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 7 January 2026

Call for week of prayer and fasting for peace in Venezuela; ‘The only person who can stop Donald Trump now is Pope Leo’; Police deny political pressure led to ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans; Prayer vigil as Christian climate activists appear at Bath court

Religion news 6 January 2026

US Episcopal leaders call for Congress investigation into Venezuela action; ‘AI physicist’ to answer deep questions of the universe; 33.5 million pilgrims visited Rome during Year of Jubilee; US Islamic preacher ‘banned from speaking’ in England

Religion news 5 January 2026

Pope ‘deeply concerned’ over events in Venezuela; Mass for victims of Swiss ski resort fire; 17 Catholic missionaries killed in service in 2025; Holocaust survivor Eva Schloss has died aged 96

Christmas messages 2025

King Charles referenced his recent visit to Rome, with the Queen, where they prayed with Pope Leo in a historuic moment of spiritual unity, celebrating

Religion news 24 December 2025

King to focus on the ‘pilgimage of life’ in Christmas Day message; Pope Leo appeals for 24 hours of peace on Christmas Day; The Nativity story 2025 – with theatre director at Hereford Cathedral, knitters in Yorkshire and a real donkey and baby at a village production in Cheshire

Religion news headlines 2025

Hate crime rising, Christian Nationalism emerging, new leaders for the world’s Catholics and Anglicans, concern over assisted dying and abortion, and grassroots peace and justice movements – how religion hit the headlines in 2025

Religion news 23 December 2025

130 kidnapped children and teachers freed in Nigeria; Church leaders in Jerusalem say hundreds killed since ceasefire; Red candle lights for Palestinian Christians on Christmas Eve; Chief Rabbi calls on ‘silent majority’ to speak out against violence; Why people still believe in angels

Religion news 22 December 2025

Memorial to 15 Jewish people killed at Bondi Beach; 8,500 people mark the winter solstice at Stonehenge; Two Archbishops in waiting point out Jesus was a refugee; Vicar in St Albans takes carol singing to the pubs; Plea to stop using donkeys in nativity plays

Religion news 19 December 2025

Speculation that Cardinal Vincent Nichols’ successor will be announced today; Jewish children living in fear in Britain ‘has become normalised’; Sydney Catholic cathedral Christmas light show becomes memorial to Bondi Beach victims; Chaplains offering support to overworked shop staff in the Christmas rush