Parishioner's in Gaza’s only Roman Catholic church are marking Easter Sunday with some extra pomp and pageantry but basically as they do everyday, with prayers for food and a ceasefire. More than 500 people have been sheltering in the Holy Family Church since the outbreak of war. They’re part of the dwindling Christian community in Gaza who’ve stuck together for protection and ignored warnings to leave the northern part of the strip. Producer Catherine Murray has kept in touch with one of their members, George Antone, and tells us how they have communicated over the past six months.
Former United States president Donald Trump is selling Bibles during the Easter holiday, encouraging his supporters to "Make America Pray Again". In a three-minute video posted on his Truth Social network on Tuesday, Mr Trump told supporters that "Christians are under siege" as he endorsed a large-print King James Version of the Bible complete with what he called America's "founding father documents." We’ll hear from Theologian Brad Onishi, a professor of religion at The University of San Francisco and co-host of the 'Straight White American Jesus' podcast to get his view on how the move has been received.
Polynesia’s Rapa Nui was given the nickname ‘Easter Island,’ after its first-recorded European contact, on Easter Sunday, 1722. Home of the Moai and giant, stone platforms (‘ahus’), masterful feats of construction, still part of ancestral beliefs and practises today, the island is also one earth’s most remote places, with a history long shrouded in false narratives. We speak to philologist Silvia Ferrara about how new research into a wooden tablet, featuring an independent writing system, that pre-dates European influence by at least two centuries, can widen our understanding of historical religious beliefs and practises on the island.
Presenter: William Crawley Producers: Bara'atu Ibrahim & Linda Walker Production Coordinator: David Baguley Editor: Tim Pemberton
Integrating refugees; St John Passion; the Value of Religious Education
Pope autobiography; Extremism definition; Sir James MacMillan
Ramadan in Gaza, Leaving Faith Helpline, Alternative Mothering Sunday
Gaza aid; Brit Awards; UK Islamophobia
Vatican secrets; Interfaith row; AI and beyond the grave
Israel Gaza conflict; Rochdale Labour; Rave in the nave
Asylum Conversions, the Power of Prayer, 'Sexualised' Jesus
Asylum conversions, Jaz from Traitors on Sikhism, Siobhan McSweeney on St Brigid
C of E safeguarding concerns, Nicaragua Catholic Church crackdown, Jesus in pop music
Cathedral charging; Last Christians in Gaza; Muslim Comedian Ola Labib
The ethics of surrogacy
Does religion do more harm than good?
Tackling the rise in homelessness
Christmas in Bethlehem, 800th anniversary of the nativity scene, The stories behind our favourite carols
Israel-Gaza latest; C of E same sex blessings; the rights and wrongs of 'Surveillance Santa'
Gaza Christians; American Sikh; Ethics of War
Power of religion at Cop28; Shane McGowan's Catholicism; Near-death experiences
Same sex church blessings; Religion in Dr Who; Antonio Banderas on playing King Herod
Same Sex Blessings in the Church of England
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