Sunday Folgen

This week Sunday hears from churches how they’re adjusting to the Government’s Plan B in light of rising cases of Omicron. Carol concerts are cancelled, Christmas services face restrictions, and clergy are becoming frazzled and weary. Buddhists at a monastery in Scotland say their silent retreats are being disturbed by gunfire. The Samye Ling Tibetan Centre at Eskdalemuir in Scotland is the largest Tibetan Buddhist temple in western Europe and they are objecting to a planning application asking for six military grade training grounds to be built on surrounding land. Amina Ahmed talks to us about her husband, Mubarak Bala, President of the Humanist Association in Nigeria and a human rights activist. He was arrested last year in Northern Nigeria and accused of blasphemy but, after 19 months in detention, he is still awaiting trial. A centuries old way of life for Gypsies and Travellers is under threat of being criminalised under proposals in the Government's Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill currently making its way through Parliament. Dorothy Day the campaigning journalist, socialistl activist and advocate for the poor moved one step closer to Sainthood this month as the diocese of New York sent evidence of her good works off to the Vatican. We explore who she was and why, in life, she hated being described as a saint. And do you believe in Angels? They’ve become a symbol of hope during the past year and perhaps we all need one in our corner right now. This week Sunday asks what angels look like. Do they resemble us? Or is the Biblical representation of angels something entirely different?

Steven Spielberg’s remake of the musical West Side Story has hit the big screen and with it there is renewed interest in its origins as a story of two lovers divided by religion. The man behind the screenplay for the new version, award winning writer Tony Kushner tells Edward about the film's Jewish roots. In a candid interview with Edward, the former Bishop of Liverpool, James Jones talks about his latest book ‘Justice for Christ’s Sake’ in which he which draws heavily on the lessons he learnt while chairing the Hillsborough Independent Panel. This week the Government reaffirmed its commitment to banning so-called Conversion Therapy. BBC Religious Affairs Journalist Harry Farley talks us through the government's proposals and two Christians with very different views respond to the plans. Reverend Graham Nicholls is Director of Affinity - a Fellowship of Churches, Evangelical Agencies and Christians. He fears a new law would criminalise the teaching of traditional Christian beliefs on marriage. Elinor Kershaw of the Quaker Gender and Sexual Diversity Community thinks the plans may not go far enough. We hear how a delay in plans to reform marriage law in England and Wales has left thousands in unregistered religious marriages without legal protection. Edward speaks to Roxana Rais of the Muslim Women’s Advisory Council, and Russell Sandberg, Professor of Law at Cardiff University and Author of ‘Religion and Marriage Law’. And as the last in a trio of reports looking at Anti-Semitism on Social Media is published, Dr Julian Hargreaves, Director of Research at the Woolf Institute, explains its findings. And Sunday listeners tell is what makes for truly great Christmas music.Producers: Jill Collins and Louise Clarke Rowbotham Editor: Helen Grady

Pope Francis is in Cyprus this week where he said that "walls of fear" and nationalism were slowing down Europe's progress. As he moves onto Greece, another country on the frontline of the migrant crisis, we'll hear how this visit is being greeted on the ground. In the aftermath of the crisis of 2015, when thousands of asylum seekers arrived in Greece, the government there toughened its stance on migrants. How do Catholics in Greece, itself not long in recovery after a deep economic recession, view the Pope and his plea to open borders and offer safe haven to migrants?We're celebrating St Columba, or St Colmcille as he's known in Ireland, who was born in County Donegal 1500 years ago this week. He is revered for his miracles and missionary zeal but as a Nobleman with considerable power, he also had a reputation as a warrior and a troublemaker. We'll separate the fact from the folklore and hear how this Saint who is loved on both sides of the Irish border as well as in Scotland and the North of England now represents a shared heritage and future in a post-Brexit world. And as the Church of England releases its first ever single in a bid to be the Christmas number one, we'll be asking what it takes for a religious themed song to make it to the top of the charts.Photo Credit: Andreas Solaro/AFP