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 11 June 2021

Rowan Williams tells government: take the lead on vaccine equality; Catholic Universe and Times close after 160 years; Pope refuses to accept German Cardinal’s resignation; Pandemic advice combines psychology with the Islamic tradition

Religion news 10 June 2021

Humanist leads Sheffield hospitals chaplaincy team; Prosecute faith leaders who flout gay conversion therapy ban; Protests at teachers’ union antisemitism training; Date set for Methodist vote on same sex marriage

Religion news 9 June 2021

Teenage Christians in Cornwall protest on climate change as G7 leaders arrive; Call for closer links between Muslim seminaries and UK universities; Creationist First Minister and DUP Leader in Northern Ireland; Sandford St Martin 2021 broadcasting winners

Religion news 8 June 2021

UK Muslims and Sikhs urge reversal of international aid cut; Sir Michael Wilshaw heads JFS Jewish comprehensive school; Eric Metaxas radio show pulled; Rector of St Helen’s Bishopsgate abused by John Smyth; Non Muslim to lead The Penny Appeal charity

Religion news 7 June 2021

Bishop appeals to MPs to reverse international aid budget cuts; Religious leaders back assisted dying bill; Iona Abbey refurbishment opens today; Noah’s Ark stuck in Ipswich docks

Religion news 4 June 2021

Bishop apologises for tweeting “never trust a Tory”; Christian couple sentenced to death for blasphemy are acquitted; Restrictions on Muslims in Germany to contain political Islam; Staycations exploring the UK’s heritage of sacred spaces

Religion news 3 June 2021

Tearfund: G7 nations supporting fossil fuels not clean energy; Rebellion to reverse international aid budget cut; Project to build massive monument to prayer appeals for cash, prayers and road name; Two thirds of Americans pray once a week

Religion news 2 June 2021

Martyn Percy complaint will not go to church tribunal; Boris Johnson – Britain’s first Roman Catholic PM; New Catholic laws make sex abuse and grooming a criminal offence; 57 million Americans still believe in QAnon

Boris Johnson’s wedding: the reactions

The surprise wedding of the Prime Minster Boris Johnson and his partner Carrie Symonds at Westminster Cathedral this weekend has provoked sharp responses on the relationship between church law and ethics.

Religion news 1 June 2021

Boris Johnson’s wedding – “the optics for the church are terrible”; Catastrophic moral failure if world fails to vaccinate everyone against Covid-19; John Newton memorial and exhibition in his parish church is given go ahead