - The Lost World Of El Dorado
Aired 26 March 2000 • 30 min
The search for El Dorado, the legendary golden kingdom of South America. Did cultural misunderstanding foil the quest for untold riches?
14. Ancient Voices Part 4 - Empire Of Death
Aired 2 April 2000 • 30 min
Compass peels back the centuries to investigate the ancient Nubian Empire of North Africa. At its height it challenged the power of the Egyptian pharoahs, but archaeologists have found it may also be one of the earliest examples of a mass suicide cult.
15. People Power Part 1 - Civil Society in The Philippines
Aired 9 April 2000 • 30 min
In this special Compass series we look at a quiet global revolution now underway, a new emphasis on the role, significance and power of voluntary, non-profit, community, or non-government organisations, now often called civil society organisations (CSOs). The Philippines is regarded as having one of the strongest and most vibrant civil societies worldwide.
16. People Power Part 2 - Civil Society and Volunteering
Aired 16 April 2000 • 30 min
The second in our series on People Power, the quiet but profound revolution underway on how we might meet modern community problems better. It envisages a whole new approach to the spread of power and responsibility within the community....with a shift towards volunteer and non-government groups.
17. People Power Part 3 - Civil Society, Government and Corporations
Aired 23 April 2000 • 30 min
The last in our three part series on the emergence of a new era of Civil Society. A time of new prominence and power for community and volunteer groups, non-profit and non-government organisations.
18. The Martyrs Of Timor
Aired 30 April 2000 • 30 min
We've all read about East Timor , we've seen the Television Footage, heard the results of inquiries, and maybe in some ways , even started to become a bit desensitised to the whole thing.
19. Carnley
Aired 7 May 2000 • 30 min
The man at the centre of controversy this weekend as he is installed as Australia's newest Church Leader.
20. For God Or Caesar
Aired 14 May 2000 • 30 min
Two years ago the government disbanded the CES (Commonwealth Employment Service) and put unemployment services out to tender. Since then Church employment agencies have been major contract winners.
21. A Buddhist Retreat
Aired 21 May 2000 • 30 min
Buddhism is enjoying increasing popularity in Australia. Compass goes on retreat with one of the foremost teachers of Tibetan Buddhism in the West, Sogyal Rinpoche.
22. Stolen Children
Aired 28 May 2000 • 30 min
Compass examines the role of Churches and Missions in separating Aboriginal children from their families.
23. St. Paul's Part One: The New Man
Aired 4 June 2000 • 30 min
Part one looks at the conflicts and clerical politics triggered by the simultaneous arrival at St. Paul's of its new Dean, Dr. John Moses, and its first woman priest, Rev. Lucy Winkett on the occasion of the cathedral's 300th Anniversary.
24. St. Paul's Part Two: We Need Money
Aired 11 June 2000 • 30 min
We Need Money surveys the difficulties encountered by the new Dean to balance the Cathedral's finances and downsize its institutional staff. In his pursuit of his fiscal obligations, the Dean reveals how Christian humanism may take second place to commercial realities in attending to worldly concerns.
25. St. Paul's Part Three: Me Or The Music
Aired 18 June 2000 • 30 min
In the final of our series on St. Paul's Cathedral, we examine its major human resource, the childrens choir...and the trials and tribulations as young choristers aspire to be the best.
26. Trial Of The Cross
Aired 25 June 2000 • 30 min
Heroin injecting rooms... Are they the answer to Australia's worsening drug problem or a perpetuation of it? With trials to begin shortly in Sydney's Kings Cross, we look at the heated debate surrounding the involvement of the Uniting Church in the project.
27. The Dead Sea Scrolls Part 1 - The End of Days
Aired 2 July 2000 • 30 min
On the 14th of July an exhibition of the Dead Sea Scrolls will open at the Art Gallery of NSW. For the first time Australians will have the opportunity to view some of these documents which represent one of the most important archaeological finds ever.
28. The Dead Sea Scrolls Part 2 - A Common Heritage
Aired 9 July 2000 • 30 min
A Common Heritage explores what the scrolls reveal about early Judaism and the origins of Christianity.
29. Amnesty
Aired 16 July 2000 • 30 min
A study of modern service and altruism, an account of Amnesty International.
30. Opus Dei
Aired 23 July 2000 • 30 min
Opus Dei enjoys favoured status within the Roman Catholic Church...but its secretive recruiting methods and strict control of its members lives and beliefs have led some to liken it to a cult...
31. Being Jewish But Gay
Aired 30 July 2000 • 30 min
The appearance of the first all Jewish float in this year's Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gra Parade polarised opinion in the Jewish community. We examine conflicting interpretations of religious law, when Gay Jews challenge tradition.
32. Pilgrimage To The Heart
Aired 6 August 2000 • 30 min
On Compass we join the national leaders and youth representatives of Australian Christian Churches on a journey of reconciliation to the centre of Australia.
33. The Price Of Self Esteem
Aired 13 August 2000 • 30 min
Thousands of Australians are spending big dollars on personal development courses in the pursuit of success and self-esteem. Do they change people's lives for the better?
34. A Living Hell (Part 1)
Aired 20 August 2000 • 30 min
This two-part British series outlines the nature of depression, its human impact on families and individuals, its damaging influence on the human spirit, and its current treatments. The series is hosted by biologist Professor Lewis Wolpert, himself a former sufferer of depression.
35. A Living Hell (Part 2)
Aired 27 August 2000 • 30 min
In Part Two of our revealing series on modern depression: Is it a physical illness? Is it genetic?
36. Paws For Thought
Aired 3 September 2000 • 30 min
Is non-human life important and if so, why?
37. Reefer Madness 2
Aired 10 September 2000 • 30 min
Marijuana, an ancient herbal remedy can help sufferers of epilepsy, arthritis and glaucoma but it is still on the illegal drug list in most countries.
38. For God's Sake (Part 1)
Aired 17 September 2000 • 30 min
A new four part series which will take us on a journey of religious discovery around the globe.
39. For God's Sake (Part 2)
Aired 24 September 2000 • 30 min
In Part Two of this four-part series Frederic Raphael travels to Thailand and Malaysia where Buddhism and Islam have both absorbed and been transformed by older beliefs and customs.
40. For God's Sake (Part 3)
Aired 1 October 2000 • 30 min
In this episode Frederic Raphael travels to Spain and Mexico to see this devotional intensity first-hand.
41. For God's Sake (Part 4)
Aired 8 October 2000 • 30 min
In Part Four our series closes with Frederic Raphael going back home... journeying deep into the United States to explore the American way of religion in it's Bible belt heartland.
42. Contact
Aired 15 October 2000 • 30 min
Contact surveys the contemporary phenomenon of reports of alien abduction, UFO visitations and similar paranormal experiences in Canada and the USA. With several first-hand claims of abduction and descriptions of alien visits, the program canvasses the North American climate of Ufology...cults such as the Raelians who base their religion on extraterrestrial intelligence, plus psychiatric interpretations of this disposition towards the paranormal.
43. The Greening Of God
Aired 22 October 2000 • 30 min
In this edition of Compass, the role of the mainstream churches in the global environment crisis... and whether theology should be responding.
44. Passing On Beliefs
Aired 12 November 2000 • 30 min
In this edition of Compass, the growth of church schools and the nature of religious education.
45. Trauma & The Spirit
Aired 19 November 2000 • 30 min
When disaster strikes, many turn to religion for solace, and for answers. But catastrophe can also cause drastic change in beliefs, or total abandonment of faith.
46. Seeing Salvation (Part 1)
Aired 3 December 2000 • 30 min
Christianity has produced some of the greatest works of art of all time, in which believers and non-believers alike can explore the great themes of life and death. It is the language in which Leonardo and Michelangelo, Dali and Rembrandt speak to us all about love and suffering, loss and hope.
47. Seeing Salvation (Part 2)
Aired 10 December 2000 • 30 min
As Christmas approaches we are bombarded with images of the baby Jesus in the manger, one of the quintessential expressions of the Christmas story.
48. Seeing Salvation (Part 3)
Aired 17 December 2000 • 30 min
At the core of the Christian faith is an image at once powerful and harrowing the figure Jesus on the Cross.
49. Seeing Salvation (Part 4)
Aired 24 December 2000 • 30 min
On Christmas Eve, as the Christian world prepares to celebrate the 2000th birthday of Jesus of Nazareth, this edition of Compass takes a final tour through some of the greatest works of Christian art.
50. Christmas Special
Aired 25 December 2000 • 30 min
Geraldine Doogue's panel of notable Australians discuss themes of the 2000th Birthday of Jesus, the end of the Jubilee Year, and the true advent of The Third Millennium.