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 18 February 2025

Pope Francis extends hospital stay due to ‘complex clinical picture’; Nominee for Bishop of Durham withdraws from process; Antisemitic incidents in 2024 second highest annual total; World’s first openly gay imam shot dead in South Africa

Religion news 17 February 2025

Pope is stable in hospital receiving treatment for bronchitis; JD Vance: ‘Basic liberties of religious Britons’ under threat; Hope and caution surround the ‘Reconciliation Accords’; Report says Jewish schools need radical intervention

Religion news 14 February 2025

Same sex blessings debate ‘weaponised to block bishops’ appointments’; One fifth of CofE bishop roles are vacant; New Wine failings over Mike Pilavachi; Muslim career women say faith is a source of empowerment; Ten top facts about St Valentine

Religion news 13 February 2025

Burnley vicar says CofE should appoint working class apprentices; Faith groups take Trump to court over immigration and refugees; Jewish and Muslim leaders call for dialogue to confront hate; Methodist volunteers to ‘be a blessing’ at festivals across Britain

Religion news 12 February 2025

Church of England delays fully independent safeguarding process; Jewish-Muslim declaration presented to the King; Gen Zers: Why we have turned to God; Trump’s mass deportation will end badly, says the Pope

Religion news 11 February 2025

CofE parliament in shocked silence at its first meeting since Welby’s resignation; Assisted Dying Bill to replace sign off by High Court judge with panel of experts; Caritas warns of catastrophic consequences of Trump’s aid cut; Secular Ireland needs high religious affiliation to keep fertility rate growing

Religion news 10 February 2025

Pain, anguish and anger expected at the General Synod this week; Jewish Labour Movement ‘appalled’ by Gwynne comments; King and Queen to visit the Pope in April; Trump’s ‘train wreck’ appointment of televangelist Paula White

Religion news 7 February 2025

Trump to root out ‘anti-Christian bias’ in government; Cleric who ran Christian Iwerne camps ‘was himself an abuser’; Pope has bronchitis but is carrying on working; Jewish students in Britain face Nazi salutes, threats, and assaults

Religion news 6 February 2025

Muslim leader says Trump’s Gaza plan is ‘unconscionable’; New Aga Khan is Rahim al-Hussaini, successor to his father; 24 per cent of Indians are ‘religious nationalists’; Prayers for US visas at Hindu temples in India