Faith leaders including the Archbishop of Canterbury and Cardinal Vincent Nichols have welcomed a new report which calls for better support for asylum seekers. It comes from a commission set up to consider how refugees might be helped to integrate into society more easily. It makes a series of recommendations and suggests that the current system creates barriers to asylum seekers who want to quickly make good use of their existing skills and qualifications. The government says it's committed to ensuring refugees can take positive steps towards integration as they rebuild their lives in the UK.
It's 300 years since J S Bach's setting of the Passion narrative from St John's gospel was first performed on Good Friday at the St Nicholas Church in Leipzig. This week many of the UK's cathedrals and churches will be marking the anniversary by performing it. The composer, conductor and singer, Bob Chilcott celebrates the work and reflects on what is one of the most revered of all musical settings of the Passion.
Does religious education at school help young people when they get a job? Lord Karan Bilimoria, a former president of the CBI, thinks it can. He believes RE helps young people to navigate the complexity of modern belief and the diversity of worldviews in the UK today. The businessman, who is from the Zoroastrian tradition, has launched a campaign urging employers to support higher standards in religious education. We hear from Lord Bilimoria, and also from the National Secular Society who feel there are better ways to equip young people for the workforce.
Presenter: Edward Stourton Producers: Jonathan Hallewell and Alexa Good Editor: Dan Tierney
Elvis's Faith; Black British Muslims; Cathedral Music
State funeral; Radical generosity; Folk songs in church
The Queen and Faith
Pope John Paul I; Pakistan floods; Disability at church
Liverpool shooting; Great cathedrals; Russian Jews
William Shatner, Bahá’is in Iran, Class in the Church of England
14/08/2022
Beyoncé and Faith, Gordon Brown and Pastor Mick; Lambeth Conference
31/07/2022
The Pope in Canada, faith groups at the Commonwealth games, the theology of Stranger Things
Faith and Tory Leadership Contest; Krishna Das and his Spiritual Journey; Stories marking 50 years of Uganda Asians in the UK
10/07/2022
Hajj Pilgrimage Bookings Chaos, Racial Justice in the Church of England, Wedding Fees
Hong Kong and faith; Traveller theology; Qawwali for a modern age.
The Church of England and slavery; Ukrainian military chaplains; Should the Lords Spiritual be scrapped?
Rwanda Asylum Scheme; Bible Readings and Prime Ministers; Musician Jim Seals and his Bahai faith.
05/06/2022
The Archbishop of Canterbury on Reconciliation; Religion and social care; US Christians divided over gun law reform.
'Replacement theory' and Christian nationalism in the US; the Sufi Muslim pacifist who turned British resistance agent
The arrest of Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen; The history of black nuns; A Russian Quaker
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