Religion Media Centre Podcast

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 tog...

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...

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...

"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, c...

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 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...

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 cler...

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...

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...

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...

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 g...

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 team...

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 at...

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 capit...

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 K...

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 t...

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...

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" an...

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...

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,...

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, t...

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, c...

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 bri...

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...

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 Mus...