25/01/2026

People are facing increased financial strain as funeral costs rise, according to the Quaker Social Action charity. One of the unexpected bills that hits people at this vulnerable moment is the high burial charge some local authorities demand if the person who has died lives in another borough, even if they are geographically close by. As part of our series on young people and religious revivals, we are looking at the increase in new members of the Orthodox Church in the UK and ask whether online influencers or 'Orthobros' are one of the reasons behind the rise. As Brooklyn Peltz Beckham says he doesn’t want to reconcile with his family, we explore what faith leaders say about forgiveness, reconciliation and familial estrangement. His parents, Sir David and Lady Victoria Beckham, haven't officially responded. PRESENTER: EMILY BUCHANAN PRODUCERS: KATY BOOTH & BARA'ATU IBRAHIM STUDIO MANAGERS: BECKY MARCUS, GEORGE WILLIS, SAM BIDDLE & AMY BRENNAN EDITOR: CATHERINE MURRAY

The capture of the Venezuelan leader Nicholas Maduro, the attacks on alleged drug-running boats off the Venezuelan coast, the threats to strike the regime in Iran, the determination to take Greenland even though it is the territory of a fellow NATO member, the musings about invoking the 1807 Insurrection Act so that active-service troops can be deployed on the streets of Minneapolis - all of these things raise profound legal and moral questions. Edward Stourton speaks to the Catholic archbishop Timothy Broglio who leads the United States Archdiocese for the Military Services.Sales of the Bible have rocketed according to data from Britain's biggest Christian publisher, SPCK. For most of the 2010s they ran at a reasonably steady rate - between two and a half and three million a year - but they began to take off in 2021, and last year they hit over six million three hundred thousand. This comes amid claims of a religious revival being led by younger people. We begin a mini-series of reports devoted to Gen Z believers. There has been a huge increase in the proportion of imams in this country who are British born, according to new research. A study nearly two decades ago found the figure was just eight percent - a new study, due to be published this autumn, concludes the figure has increased to forty eight percent, or nearly half. The findings form part of Cardiff University's 'Understanding British Imams' research project.PRESENTER: Edward Stourton PRODUCERS: Dan Tierney & Katy Davis STUDIO MANAGERS: Chris Mather, Luke Holmes & Phil Booth EDITOR: Tim Pemberton

As protests in Iran continue into their 16th day, Emily Buchanan asks Prof Ali Ansari whether the country is ready to end almost 50 years of clerical rule. Elegy from a Scottish church, as parishioners say goodbye to the Holy Family Parish in Inverclyde, one of more than 300 that have closed in Scotland since 2020.We hear about 'Born in Bethlehem' the BBC documentary that tracked the lives of Palestinian women giving birth in a Catholic-run hospital in the West Bank. Should the C of E foot the bill for lower income couples to encourage marriage? Church wedding costs are under scrutiny after a centre-right think tank, the Centre for Social Justice made the recommendation aimed at promoting marriage to improve outcomes for boys. The Universities of Leeds and Cambridge team up to train UK Muslims how to spot the moon themselves and end the so called 'moon wars' that often mark the end of Ramadan. Presenter: Emily Buchanan Producers: Catherine Murray & Bara'atu Ibrahim Studio Managers: Paul Everatt & Helen Williams Editor: Chloe Walker

The citizens of Caracas in Venezuela were woken in the early hours yesterday by airstrikes and later discovered that President Maduro and his wife had been captured and taken for trial to the US. Presbyterian minister, Rev Ricardo Corzo is in Caracas and has been speaking to the programme following a night of little sleep.Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister, David Lammy has announced a recruitment drive for more magistrates to help deal with the huge backlog in the courts, which follows his controversial proposal to abolish jury trials in all but the most serious cases. He and cabinet colleague Wes Streeting have made no secret of their Christian faith - a change from the Blair years when Labour famously 'didn't do God'. David Lammy is asked about his faith and its fundamental role in justice. Gospel musician Richard Smallwood, has died at the age of 77. He is known for hits such as Total Praise and The Centre of My Joy. His work has also been covered by artists including Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder. Founder and conductor of the Kingdom Choir, Karen Gibson, speaks about the influence Richard Smallwood had on her and the gospel genre.Presenter: Emily Buchanan Producers: Katy Booth and Katy Davis Studio Managers: Olivia Miceli, Mike Smith and Phillip Halliwell Editor: Dan Tierney

Of all living composers, perhaps none are more closely associated with the sound of Christmas than John Rutter and Bob Chilcott. Earlier this year, both marked milestone birthdays - Rutter turned 80 and Chilcott 70. A few days before Christmas, we caught up with them to talk about carols, choirs, and the enduring magic of the season.Jimmy Lai is one of Hong Kong’s most prominent critics of the Beijing government: a media tycoon, democracy campaigner, and a Roman Catholic. The 78-year-old British citizen has been in prison since December 2020 and is now, after last week's guilty verdicts, facing the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison. In her first interview with UK media, his daughter Claire Lai, tells the BBC's Danny Vincent she fears her father may become a martyr. 'Before The Millennium'- a Christmas production by Karim Khan. It's set in a Woolworths store in 1999, the year Ramadan and the Christmas season coincided. It explores the friendship between two migrant women during the festive season. Muslim writers and performers like Karim are telling stories of faith, friendship and everyday life as British Muslims, and fringe theatre has become an increasingly important platform for them.Presenter: Emily Buchanan Producers: Bara'atu Ibrahim & Catherine Murray Studio Managers: Mike Smith & Patrick Shaw Editor: Tim Pemberton

The Catholic Church in England and Wales has a new leader - Richard Moth has been named as the new Archbishop of Westminster, succeeding Cardinal Vincent Nichols who turned 80 last month. We hear from Ruth Gledhill, Assistant Editor at the Catholic weekly The Tablet. A new song from the singer-songwriter and political activist Billy Bragg is called "Put Christ back into Christmas". The title is a reference to the current campaign by the far-right activist Tommy Robinson. Last weekend we reported on the Robinson-inspired carol service in London; Billy Bragg turned out for a rival carol service orgainsed by Stand up to Racism. He explains why. Today is the winter solstice - the shortest day of the year when, as the priest poet John Donne put it, the "whole world's sap is sunk". At three minutes past three this afternoon the earth tilts furthest from the sun, and from that moment the days begin to lengthen. It is a moment marked in pagan tradition, and we are joined by Erin Johansen, the first pagan chaplain at Sussex University who is also training to be a Priestess of Avalon.Presenter: Edward Stourton Producers: Katy Davis and James Leesley Technical Producers: Isabelle Whitehead & Sharon Williams Editor: Tim Pemberton

Should the confirmation of Bishop Sarah Mullaly as Archbishop of Canterbury be postponed whilst a complaint against her for the alleged mishandling of a sex abuse case is investigated? We talk to Donna Birrell, who broke the story and to Rev Robert Thompson, a priest in the London diocese.The mystery of the star of Bethlehem - has it been finally solved? NASA Planetary scientist Mark Matney discusses his theory that it could have been a comet recorded by Chinese astronomers in 5BC.If it wasn’t for Jane Austen’s brother her novels would never have been published. So claims Christopher Herbert, former Bishop of St Alban’s, whose new book “Jane Austen’s Favourite Brother: Henry” tells the story of their close relationship.“Put the Christ back in Christmas” was the title of the carol concert organised by Tommy Robinson’s Unite the Kingdom in central London yesterday. We hear from one of the organisers, Pastor Rikki Doolan, and from Nick Spencer, senior fellow at the Christian think tank Theos, who is studying the rise of Christian Nationalism in the UK.Presenter: William Crawley Producers: Amanda Hancox and Rosie Dawson Technical Producers: Sharon Hughes, Isabelle Whitehead & Amy Brennan Editor: Tim Pemberton

Amid the prospect of an imminent US strike on Venezuela, we look at how a once overwhelmingly Catholic country has seen its evangelical population surge from just 4% in the 1970s to nearly 30% today. This religious shift is unfolding as President Nicolás Maduro faces international rejection of his 2024 victory and mounting pressure from Donald Trump’s White House. William Crawley speaks to Dr Fernando Mora, an academic and former pastor who has spent years studying the rise of Evangelicalism in Venezuela.On the Second Sunday of Advent, we explore the season’s history. Advent calendars are just one of many traditions that have emerged – and evolved – over centuries in connection with this annual liturgical journey. To guide us through that story, the Sunday programme speaks to Dr Colin Donnelly, Associate Professor in Reformation and Early Modern Christianities at Oxford.Following the death of Sir Tom Stoppard at the age of 88, we look back at a writer celebrated for incisive wit, emotional depth, empathy and generosity, and for the technical brilliance with which he built imaginative worlds on stage. Stoppard only discovered his Jewish heritage at the age of 55, learning at the same time that all four of his grandparents, and much of his wider family, were murdered in Nazi concentration camps. To understand how that discovery shaped his life and work, we turn to one of his biographers, Ira Nadel, author of Double Act: The Life of Tom Stoppard.Correction: In the introduction to the last item in the programme, we mentioned the widely quoted figure of more than 7,000 Christians having been killed in Nigeria in 2025. The BBC independently added up the number of deaths from the 70 reports this year and has in fact found that the total was around 3,000 deaths.Presenter: William Crawley Producers: Bara'atu Ibrahim & Katy Booth Studio Managers: Lynsey Akehurst & Sam Biddle Editor: Rajeev Gupta

The Pope has been marking a historic Christian anniversary during his visit to Turkey - and on Sunday is heading to Lebanon, just days after Israeli airstrikes on its capital, Beirut. A key moment of the trip has been in the Turkish town of Iznik, the site of the ancient city of Nicaea. Pope Leo and leaders of other Christian traditions gathered to mark the anniversary of an ancient council that took place there 1,700 years ago. In 325 AD, among other key decisions, more than 200 bishops at the council affirmed the belief that Jesus was the son of God, eventually leading to what is known as the Nicene Creed. We hear the latest from his trip to the region.Islamophobic incidents at football grounds have reached record highs in recent years, according to the anti-racism charity Kick it Out. Now more Premier League clubs are introducing dedicated prayer rooms, with some hosting Iftar celebrations on the pitch. In September, Djed Spence also became the first Muslim player to represent the England men’s national team. In the latest sign of progress, this weekend the Chelsea Muslim Supporters faced the Manchester United Muslim Supporters in the first match of its kind.Following on from the Songs of Praise list of people's favourite school hymns, we hear about what the hymn writing process from Northern Irish composer, Keith Getty, who received a Grammy nomination for the contemporary hymn 'In Christ Alone'. And you share yours with us too.PRESENTER: WILLIAM CRAWLEY PRODUCERS: KATY BOOTH & JAMES LEESLEY STUDIO MANAGERS: CARWYN GRIFFITH, SAM BIDDLE & LYNSEY AKEHURST EDITOR: CHLOE WALKER

The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that Northern Ireland's Christian-focused RE curriculum is unlawful. Since then, churches, politicians and schools there have been trying to make sense of the possible implications of that ruling, both for RE teaching and for the place of religion in schools more generally. Pope Leo has revealed his top four favourite films ahead of an event in the Vatican where he welcomed some Hollywood A-Listers: including Cate Blanchett, Viggo Mortensen and Monica Bellucci. Alissa Wilkinson, film critic at the New York Times, explores the Pope's passion for cinema. The UK's favourite school assembly hymn will be revealed today, as the winner of a public poll is announced on Songs of Praise, as part of The Big School Assembly Singalong. We speak to Becky Silver, songwriter of contemporary songs for schools and a former teacher, about the role of hymns in schools.Presenter: William Crawley. Producers: Katy Davies and Bara'atu Ibrahim.