Sunday

This Remembrance Sunday we are looking at the life of the only soldier to be awarded the Victoria Cross twice during World War One. He was a doctor, a sportsman and the son of a former Bishop of Liverpool. His name was Noel Chavasse. He's still revered in his home city and Kevin Bocquet has been to Liverpool to hear about the man. In her book 'The Keys and the Kingdom', Catherine Pepinster looks a...

Abbey House, retreat centre in Glastonbury is closing after 80 years. Despite a growing interest in pilgrimage, Sarah Swadling explores why a growing number of venues are shutting their doors. Bishop James Jones reflects on his time listening to and supporting the families of the 96 unlawfully killed at Hillsborough. This week the Bishop released his report which recommended how public institution...

The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia said this week that he wants to return the country to 'moderate Islam'. Gulf analyst Bill Law tells Emily why he believes the Prince is pursuing this policy. On Tuesday a service will be held to mark the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation in Europe. The Archbishop of Canterbury will present a text supporting an agreement to resolve the theologica...

Trevor Barnes visits 'Imagining the Divine,' a new exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum of some of the oldest religious art from India to Ireland.. Archbishop Bernard Ntahoturi is the first person from the African continent to be installed as the new Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome next week. It is a key position in the Anglican Communion and comes as the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches...

An Islamic faith school's policy of segregating boys from girls is unlawful sex discrimination, court of appeal judges have ruled. What are the implications? The new global spiritual head of the Swaminarayan Hindu organisation is in the UK this week in the run up to Diwali. Mahant Swami Maharaj's first official visit as leader of the BAPS Swaminarayan sect has been attracting thousands of daily wo...

More than 700 students and families displaced by Hurricane Irma have relocated to Preston to continue their studies at the University of Central Lancashire. Kevin Bocquet looks at how the university providing spiritual and emotional support. After the mass shooting in Las Vegas, Patrick Carolan, Executive Director of the Franciscan Action Network says "Gun safety is not a political issue. It is a...

Emily Buchanan hears from John Ponitfex from the charity Aid to the Church in Need. He's just returned from Nineveh Plains where he says thousands of Christians to are returning home now that Daesh have been forced out of the area. What is the future they are facing? What impact has the recent Referendum on Kurdish independence had on them? The Tohono O'odham are a federally recognised American In...

An estimated 40.3 million people were victims of modern slavery in 2016, according to new global statistics. David Westlake, CEO of International Justice Mission UK explains the aims of this weekend's 'Freedom Sunday' church campaign. A mum has accused a school of religious discrimination after teachers ordered her son to cut his dreadlocks. Theologian, Prof Robert Beckford, explores the significa...

New research suggests that a quarter of England's secondary schools are not offering Religious Education, despite the fact that it is a legal obligation to do so. Alex Strangways-Booth reports. This week, Israel's Supreme Court decided that ultra-Orthodox Jews are no longer exempt from military service. Edward explores the importance of this decision. Bob Walker has been to meet monks from Tibet c...

After 9 staff have been suspended following an edition of Panorama this week on the Immigration Removal Centre, Brook House, William talks to Rev Nathan Ward about his experience of working at this and another detention centre. The American Catholic Church hits back at Steve Bannon after he questioned their motives for defending DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme, which Pre...

Edward Stourton looks back on the life of Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor and speaks to his successor as Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols. Following the row about the reporting of a fostering case involving Muslim carers this week, Kevin Bocquet explores the issues surrounding religious fostering and adoption. Father David Bergeron from the Catholic Charismatic Centre in Houston...

This week more than 100 of the world's top robotics experts wrote to the UN calling for a ban on the development of "killer robots" and the tech entrepreneur Elon Musk tweeted that artificial intelligence safety was 'vastly more a risk than North Korea'. AI already changing our lives; from driver-less cars to caring for the elderly. Should the technology that drives AI be designed with a set of mo...

Professor John Butt tells William Crawley about the three concerts he has curated for 'Reformation Day' at The Proms. One of the chaplains at Hospital Del Mar in Barcelona, describes the mood in the city following this week's terrorist attack. John Rutter explains why he is unhappy that the church of St Sepulchre's in London, the resting place of The Proms founder Sir Henry Moor, has announced a b...

In a back alley of Jerusalem, pilgrims can find what's believed to be the world's oldest tattoo parlour. Yolande Knell meets Anton and Wassim who are continuing a family business that's been passed from one generation to the next. When schools close for holidays a million children stop receiving free school meals. Kevin Bocquet reports from a faith based project in Middlesborough that provides foo...

The Bishop of St Albans, the Rt Rev Dr Alan Smith, and Farming Minister George Eustice discuss food safety in the light of the Brexit negotiations. Martin Bashir talks to the Archbishop of Canterbury and his Ugandan counterpart - Stanley Ntagali - about the refugee crisis in Uganda caused by people fleeing from the fighting in South Sudan. The Ugandan Archbishop also explains his opposition to sam...

Trevor Barnes finishes his short series on stained glass by talking to Peter Cormack on how glass artists transformed the aesthetics and production of stained glass in Britain and America during the Arts and Crafts period. The Charity Commission have published a critical report into how the Jehovah's Witnesses managed allegations of child sex abuse at the Manchester New Moston congregation. Kathle...

It's 50 years since homosexual acts were partially decriminalised in England and Wales. To mark the anniversary, Rosemary Bailey has rereleased the biography of her brother Simon. He was a gay priest in the Church of England and died from AIDS in 1995. In the aftermath of the Grenfell fire, local churches and mosques rallied to support the community. They continue to help, mediating between reside...

In the first of a three part series, Trevor Barnes explores the history, art and religion behind some of the stained glass windows in the cathedrals and churches of the UK. William Crawley speaks to Guli Francis-Dehqani, who fled Iran at the age of 14 with her family she has been named the first Bishop of Loughborough. The Court of Appeal is considering whether gender segregation in a state-funded...

Sunday this weekend is presented by William Crawley. The Church of England and the Methodist Church in Britain are considering proposals that would bring them into a new relationship of full communion, after 200 years of formal separation. What would John Wesley think? Warwickshire allotment holders are up in arms about a proposal from Coventry diocese to sell off their land. Historian Andrew Brad...

The Angel World Summit took place this weekend - bringing together angel experts and people who wish to deepen their connection with angels. The psychotherapist Mark Vernon, discusses the history and fascination of angels with Edward Stourton. A group of church leaders in Blackpool are working with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association on an event at Winter Gardens next year at which Billy Gra...

In some rural areas, church spires are offering a solution to deliver high speed reliable wireless broadband internet access to local communities. Rosie Dawson reports from the Yorkshire Dales. Rabbi Lord Sacks is participating in the Thatcher Conference on Security on 27 June in London. He talks to Edward about what values he thinks the West should stand for and why he calls the idea of global fr...

A memorial to commemorate service men and women from Africa and the Caribbean is to be unveiled in Brixton. Trevor Barnes reports on their contribution during two World Wars and the campaign to build the memorial. William speaks to Rev Dr Alan Everett from St Clements Church and Lotifa Begum from Islamic Relief about their work helping and counselling residents in the community in West London sinc...

The Scottish Episcopal Church has voted to allow their ministers to hold same-sex marriages. Bishop David Chillingworth tells Edward why they changed the Marriage Canon. In response to this decision the conservative Anglican group GAFCON announced that Canon Andy Lines will become their 'Missionary Bishop'. He tells Edward about his new role while Church of England Bishop, Graham Kings considers t...

In the aftermath of the London terror attack, Emily Buchanan talks to Very Rev Andrew Nunn, Dean of Southwark Cathedral and to Haras Rafiq, CEO of Quilliam, a counter-extremist organisation. Following President Trump's announcement that the United States is to pull out of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, Emily Buchanan hears from the journalist Sarah Posner, on the religious reaction in the US; a...

Chris Anthony & Muhammad Hussain talk to Martin Bashir about why they are taking part in the Great Manchester run on Sunday and what it means to them in the light of Monday's attack at the Manchester Arena. After it became known that the bomber had worshipped at Didsbury Mosque the media descended and the mosque had to defend its reputation. Kevin Bocquet meets some of its leaders. As the case...