Premier Christian Newscast

Pope Francis, ten years on

Almost exactly ten years ago, on 13 March 2013, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio became Pope Francis. In the subsequent decade, this previously obscure Argentinian cleric has revolutionised the papacy while steering the Catholic Church through sweeping reform, inside and out. He’s scandalised conservatives and thrilled some progressives, while overturning what the watching world assumed popes had to be like.
In today’s episode we speak with two biographers of Francis to find out their assessment of the pope’s ten years in office. What has he achieved? Where have his ambitions fallen short? Why do some Catholics love him, and still more loathe him like few popes before. And what legacy will he leave behind when he does eventually leave behind the throne of St Peter?

Blasphemy in Pakistan

In January, Pakistan’s parliament passed through tough new blasphemy laws. Already boasting some of the strictest prohibitions in the world which include the death penalty for insulting the Prophet Muhammad, the new laws extend protections to the prophet’s wives and close companions, creating new offences with penalties up to life imprisonment. But Pakistan’s increasingly harsh blasphemy legislation is a disaster for religious minorities in the country, especially Christians, who are frequently targeted by malicious accusations of blasphemy. This can incite mobs who enact swift extra-judicial punishment, sometimes killing their victims. Others accused of blasphemy can languish for years on death row, including the infamous case of Christian woman Asia Bibi. There have even been high profile government ministers assassinated by their own bodyguards for daring to question Pakistan’s blasphemy taboos. To explore the fate of the persecuted church in Pakistan and how Christians can support their brothers and sisters besieged by blasphemy laws, this week we're joined by Simon, a South Asia expert from Christian Solidarity Worldwide, and Michael Nazir-Ali, a British-Pakistani former Anglican bishop and now Catholic priest.

The Asbury revival

It all started on an ordinary Wednesday evening chapel service on 8 February, at a tiny Christian college in Kentucky called Asbury University. After the chapel service ended, a small number of students decided to carry on praying and worshipping, and didn’t stop all night. Gradually more and more began to join them in an endless stream of singing and praying, preaching and communing, sensing something of the Holy Spirit present in the auditorium. The round the clock worship continued for more than two weeks, drawing in tens of thousands of curious and excited visitors from across the country and around the world. It went viral online, with videos of the revival spreading fast on platforms such as TikTok, as well as grabbing the mainstream media’s curiosity too.
Today we’ll hear from a handful of Christians who managed to get into the now famous Hughes Auditorium at Asbury University to taste and see for themselves what was happening. But we’ll also try to think about what these kind of revivals mean for the church – do they leave lasting fruit? Is it just hype and emotionalism? And what might set Asbury apart from similar outpourings of recent decades?

Kate Forbes: Is there still space for evangelicals in politics?

Kate Forbes was a relatively little known figure outside of Scotland until last week, when she announced she would run to succeed the resigning Nicola Sturgeon as head of the Scottish National Party, and therefore also become the First Minister of Scotland. But just seven days later and she, and her strong Christian beliefs, have been splashed all over the news up and down the UK.
A member of the conservative Free Church of Scotland, Forbes has made no secret of the fact that her faith is not only central to who she is but also informs her values and her politics deeply. And it is this which is causing enormous problems for her nascent campaign to become SNP leader and Scotland’s most senior politician.
She’s been grilled over her views on gay marriage, having children outside of wedlock, gender reassignment and much else. Some, including senior SNP figures, have decried her social conservatism or insisted it is unacceptable in a secular democracy for someone with strong Christian convictions to run for high office. Others have accused the media of running a hateful campaign against someone from a religious minority and stifling freedom of belief. It’s all getting pretty ugly, and we’re only one week into her campaign. Today’s Newscast is going to try and understand a bit more who Forbes is, and whether her evangelical beliefs have torpedoed her campaign already.

Showdown on sexuality at the Synod

There’s only really one church news story to talk about today – the Church of England voting through radical new plans to offer blessings to gay couples for the first time. We dug into the history of the LGBT debate in the Church and where these proposals came from a few weeks ago on the podcast, and heard from spokespeople on each side of the, often bitter, debate. Today, we’re going to try and sketch out what happened last week, why it matters, and what’s coming next. We will head deep into Church of England headquarters in central London as the General Synod – the church’s national assembly or parliament – met last week over four gruelling days to wrangle over the details. There are angry protests, heartfelt speeches, endless amendments, procedural shenanigans, and by the end, the most momentous vote the C of E has seen for a decade. 

The rise of the social supermarket

They’re known by lots of different names. A social supermarket. The community larder. Your local pantry. But the fundamental idea is the same, and it’s spreading fast. More and more churches and Christian charities are opening these projects to feed their neighbourhood, tackle poverty, reduce food waste and hopefully bring marginalised people into a Kingdom-focused community. I wanted to find out why after a decade of soaring growth of church-based foodbanks, Christians up and down Britain were increasingly moving to a very different model of food support, and what that might mean for the future of the church’s social outreach during our current cost of living crisis.

Abortion clinic buffer zones

Starting in 2018, a number of English councils have begun using anti-social behaviour legislation to create buffer zones around abortion clinics. These zones ban anyone from protesting, singing, holding placards, expressing an opinion or even praying. Despite murmurings of protest from pro-life groups, the pro-choice movement has won backing in parliament for a nationwide buffer zone law, which also has been picked up in Northern Ireland and Scotland too. In recent months a number of Christian pro-lifers have been arrested, fined and taken to court for what they allege was simply silent prayer in their heads nearby an abortion clinic. Are these laws a proportionate attempt to deal with harassment and intimidation at anti-abortion vigils, or do they go too far in trying to legislate away any right to hold a pro-life belief and act on it? This week we’re joined by Sam Hailes and Emma Fowle from the Premier Christianity team to discuss where these buffer zones are coming from and what it might mean for the future of the church’s engagement in the abortion debate.

A unwanted compromise? Gay blessings in the Church of England

Next month, the Church of England will finally begin to grasp the nettle of what to do about same-sex relationships. At a meeting of the church’s General Synod in London, vicars, bishops and ordinary churchgoers will debate new proposals from the church’s hierarchy which would give gay couples the chance to have their marriages blessed in church for the first time. The C of E’s most senior bishops hope this contentious compromise might draw a line under the tortuous and fractious debate on LGBT issues which has bedevilled the church for decades. But already loud voices on both sided are rising insisting the blessings idea is a non-starter. This week we speak to a prominent activist from both factions to hear what they think would be a better way forward, and how the synod showdown will unfold.

Review of the year

This week we’re looking back at the stories which have fired our imagination and caught our attention over the past 12 months. When it comes to the church world, there has been no shortage of headline-grabbing stories to keep us occupied, from pastors falling from grace to the endless rows over LGBT issues. We’ve seen iconic church leaders pass on the baton to the next generation and in some cases pass away. There have been long-awaited setpiece events and, entirely unexpected crises. So I invited Sam Hailes and Emma Fowle from the Premier Christianity magazine to join me to take a look at 2022 in church news and pick out some of the stories which most fascinated, outraged, saddened and encouraged them. 

After Chris Kaba: The church, gang violence and the police

In the first weeks of September, two people died. The first was Chris Kaba, a 24-year-old unarmed black man who was shot and killed by the police in South London. Just three days later, Queen Elizabeth II also died. As a result, Kaba’s death and the anger it provoked very quickly slipped off the front pages. But the case merits more exploration, and in particular considering what role Christian leaders are or should be playing in the aftermath of another killing of a young black man by British police officers.
The church has long been seen as an interface between Britain’s black community and the police, but how can they be salt and light in this complex and fractious relationship? Should pastors be drawing more attention to accusations of racism among the police and shifting to a more prophetic role, challenging the authorities? Or could the church do more to tackle gang crime and violence at the source and hopefully prevent these tragic confrontations with the law from ever occurring? This week we’re hearing two perspectives on this painful topic, from the founder of Street Pastors Les Isaac, and the Christian former gang member Sheldon Thomas.