Sunday

In his first UK broadcast interview the Syrian Catholic priest captured by IS, Father Jacques Mourad, talks to Sima Kotecha about his ordeal and the circumstances of his release. One of the largest surveys of UK Sikh's was published this week. Its authors argue the results will lead to a shake-up of the Government's approach to the needs of British Sikhs. Dr Opinderjit Kaur Takhar talks about its...

The conservative Anglican group GAFCON UK have released a document listing clergy who they say have 'violated' the Church of England's 'authoritative teaching on sexuality'. GAFCON's chairman Andy Lines defends the strategy in a debate with the Bishop of Salisbury Nicholas Holtam who has called the statement, 'outrageous'. In a report to be released next week the Catholic charity, Aid to the Churc...

Representatives of the UK's faith communities will be joining veterans and dignitaries for this year's Remembrance Sunday commemorations at the Cenotaph. William Crawley speaks to Qari Asim, senior Imam at Leeds Makkah Mosque, who will be laying a wreath on behalf of Britain's Muslims. For many of the soldiers on the frontline during the First World War, the Bible they were issued with offered spi...

A senior Church of England Bishop has said we should be "very alarmed" at the way the newspapers reacted to the High Court decision that Parliament needs to vote on the triggering of Article 50 - the process which will take Britain out of the EU. The Bishop of Leeds, Nick Baines quoted a Daily Mail headline that called the judges, 'Enemies of the People." He debates with the Daily Mail's Stephen G...

William Crawley talks to Archbishop Vincent Nichols about the Santa Marta anti-trafficking conference which brought together police chiefs, the Home Secretary and the Catholic Church in Rome this week. William visits the Muslim Lifestyle Expo to hear how global brands are waking-up to one of the fastest growing consumer markets in the world. Steve Chalke from Oasis UK joins William to discuss how...

Monsignor Nizar Semaan of the Syriac Catholic Church speaks to Edward Stourton about the hopes and fears of displaced Iraqi Christians as the operation to retake Mosul from the so-called Islamic State continues. The link between freedom of religion or belief and the prevention of violent extremism was the subject of a conference hosted by the Foreign Office this week. Trevor Barnes went along to h...

Patriarch Kirill is in the UK to mark 300 years of the Russian Orthodox church in Britain. However his audience with the Queen has been criticised by those who see him as an ally of President Putin at a fractious time for Anglo-Russian relations over Syria. Trevor Barnes reports. In Aleppo, Sister Annie Demerjian and her volunteers risk their lives as they deliver aid to the sick and elderly. She...

It's the 40th anniversary Prison's Week, a Christian initiative to support all those affected by prisons. As reoffending rates continue to rise Bob Walker reports on the many faith based groups working in this field and explores their effectiveness. As the death toll continues to rise in Haiti following the devastating impact of Hurricane Matthew. Edward Stourton hears from John Hasse of faith-bas...

It is 80 years since anti-fascist demonstrators took on the police and Oswald Mosley's Black Shirts in the East End of London. Trevor Barnes reports on The Battle of Cable Street. The Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome - The Most Reverend Sir David Moxon - joins William Crawley to celebrate the Centre's 50th anniversary and to talk about his role as the Archbishop of Canterbury's Representati...

The Church of England wants to attract a more diverse range of people into the vocations. William Crawley is joined by Rev Lusa Nsenga-Ngoy and Rev David Isiorho to discuss why, despite repeated efforts, the Church remains a predominantly white institution. Trevor Barnes has been delving into the fascinating and sometimes controversial world of religious tattooing. After the bombing of a humanitar...

Edward Stourton talks to The Tablet journalist Christopher Lamb about Pope Francis' visit to Assisi 30 years after Pope John Paul II attended the historic meeting for the first World Peace Day; Trevor Barnes looks at the row over mixed-faith weddings in Sikh temples; Jewish students fight the movement for sanctions against Israel; Rahul Tanton tells Edward about the growth of 'cow vigilantes' as t...

On 'Ability Sunday', Gordon Gill discusses the churches' attitudes to disability and specifically how congregations can make people with learning disabilities welcome. Reporter Sarah Major talks to disabled people about the difficulties they encounter when trying to attend church services. Kevin Bocquet reports on the £1million fund raised by ultra-orthodox Jews to fight custody cases (and prevent...

On Sunday, 19 years after her death, Mother Teresa will be canonised at a Mass in St Peter's Square. David Willey is in Rome ahead of the ceremony while Mike Wooldridge returns to Kolkata to report on her legacy. He hears why some people in the Indian city are still critical about her work there. Ahead of a threatened expose in a Sunday newspaper, the Bishop of Grantham says he is gay and in a 30...

Following a recent landmark trial in the Hague - at which Ahmad al-Mahdi pleaded guilty to destroying most of the architecturally and historically precious mausoleums in Timbuktu - Edward Stourton asks the question: Should acts of cultural destruction during conflict be classed as war crimes? Rahul Tandon reports from Calcutta on preparations to celebrate the canonisation of Mother Teresa. Bob Wal...

One feature of Usain Bolt's track appearance generally overlooked by sports commentators are his expressions of faith. Does Britain have a problem with religion in sport? Dr Nick Watson and Dr Brian Hennings discuss with Caroline Wyatt, on the last day of the Rio Olympics. Caroline Wyatt talks to the Baptist Pastor, Evan Mawaire, who's taking on the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe. This year marks the 5...

This week, it is the anniversary of Elvis's death on August 16th 1977. Ted Harrison - author of a new book called 'The Death and Resurrection of Elvis Presley' talks to Caroline Wyatt about how the cult of Elvis is now taking on some of the characteristics of a religion. The Rev Ravi Holi (Anglican vicar and Elvis impersonator) describes a funeral at which he dressed as 'The King of Rock 'n Roll'....

Pope Francis has set up a panel to study whether women can serve as deacons. We debate if this is a move that will lead to changes in the role of women in the Catholic Church with Professor Tina Beattie and Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith. In the first 6 months of the year there was a large increase in anti-Semitic incidents. Rabbi Yoni Birnbaum tells us it's time for a zero tolerance policy on hate crim...

Last week, Edward Stourton profiled evangelical Christian Mike Pence who is Donald Trump's running mate. This week he takes a look at Catholic Tim Kaine, the man on Hillary Clinton's ticket. Journalist Jay Michaelson describes how Senator Kaine's faith has shaped his politics. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen of being behind the failed uprising. P...

Terrorism is a major concern for the organisers of Rio's Olympics due to start in less than three weeks time. So is the city's high levels of violent crime. The Archbishop of Rio, Dom Orani Tempesta, was recently caught up in a gun battle there. He spoke to our reporter, Bruce Douglas. World Youth Day has been described by one commentator as sort of Olympic Games of the Catholic Church. It's the l...

Services will be held in churches across France to remember those killed after a lorry ploughed into crowds celebrating Bastille Day. William Crawley talks to Fr Peter Jackson is from Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Nice and lives close to the terrorist attack. This week a new Prime Minister entered Number 10. The daughter of an Anglican priest, Theresa May joins the list of world leaders with a s...

Ed Stourton talks to Dallas Morning News reporter Naomi Martin about the mood in the city. Later in the programme, he interviews black pastors from the areas where police killed two black men. The United Reform Church has become the first major Christian denomination to allow same sex marriage in its churches. We talk to Lee Battle who has had her own wedding on hold waiting for this moment. Bob W...

Following the EU referendum there has been an upsurge of racism towards minority groups in the UK. Bishop Richard Atkinson, Co-Chair of the Inter Faith Network tells Edward why he is concerned about these incidents. After a difficult press conference to launch a report into anti-semitism in the Labour Party, Edward asks Jonathan Arkush, President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and John M...

William Crawley talks two people from the world of religion who campaigned to leave the EU about their vision for the future of Britain. Adrian Hilton from Christians for Britain and Saqib Bhatti from Muslims for Britain. He gave up a successful academic career to go and live on a council estate in Glasgow in order to help people living there. We hear about the life of Christian Socialist Bob Holm...

Trevor Barnes visits a Byzantine Church in Oxford constructed from a flat-pack dating back to 550 AD. Following the grief and disbelief caused by the murder of MP Jo Cox, the Archbishop of York - Dr John Sentamu - talks about the impact of her death. Pope Francis will be in Armenia in a few days time to visit a memorial dedicated to the 1.5M victims of what he described last year as "the first gen...

As the nation celebrates the Sovereign's 90th Birthday, Mark Greene - co-author of 'The Servant Queen and the King She Serves' - talks to Edward Stourton about the Queen's faith. There is currently a campaign in Australia to repeal a law which allows people to use a so-called 'gay panic' defence in murder cases; if someone makes a sexual advance, you can claim that was the reason you lost control...