Sunday

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...

In his first UK media interview, Ed Stourton talks to John Calvin, grandson of the co-founder of Hamas, whose conversion to Christianity meant he had to flee the Middle East. In 1964 Cassius Clay announced he had given up his name for Muhammad Ali and joined the Nation of Islam. Dr Dawn-Marie Gibson talks about how his faith influenced his life. Ed Stourton talks to the BBC's Bangkok correspondent...

With less than a month before the referendum on Britain's membership of the EU, there's a debate growing about the role religious leaders should take when they engage with political issues. Jasvir Singh from the London Faiths Forum and journalist Quentin Letts discuss the role of religion in politics. Professor Mona Siddiqi tells Edward about the review of Sharia law in the UK that the Government...

Pope Francis has said that he is open to the possibility of ordaining women as deacons. Are the ranks of the Catholic Church's all-male clergy really going to open up to female members? Next week, two ministers battle it out in the annual Sermon of the Year Competition. They talk to Edward Stourton about their ministry and go head to head in Sunday's very own battle of the sermons. Hazel Southam r...

"The more we understand religion, the better able we are as a result to engage religious actors, the more effective our diplomacy will be in advancing the interests and values of our people". US Secretary of State John Kerry said this in a speech last month. Shaun Cassey is his Special Representative on religion in global affairs, he talks to Edward Stourton about his goal to achieve this. The BBC...

As two Labour politicians are suspended for making anti-Semitic remarks, William Crawley asks if we have a clear understanding of what anti-Semitism is. David Feldman - Pears Institute for the study of Antisemitism and Claire Fox from the Institute of Ideas debate. If Leicester City win at Manchester United on Sunday they will have won the Premier League against all the odds. Bob Walker hears how...