Ruth Peacock

Ruth is the leader of the Religion Media Centre project and oversees its work. After studying theology and teaching RE, she trained as a journalist on a local paper, freelanced in print and radio and then joined the BBC, working in many news departments, including the main newsgathering desk. She also worked on the BBC’s move into the new W1 building and studied organisational change.

Written Content

Religion news 28 January 2026

Dame Sarah Mullally legally becomes Archbishop of Canterbury today; Bible chatbots ‘biased’ towards evangelical theology; US churches ‘share common thread’ in collective organisation against ICE raids; Muslim football fans plan charity matches with Palestinian refugees

Religion news 27 January 2026

Religion on the Minneapolis front line – RNS briefing with reporter Jack Jenkins; Muslim Council of Britain’s vision for 2050; Two senior Catholic bishops deeply concerned at prospect of assisted dying bill in Wales; Police ban ‘Walk with Jesus’ UKIP march in Whitechapel

Religion news 26 January 2026

600 faith leaders meet in Minneapolis to resist ICE immigration raids; Soul Survivor named ‘engine of mission’ despite safeguarding scandal; Incoming Archbishop of Canterbury’s safeguarding record praised; Men’s Pilates class at Bradford mosque goes viral on TikTok

Religion news 23 January 2026

Oxford Catholic chaplain’s inappropriate behaviour ‘reported to police’; £92 million heritage church repair fund, but VAT will be charged; Three arrested after Minnesota church service disrupted; Commons speaker hosts Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony

Religion news 22 January 2026

Pope urges media to amplify reconciliation and peace; Princess Royal joins faith leaders lighting candles for peace and unity; Fr Damian Howard steps down from Oxford chaplaincy role; Norfolk church rebuild approved despite fears of revival surge

Religion news 21 January 2026

Woolf Institute launches Commission on Interfaith Relations and Global Conflict; Call for bursaries and courses for RE teachers; Minnesota pastor condemns ‘shameful’ demonstration in church service; Trump’s lawyer floated US asylum for British Jews

Religion news 20 January 2026

Three US cardinals appeal for ‘moral foreign policy’; US churches highlight non-violence on Martin Luther King day; Church leaders in Jerusalem condemn Christian Zionism; Board of Deputies president says extremist settler violence must end; 150 people abducted from church services in Nigeria

Religion news 19 January 2026

Archbishop for US Military says talk on Greenland “tarnishes” United States: UN 80th anniversary celebrated at Methodist Central Hall; ‘Herd immunity’ to Christianity in Britain in decline?; Ed Sheeran’s ‘Perfect’ banned at Polish weddings

Religion news 16 January 2026

British Sikh ‘unique fear’ amid rise in far right rhetoric and hate crime; Profound impact of ICE campaigns on Minneapolis churches; Catholic bishops in Wales call for day of fasting against assisted dying bill; Report finds growing number of British-born imams

Religion news 15 January 2026

World Watch List charts increasing Christian persecution in 2025; Government ‘should U-turn’ on proposed Islamophobia definition; CofE same sex clergy marriage and blessing services decisions delayed; Call for BBC to strengthen commitment to religious broadcasting