A round-up of stories about religion and belief from the UK and around the world, including links to original sources and news reports. You can have these sent straight to your inbox every weekday by signing up below.
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
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
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
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
Police arrest people chanting ‘globalise the intifada’; Funerals for Jewish victims of the Bondi Beach terror attack; Woman silently praying near abortion clinic charged under new law; Bishop Mariann Budde to give Christmas meditation on BBC Radio 4
Review of religion news in 2025; Government to ‘unveil antisemitism action plan within days’; New definition of Islamophobia leaked to the press; Rev Jonathan Fletcher ‘not fit to enter plea’ on indecent assault charges
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