A global project to examine the changing role of religion in society during the Covid pandemic has reviewed what happened in five societies - Canada, Germany, Poland, Ireland and Northern Ireland. Academics looked at the place of religion in the health services with, for example, disagreements over the ethics of using certain vaccines; the changing relations with governments over closure of places of worship and helping vulnerable, isolated people; and digital innovation as groups communicated w...
Jun 17, 2025•56 min•Ep. 93
Who is Cardinal Robert Prevost, the man chosen to be the next Pope? Made a cardinal only in 2023, born in Chicago, a citizen of Peru where he spent much of his ministry, an Augustinian, a linguist, a tennis player, a calm and quietly spoken man, but his views on major issues facing the church today are largely unknown. In this Religion Media Centre briefing, the panel tried to piece the jigsaw together from clues about his past public comments and even his choice of name as Pope Leo XIV. They se...
May 09, 2025•58 min•Ep. 92
Catholic cardinals are in Rome, preparing for the conclave when the next Pope is chosen. The process is familiar to millions through the film "Conclave" which tells the story of the rituals, ambition and politics involved as candidates emerge for consideration. In this Religion Media Centre briefing, journalists and commentators joined Catholics from England and Wales to give a view on the likely candidates, the key issues they will be required to address, and the character they are looking for ...
Apr 30, 2025•55 min•Ep. 91
Pope Francis’ death at 88 has been mourned across the world, with tributes to his compassion, defence of the marginalised, advocacy for the poor, consistent appeals for world peace, and brave moves to open up decision making in the church. Among the tributes, he was described as ‘the very human, holy man of God’. In this Religion Media Centre briefing, a panel of Catholic commentators remember his 12 years in office, a time of immense global change. Hosted by Ruth Peacock, the panel included: Pr...
Apr 23, 2025•55 min•Ep. 90
"The Quiet Revival" , a report by The Bible Society, indicates a revival of Christianity in England and Wales, with congregations up in the last four years from 8 to 12 per cent, a growth largely fuelled by Gen Z – young people aged 18-24. The conclusion is based on a survey of 13,000 people by YouGov, commissioned by The Bible Society. It found 16 per cent of Gen Z attended church once a month, compared to 4 per cent four years ago. The most dramatic increase in churchgoing, according to the re...
Apr 09, 2025•54 min•Ep. 89
It's five years since the Church of England began producing a National Online Service. Since its inception during the first COVID lockdown, it has become a fixture, especially for people who are ill, housebound or living remotely. More than a third of parish churches and those of other denominations have maintained their online Sunday service since the pandemic. In this briefing, our panel reviews the way churches have adapted worship and other activities to the online space, the benefits of onl...
Mar 27, 2025•58 min•Ep. 88
The British Muslim Network is a new organisation which will talk to the government about issues affecting Muslim communities such as health, education, immigration, equalities and the economy. The network will include public figures from politics, media, business, entertainment and sport, as well as imams, lawyers, doctors and academics. Events will be held for Muslim communities to speak to each other and common concerns will be shared with the government to bring change. Successive governments...
Feb 26, 2025•43 min•Ep. 87
The Church of England's General Synod has met for the first time since the Archbishop of Canterbury resigned and the Bishop of Liverpool retired, events related to safeguarding which have shocked the church. In this discussion, journalists who reported on the meeting reflect on how synod dealt with the crisis on its hands, fudging a vote on making safeguarding independent; tightening rules on clergy conduct which allow clerics to be sacked; refusing to back a suite of ideas to reform the way bis...
Feb 18, 2025•32 min•Ep. 86
The sudden and shocking departure of the Bishop of Liverpool, John Perumbalah, following allegations of sexual abuse and sexual harassment against two women, one of whom was a bishop, has stunned the Church of England. In this Religion Media Centre briefing, our panel discussed the impact of his retirement on the city of Liverpool, the wider Church of England and its standing in the nation, where it is the established church. There were stories of a crisis of trust in the church, with clergy in ...
Feb 04, 2025•56 min•Ep. 85
The 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the Nazi concentration camp, will be commemorated across the world on 27 January. 1.1 million people were killed there, mostly Jews, but also Polish people, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war, gays, and criminals. Auschwitz is a symbol of the Holocaust and 27 January is remembered as the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The images and stories of survivors are well documented, but less well known is that Auschwitz was home to at least six or...
Jan 20, 2025•47 min•Ep. 84
What stories about religion can journalists expect to make the headlines in 2025? That was the question for our first briefing of the year, when a panel of journalists and commentators gingerly made predictions for the year ahead. At home, the appointment of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the volatile state of the Church of England will be centre stage. The new UK Labour government, which faced riots only weeks after taking office, faces high hopes from people wanting to see more engagement wi...
Jan 15, 2025•51 min•Ep. 83
2024 turned out to be quite a year for news about religion and in our last briefing of the year, we looked back at some of the headlines, the arguments, the characters, and the public events that brought religion to the fore. Headlines include the historic resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury; the way religion met public policy with a vote to allow assisted dying in England and Wales; the global synod of Catholics in Rome with disappointment for women's campaigners; summer riots and attac...
Dec 10, 2024•55 min•Ep. 82
The Assisted Dying bill was passed in the House of Commons by 55 votes and now moves on for further consideration. In this Religion Media Centre briefing, a panel of religious leaders, academics and hospice chaplains consider the repercussions of the bill after a hotly contested debate that was highly emotional. Among their issues of concern were what happens to medical staff within the small teams dealing with terminally ill patients, who refuse to have anything to do with it, some on the groun...
Dec 03, 2024•57 min•Ep. 81
The resignation of Justin Welby as Archbishop of Canterbury has left the Church of England reeling. There is consensus that he had no option after the publication of the Makin report which exposed the horrific abuse of young men and boys by the barrister, John Smyth, and a decades-long cover-up by the Church of England. Smyth led Christian summer camps run by the Iwerne Trust which Justin Welby attended as a young man. From the mid-1970s, Smyth groomed boys and then took them back to his garden ...
Nov 13, 2024•57 min•Ep. 80
Ninety financial sector leaders and church leaders from sixteen countries, all of whom oversee significant investment portfolios, are taking part in a meeting in London this week to turbocharge the market for investments that fit Christian beliefs. The Mensuram Bonam summit, on 11 and 12 November, is the second of its kind and seeks to engage the whole “eco-system” of Christian faith-aligned capital. It is organised by Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, President of the Vatican Bank, along with five inte...
Nov 11, 2024•42 min•Ep. 79
As the US presidential election campaign draws to a close, we use this opportunity to speak to faith leaders and election watchers to assess the importance of religion in the election campaign. Traditionally, white evangelicals have supported Donald Trump and this briefing made clear that they appear to have largely remained loyal. The majority of Catholics also support the Republican party. But Kamala Harris is courting the Black Christian vote and makes no secret of her commitment to the Chris...
Oct 29, 2024•50 min•Ep. 78
The National Churches Trust has produced a report pointing out that churches provide health care which would otherwise cost the NHS £8.4 billion to deliver. "The House of Good Health" lists services such as youth groups, food banks, support for drug and alcohol addiction, and a listening ear for mental health counselling. But the report warns that this provision of care is in jeopardy because of the number of churches at risk of closure. It is published as many faith groups develop a wide variet...
Oct 16, 2024•55 min•Ep. 77
A bill to allow assisted dying in England and Wales will be put before the Commons on 16 October, the first time in nine years that MPs will have had the chance to vote on the issue. The Lords have debated it many times, but in all cases, the measures have been defeated. This time, with a new intake of Labour MPs, and support from the Prime Minister for a free vote, there is hope among supporters that it will progress. But this Religion Media Centre briefing shows there remains entrenched opposi...
Oct 10, 2024•58 min•Ep. 76
One year on from Hamas' attack on Israel, we brought together British Muslim and Jewish community leaders to find out how the war had impacted life in this country. Their discussion illustrates how each group "mirrored each other". Both communities have faced spikes in hate crime, leading to feelings across the board that Britain is not a safe place anymore. Social media was "absolutely bitter" and physical violence culminated in riots targeting mosques across England. In particular, speakers ga...
Oct 02, 2024•55 min•Ep. 75
Community and faith leaders from towns and cities across England have spoken of the importance of free and open discussion on the causes of the riots this summer. In a Religion Media Centre briefing, bringing together participants from our 11 Creating Connections events, they spoke of their local efforts to provide opportunities for dialogue between faith groups and their need for help in finding methods that work well. There was agreement that superficial large meetings were not enough. Instead...
Sep 24, 2024•57 min•Ep. 74
The report into the fire at Grenfell Tower, which claimed 72 lives in 2017, says the disaster was a devastating critique of failure, incompetence, dishonesty and greed at all levels, in government and business. In a section on how religion was part of the story, the report said Muslims felt abandoned and neglected by the council. But there was one chink of hope. Faith and community organisations, which filled the vacuum left by the authorities and offered sanctuary and support, were described as...
Sep 05, 2024•48 min•Ep. 73
The US Vice President Kamala Harris will be formally nominated as the Democrat's presidential candidate at the party’s convention in Chicago this week. With a Hindu mother, Baptist father and Jewish husband, she embodies religious pluralism in a diverse country. But will this make her more or less appealing to constituencies of faith, or the non-religious? In this Religion Media Centre briefing, the speakers considered how the Democrats, a party with 30 per cent non-religious and 60 per cent Chr...
Aug 20, 2024•57 min•Ep. 72
Fear and anxiety immediately followed the riots which spread across England last week, with Muslims in particular afraid to leave the house because of the hatred and violence on the streets. But in this Religion Media Centre briefing, faith leaders described how within 24 hours, faith and community leaders sought and found solidarity and support from their neighbours, other faith groups, police, councils and what has been seen as the vast majority of the British public, appalled at what they wer...
Aug 13, 2024•51 min•Ep. 71
Violent thuggery in more than 20 towns and cities in England and Northern Ireland has targeted British Muslims, who are now in fear for their lives. Mosques have been attacked, hotels with asylum seekers have been surrounded by protesters, shops with Muslim owners have been ransacked or burned, and areas with high immigrant populations have been vandalised with cars overturned and torched, and bricks hurled through windows as families sat inside. Children as young as 14 have been arrested and ma...
Aug 06, 2024•53 min•Ep. 70
For a secular country hosting the 33rd Olympic Games, France finds itself dealing with religion dominating the headlines. The controversial tableau in the rain-swept opening ceremony depicting the Last Supper (or was it the Festival of Dionysius) with drag queens and a woman comedian wearing a crown, widely seen as representing Jesus, caused anger among the French Catholic bishops and conservative Christians across the globe. Then there was the silver for British swimmer Adam Peaty, who recovere...
Jul 31, 2024•53 min•Ep. 69
The three-day swearing in ceremony for MPs in the new parliament has proved a remarkably popular watch, with the oath of allegiance to the King spoken in English, Welsh, Scottish, Gaelic, Irish and Kernewek, on a wide variety of texts including the Bible, Quran, Bhagavad Gita, Sundar Gutka, Tanakh - and none. The latest tally of MPs’ religious affiliations, outside Christianity, is 12 Sikh, 25 Muslim, 9 Hindu and 14 Jewish. Humanists UK says 40 per cent took an affirmation without swearing on a ...
Jul 16, 2024•49 min•Ep. 68
The decision by the Church of England general synod in York, to move towards allowing services for same-sex blessings, has once more revealed deep divisions, hurt, anger and anxieties. Speakers in this Religion Media Centre briefing discussed what possible moves could come next to keep the church together, where both sides are certain they are right. With the conservative evangelical wing planning to appoint "overseers", who will take over the role of bishops in pastoral oversight of people on t...
Jul 12, 2024•57 min•Ep. 67
How should the incoming government work with faith groups in modern, diverse Britain? In this Religion Media Centre briefing, the panel discussed the current vacuum of communication, and heard that Muslims in particular feel alienated and ostracised. The government refuses to speak to the Muslim Council of Britain and there is no mechanism for faith groups to tap into central government. Meanwhile, the Church of England and the Catholic church among others, have well-established structures allow...
Jul 03, 2024•47 min•Ep. 66
Faith groups across the globe are passionately engaged in climate change campaigns, with a deep desire to save the planet. Representatives of faith organisations and campaign groups told this Religion Media Centre election briefing that they saw signs of hope in several of the parties' manifestos. While each manifesto has different pledges on the date by which net zero may be achieved, and different approaches to fossil fuel excavation, they all have many ambitious commitments to make faster pro...
Jun 28, 2024•55 min•Ep. 65
The cost of living is a top election issue, yet the increasing wealth divide and extent of poverty have not really figured in election debates. In this Religion Media Centre briefing, Theos Think Tank pointed to data that indicated the majority of Christians are concerned about the growing wealth divide and want income inequality addressed. And 88 per cent of Christians are dismayed at the cost of living crisis. Many speakers agreed that poverty has not been given the emphasis it deserves in thi...
Jun 26, 2024•59 min•Ep. 64
