Podcasts by Heart and Soul

The Church's slave plantation: Part one from 2023-04-21T04:32

What are the consequences of the Church of England's historic slave plantations in Barbados today? Theologian Robert Beckford considers why and how the Church's missionary arm, the Society for t...

Sikhism’s lost song from 2023-04-14T04:32

In the heyday of the Sikh Empire, Kirtan - Sikh hymns - were performed using stringed instruments such as the sarangi, rabab and taus. The rich, complex tones these instruments create are said t...

Clergy in cartel land from 2023-04-07T04:32

Mexico has become the most dangerous country in the world to be a Catholic priest. In the past 15 years, 50 were killed in narco-related violence. And the young men who enter the priesthood in t...

Purity to nudity from 2023-03-31T04:32

Gwen was brought up as a strict evangelical Christian. She was taught that women needed to control the way they dressed and acted to control the behaviour of men. When she was sexually abused, s...

My hijab or my sport from 2023-03-24T08:42

It took Salimata Sylla three hours to get to the away fixture she was due to play with her basketball team mates from the Parisian suburb of Aubervilliers. But it was only a few minutes before t...

An instrument speaking to the infinite from 2023-03-17T05:00

The organ has always been a vehicle for truly cosmic ideas - for atheists and believers alike. Acclaimed Latvian organist Iveta Apkalna explores the idea that the instrument is simply a vehicle ...

Two Rabbis, worlds apart in Israel from 2023-03-15T16:59

When we think of division in the Middle East, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict normally comes straight to mind. But there’s a new and dangerous tension in Israel – between its own Jewish people....

Coming out of the Ifá closet from 2023-03-02T19:10

Almost 10 years ago, Peter MacJob’s life changed forever. Born and raised a devout Christian like so many of his fellow Nigerians, he fell out of love with the Church and discovered the traditio...

Stripped of my spirituality from 2023-02-17T11:38

Aged four, Mary was playing in her parents’ front yard, when she was grabbed by “the government people” and taken to a Catholic boarding school to be turned into a Christian. She’s just one of t...

The cost of being an atheist in Nigeria from 2023-02-10T04:32

When Mubarak Bala posts criticism of Islam on social media, it sparks a landmark legal case and leaves him facing 24 years in jail. Raised in a Muslim family, Mubarak is the son of an Islamic sc...

The Right Thing: Framed by my brother from 2023-02-03T03:00

In July 2000 Floyd Bledsoe was convicted of the murder of his 14-year-old sister-in-law in the small Kansas town of Oskaloosa. His older brother Tom had originally confessed to the killing, but...

The Right Thing: Opposing sexual violence as a weapon of war from 2023-01-27T03:00

**Contains graphic details of sexual violence against women and children** As a young boy, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Denis Mukwege witnessed his father, a Pentecostal pastor, praying for a sick...

The Viking priest from 2023-01-20T05:00

The Ásatrú faith is Iceland's fastest growing religion. Drawing on Norse mythology, it is a pagan faith open to all. But in recent years it has been hijacked by white supremacists in other count...

The battle for souls in Nepal from 2023-01-13T04:30

Nepal has one of fastest growing Christian communities in the world. Helping to drive the growth are South Korean missionaries like Pang Chang-in and his wife Lee Jeong-hee. The couple’s work sp...

Pope Benedict XVI: A life and legacy from 2023-01-09T00:32

In this special programme to mark the death of Pope Benedict XVI, Colm Flynn explores the life story of the gentle German academic who became the spiritual leader of 1.3 billion Catholics all ov...

Thich Nhat Hanh’s censored legacy from 2023-01-02T00:32

Thich Nhat Hanh is known as the father of mindfulness. The Vietnamese monk shared Buddhist teaching with the world, and launched a global spiritual movement. But a year on from his death, Thich ...

Christmas with the cooking priest from 2022-12-26T00:32

Fr Leo Patalinghug is not your typical priest. In one hand he holds a cross, in the other a cooking spatula. With his own international TV show, YouTube channel and cookbooks, this apron-wearing...

The Iran protests from 2022-12-19T00:32

Iran has seen months of protests following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini who was detained by the country's ‘morality police’ (Gasht-e Ershad) on 16 September, three days after her arrest ...

Poland's Jews: Caught between, never home from 2022-12-09T05:00

For centuries, Poland was home to millions of Jews in the heart of Europe. Decades after the horrors of the Holocaust, questions of lost identity have arisen. What is it like to be a third-gener...

Arizona's desert crosses from 2022-12-02T05:00

Alvaro Enciso is a Vietnam veteran, and an artist. He arrived in the US from Colombia in his 20s, and now lives in Tucson, on the south-eastern edge of the unforgiving Sonoran Desert. If you’r...

Turtle Island and the Black Snake from 2022-11-25T05:00

Native American Anishinaabe people have been living around the Great Lakes since time immemorial, following spiritual beliefs centred around the water. But they say their way of life is being th...

One scoop or two from 2022-11-18T05:00

Artist Annie Nicholson's life and work have been shaped by loss after her family were killed in a helicopter crash in New York City in 2011. The grief was overwhelming, but slowly she found a wa...

Dying in Varanasi from 2022-11-11T05:00

Varanasi is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world and considered the spiritual capital of India. While also holy to Buddhists, Jains and many other sects, it is the most sa...

Me, my autism and cults from 2022-11-04T05:00

By the time Richard Turner was in his mid-30s, he’d given away nearly all of his money to a church. Everything he held dear had been stripped bare by a religious community in the UK which claime...

Diwali in Leicester from 2022-10-21T04:00

The English city of Leicester hosts the largest Diwali celebrations outside India. More than 40,000 people gather every year to see the Diwali lights switch on in Belgrave Road. People of all fa...

From riches to religion from 2022-10-14T04:00

Patrick van der Vorst was a tech multi-millionaire, and had been the head auctioneer at the world famous Sotheby's auction house in London selling tens of millions of pounds worth of art includi...

God and hip-hop from 2022-09-30T04:00

Christianity and Hip Hop have a long and complex relationship. From Kanye’s Jesus Walks to the development of Christian Hip Hop, artists rapping about their faith has caused controversy in a gen...

Spiritualism and the soul from 2022-09-23T04:00

Twenty-one-year-old journalism graduate, Saskia Masaun has been attending meditation, mediumship and healing classes at the Spiritualists National Union (SNU) Church in Wolverhampton, UK, since ...

Green Islam from 2022-08-26T04:00

There are hundreds of verses in the Quran calling on Muslims to protect the environment. Islam teaches that everyone is a custodian of nature and should treat the natural environment with respec...

Hindus, hate and hashtags from 2022-08-19T04:00

Vishva Samani meets young Hindus in the diaspora who believe their faith is being misunderstood and who speak out against what they say is ‘Hinduphobia’. While some academics claim the term is u...

The last Afghan Sikhs from 2022-08-12T04:00

Once Afghanistan’s Sikh population numbered more than 100,000 in the 1970's. Today, it’s estimated around only 100 Sikhs remain, following the return to Taliban rule. The BBC’s Kawoon Khamoosh s...

Qawwali: Music of the soul from 2022-08-12T04:00

Raees Khan explores the history, influence and enduring legacy of Qawwali music, both within, as well as outside of the Islamic World. From its earliest origins in the writings of Sufi Saints,...

The bible, black women and Brazil from 2022-08-05T04:00

Evangelical Christian women of colour were the kingmakers in Brazil’s last presidential election. In May, a corruption conviction that barred the former left wing President from running was quas...

The Deadly Sacrifice at Hawkes Bay from 2022-07-29T04:00

In February 1983, a group of 42 Shia devotees left a quiet village in the Chakwal district of Pakistan and embarked on an epic journey to Karbala in Iraq. This was no ordinary pilgrimage but had...

How do I explain this? from 2022-07-22T04:00

Writer and poet Nikita Gill and sitar virtuoso and composer Anoushka Shankar are friends and collaborators whose life stories share many parallels. In this programme, recorded sitting with tea a...

Conversion Norway-style from 2022-07-15T04:23

In 2007 Christian and Muslim leaders in Norway controversially recognised for the first time in modern history, the right to convert between the two faiths without harassment or impediment. They...

No country for Azov Greeks from 2022-07-08T04:00

Fleeing from the war-torn Mariupol in eastern Ukraine, Afina Khadzynova is trying to reconnect to her Greek roots in the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. The ethnic Greek community has been in ...

Faith in science from 2022-07-01T04:00

CERN, in Geneva, is the most complex scientific experiment in the world. It has just restarted operating after a break, and is celebrating the 10th anniversary of detecting the Higgs Boson, a pa...

LGBTQ+: Religion and me from 2022-06-10T09:45

We explore the interplay of faith, spirituality and LGBTQ+ identity in this special episode for Pride Month 2022. We hear three fascinating cross-cultural and religious conversations between peo...

After ISIS: Reviving the Jewish history of Mosul from 2022-05-27T04:00

When ISIS swept into Mosul in June 2014, the organisation immediately began a campaign to wipe out the most important part of the northern Iraqi city’s unique heritage - its a multi-sectarian cu...

Finding faith on a warship from 2022-05-20T10:21

BBC Faith and Ethics reporter Claire Jones has been granted exclusive access on board British warship HMS Northumberland while on deployment to the North Sea. As Russian troops continue to in...

Kenya's last great Laibon from 2022-05-13T04:00

In traditional Maasai culture one of the central figures of the community is the laibon. A laibon is a person who has been gifted with the power to see the future. They are not really a fortune ...

Faith in journalism from 2022-05-06T04:00

According to some studies, journalists tend to be less religious than the general population. Some find solace in faith, but others begin to question it. So is it a profession which challenges y...

Not even water? from 2022-04-29T04:00

It is the number one question asked to anyone who is fasting for Ramadan, which began at the beginning of April. But what is Ramadan? Why Fast? And how do young Muslims manage Ramadan in their r...

Emancipation, assimilation and Jewish identity from 2022-04-22T04:00

For 500 years the Jews of Europe were kept apart, legally segregated in ghettos. Then at the dawn of the 19th Century Jews were emancipated and overnight what it meant to be a Jew in the world c...

Ukraine: Faith in a time of war from 2022-04-15T04:00

Easter and Passover are among the most important religious festivals of the year for Christians and Jews. But after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, how will the people of faith still left in th...

Saving Albania's trafficked victims from 2022-03-25T05:00

For 16 years Sister Imelda Poole has been fighting in a war. This war has brought her to countries all over the world and just when she thinks she is making progress, the war game changes. Based...

Young Hindus from 2022-03-18T12:38

What does it mean to be a young Hindu in India today? The BBC’s South Asia correspondent Rajini Vaidyanathan is in Delhi with a panel of young people aged between 18-27 who have travelled from a...

Germany's turbulent priest from 2022-03-13T11:00

The German Catholic church is one of the most influential and richest in the world. It is at the epicentre of Catholic theology, debates over the future of the church, and the sexual abuse scand...

An estate agent for spirits from 2022-03-04T04:00

In Thailand, intricately designed homes for protective spirits are ubiquitous – and perhaps nowhere are these houses as noticeable as in the capital Bangkok, where they sit alongside a rapidly mode...

The Sikh whistleblower from 2022-02-25T05:00

Pav Gill, a Sikh lawyer living in Singapore, joined the Wirecard financial services empire in 2017. Wirecard had global ambitions to become a big player like Google or Amazon. But it did not tak...

Muslim and lesbian from 2022-02-18T05:00

From an early age, Fatima Daas knew that she was different. Raised in a strict Algerian Muslim family in the poor suburbs of Paris, she struggled to reconcile the feelings she was developing wit...

The transgender pastor from 2022-02-11T05:00

June Joplin was born outwardly a boy, but at the age of 11, at a Christian summer camp, two things became very clear to her: that she was supposed to be a pastor, and that she was supposed to be...

From Hong Kong to the UK from 2022-02-04T05:00

BBC Hong Kong reporter Danny Vincent hears from Christian migrants who have fled the territory for a new life in the UK. Many of the people Danny hears from are speaking about their experiences ...

Thai Buddhism: Leaving the monkhood from 2022-01-21T05:00

In the internet age, the traditional way Thailand’s monks reach out to young followers is under threat. With nearly three quarters of Thailand’s population on Facebook, a move by two monks to br...

MH17: Faith after disaster from 2022-01-14T05:00

In the summer of 2014, a passenger jet was shot out of the sky over a rural area of Ukraine. Images of suitcases and children’s toys strewn around the burning wreckage were beamed and streamed a...

Failing faith from 2022-01-07T12:35

Poland is often seen as a stronghold of the Catholic faith. Yet today, many Poles are now protesting against the Church’s political over-reach - by simply leaving.

With more secular, more ...

Andrea Bocelli: Faith and music from 2021-12-24T05:00

Andrea Bocelli is a multi-award winning Italian tenor who has sold over 75 million records worldwide. Blind from the age of 12, singing was always his passion but he never could have dreamt his ...

Black, Jewish and proud from 2021-12-10T05:00

Journalist Nadine Batchelor-Hunt is a black, Jewish woman. She is is fiercely proud of her dual identity - even as recent political discourse around race has meant that she has been forced to de...

America’s abortion wars from 2021-12-03T05:00

Jan was 33 when she had an abortion. She now believes she murdered her child and works with Catholic organisations to get the procedure banned. Erika was 14 when she terminated her first pregnan...

Turning of the bones from 2021-11-26T05:00

To celebrate the lives of loved ones after they have passed away is nothing new. Many communities cling to memories, stories and anything else that makes them feel as close as possible to those ...

The hidden faiths of Northern Ireland from 2021-11-19T05:00

This year marks the centenary of Northern Ireland. Since its inception it has been divided between those who want to be Irish, who are mostly Catholic, and those who want to remain British, who ...

Lipa Schmelzer: The Jewish Lady Gaga from 2021-11-12T05:00

Lipa Schmeltzer is a bright star in the world of Jewish music; only his music sounds nothing like traditional Jewish music! In fact, he has been nicknamed, the ‘Jewish Lady Gaga’!

Growing ...

COP26: Faith and the environment from 2021-11-05T05:00

This week leaders from over 200 countries have been making pledges to cut carbon emission at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26). But for many climate activists on the g...

Trying to save the Latin Mass from 2021-10-22T14:06

Communities that celebrate with the Latin Mass have prospered. Now, Pope Francis has ruled that Catholics may only use the Latin Mass if their bishops agree to let them. Instead of a rule of tol...

Activist Sikh from 2021-10-15T04:00

Many Sikhs all over the world have joined together in support of protests by Indian farmers against new laws proposed by the Indian government. Solidarity has come from musicians, singers, sport...

Getting married the Nigerian way from 2021-10-08T04:00

Hannah Ajala, a British-Yoruba broadcaster will walk us through the sounds, beats and meanings of a Yoruba engagement ceremony. Speaking to those at the heart of the traditional marriage and exp...

The Myanmar mission from 2021-10-01T04:00

David Eubank, who is originally from Texas, lives in the jungles of the Karen state near the Thai-Myanmar border, along with his wife and children. The Karen people have been fighting the Myanma...

Rebuilding Ise from 2021-09-24T04:00

Ise Jingu is a Shinto shrine in Japan that is full of paradoxes. Every 20 years, for the past 1300 years, Ise Jingu has been rebuilt from scratch. It involves constructing identical copies of 12...

The Pope's astronomer from 2021-09-17T04:00

Br. Guy Consolmagno calls himself a 'Sputnik Kid'. He started school the year the Russians launched the world's first satellite. Growing up in Detroit during the space race he remembers the exci...

Ground Zero for God from 2021-09-10T04:00

Jim Giaccone will never forget the day his brother Joe simply vanished – killed in a blast so forceful that not even a trace of his remains was ever recovered. Joe was one of the 2,977 victims o...

The Taliban wanted me dead from 2021-09-03T04:00

Marzia Babakarkhail knows what it's like to have the Taliban break her door down intent on killing her. In 1997 they did just that because of her work promoting education and progress for women....

Abused online for my faith from 2021-08-27T04:00

Sophia Smith Galer, reporter and TikTok creator, speaks to users who have faced discrimination and suppression online based on their religion. We speak to YouTuber Nada Majdy, who regularly face...

The Druze from 2021-08-13T04:00

The Druze are a religious minority, living mainly between Syria, Lebanon, and Israel. The religious movement was founded in the 11th Century by Hamza ibn Ali ibn Ahmad, an Ismaili leader, mixing...

Hidden children of the Church from 2021-07-30T04:00

For decades, the Catholic Church rarely acknowledged the fact that supposedly ‘celibate’ priests were fathering children. The scale and impact of these secretive births is only now coming to lig...

Should I take the knee? from 2021-07-23T04:00

Since the murder of George Floyd in 2020, taking the knee has become a prominent sight at protests and sports events, signifying opposition to racism and discrimination. But with some fans booin...

The Uighur poets from 2021-07-16T10:31

Uighur poetry is and has been for centuries a fundamental part of the culture and members of the community write poetry and often recite part poems that have been passed down the generations and...

Sex, Christianity and purity from 2021-07-02T04:00

Where does God fit into your sex life? Decades after signing up to remain ‘pure’ until marriage, many Evangelical Christian Millennials are still confused by that question – and some are turning to...

Finding my Hinduism from 2021-06-25T08:00

Colourful temples, bells , incense and a multitude of deities and festivals - journalist Nalini Sivathasan grew up immersed in her parents’ religion, Hinduism. But as she has grown older, she has f...

Ministering behind bars from 2021-06-11T14:31

Can the prison be a “citizen factory” where the rebellious soul goes in and comes out as a demure, indoctrinated model citizen? Is the God of Punishment the same as the God of Salvation? How do pri...

The schools that chain boys from 2021-06-04T04:30

For 18 months reporter Fateh al-Rahman al-Hamdani filmed inside 23 Islamic schools, or khalwas, across Sudan for a BBC News Arabic investigation. He uncovered systemic child abuse, with boys as you...

George Floyd: One year on from 2021-05-28T04:00

A year after George Floyd's death, what positives and negatives can Black Christians take away from the tragic series of events that unfolded? In the year since, many black Christian groups have ...

Bob Dylan: Born again from 2021-05-21T04:00

Bob Dylan was brought up in a Jewish household in the American Midwest, but kept his faith away from the spotlight of his professional counter-culture persona. That was until the late 1970s when he...

Cardinal Pell from 2021-05-14T04:00

He was once the third most powerful Catholic in the world, overseeing financial reform at the Vatican. But for Cardinal George Pell, the fall from grace was hard when he was accused, convicted, and...

Black Jewish Lives Matter from 2021-05-07T04:00

The death of George Floyd Jr in May 2020 started a wave of unforeseen protests. As these protests consumed the United States, groups of people from various beliefs, backgrounds and origins came out...

France and its faltering relationship with Islam from 2021-04-30T13:25

France is on its way to passing The Bill Comforting the Respect of Republican Principles, one of the most controversial laws of President Macron’s presidency. It aims to fight back against what Emm...

Prince belong Vanuatu from 2021-04-23T04:00

Villagers believe Prince Philip is returning to his ancestral home on their Pacific island. In a handful of villages on the island of Tanna, in Vanuatu, he has been revered as an ancestral spirit a...

Modern Midrash from 2021-04-09T21:14

For thousands of years Jews have sought to understand the Bible, with all its inconsistencies and contradictions, through “midrash”. Midrash is a combination of interpretation and teaching based o...

Pope Francis in Iraq: The historic pilgrimage from 2021-04-02T04:00

The world watched on as Pope Francis embarked on what he called a pilgrimage to the Middle East, a journey that could possibly be the Holy Father's legacy. Despite worries of the Covid pandemic and...

Creating life after death from 2021-03-30T10:31

Everyone tells five-year-old Shira Malka she looks just like her dad. She has his green eyes. But she’s never met him, because he died seven years before she was born. Shira was conceived through p...

Eighteen years in hell from 2021-03-12T09:26

In 1971, Aziz BineBine – a junior officer in the Moroccan army – was ordered to take part in a military exercise. Unbeknown to him, the attack on King Hassan’s summer palace near Casablanca was in ...

The Right Thing: A life worth living? from 2021-03-05T10:02

Mike Wooldridge explores another story of faith and hard decisions. When American Beth Ball was pregnant with her first child, she found out that the baby had Down’s syndrome. Upon receiving the di...

The Right Thing: Saving the man who shot me from 2021-02-26T14:30

Mike Wooldridge tells the story of Rais Bhuiyan, who In his 20s, traded a job in the Bangladeshi Air Force for a life in the US. He was working at a petrol station. A man with baseball cap walked ...

Three months to save my son's life from 2021-02-05T18:39

Veer is four years old. He has a genetic disorder called Fanconi Anaemia affecting his bone marrow. In 2019, his parents were told they would need to find a lifesaving stem cell donor for him. Doct...

Malta: The island where abortion is a crime from 2021-01-08T07:00

Malta is the last country in Europe to still criminalise abortion. A majority Catholic country, prior to Covid-19 Malta was due a visit from the Pope. While a pro-choice movement is increasingly em...

To Santa from Shanghai from 2020-12-25T14:01

In the far north of Finland, 6km south of the Artic Circle, the town of Rovaniemi is the “official home" of Santa Claus - the location where any letter addressed to Santa (over 500,000 every year) ...

Black Jesus from 2020-12-18T05:00

The identity and colour of Jesus – and why it matters - has taken on a new significance in this year of protest and change. Seeing Jesus as a darker skinned Palestinian Jew rather than blonde Europ...

Jonestown: From socialism to slaughter - Part two from 2020-12-11T14:01

In 1978, over 900 US citizens died at Jonestown, a remote settlement in Guyana. The vast majority were members of a community run by the charismatic Rev Jim Jones, taking their own lives with poiso...

Jonestown: From socialism to slaughter - Part one from 2020-12-04T14:01

In 1978, over 900 US citizens died at Jonestown, a remote settlement in Guyana. The vast majority were members of a community run by the charismatic Rev Jim Jones, taking their own lives under arme...

The Canadian Uighurs from 2020-11-27T13:06

Experts say China has detained as many as one million Uighurs and Muslims in "re-education" camps in Xinjiang province. Survivors have shared stories of countless alleged abuses including mass surv...

Converts amongst the conflict in Belarus from 2020-11-20T17:33

Protests against the Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko have carried on for months. 80% of the country calls themselves Orthodox Christian. The church has stood squarely behind their President ...

Catholic women and the US elections from 2020-11-13T07:00

As the campaign in the 2020 US Election went on it became clearer that America’s Catholics were crucial to the result. Here are two candidates, the Democrat Joe Biden, a practising Catholic, who re...

The living water from 2020-10-30T07:00

Elizabeth Alker loves to feel the cold water as she slides into it from the river bank or steps nervously from the lake side. She is a Christian, used to the euphoric feeling that worship also brin...

Is this Egypt’s #MeToo moment? from 2020-10-23T16:00

Egypt is currently in the midst of a growing movement calling out the culture of sexual assault that’s rife in the country. A UN study showed 99.3% of Egyptian women have experienced sexual harass...

Russia's persecuted Jehovah’s Witnesses from 2020-10-16T16:00

There are hundreds of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia who are being prosecuted for their faith. Some of them say they have been tortured and their testimonies were never investigated. Others have to ...

Testifying against a Neo-Nazi from 2020-10-09T16:00

On the 9th of October, 2019, Mollie S. a Baltimore native, was observing the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur in the city of Halle, Germany. She decided to take a short break and go f...

The US Elections: A Faith Perspective from 2020-10-02T15:34

Religiosity has always been a key factor of who takes charge in the White House. US presidents have been invoking faith and God ever since George Washington expressed his “fervent pleas to this Alm...

Father Joe from 2020-09-24T09:34

Just over a year ago, 29 year old Lyra McKee was shot dead in Northern Ireland.The day after she was murdered, the parish priest in the part of Londonderry where she was shot was angry and deeply u...

The lives of female Qur'an reciters from 2020-09-18T17:05

Around the world, there are differing attitudes to recitation of the Qur'an and the female voice in Islam. For some, female reciters should be restricted to female-only spaces, reciting verses in f...

Faith versus the virus: Pakistan’s struggle from 2020-09-04T14:29

Pakistan’s relationship with religion is the most distinct element of its identity. Be it politics or any other aspect of social&cultural life, religion is the main guiding force.The country was cr...

Fruit of thy womb from 2020-08-28T16:00

In many religions child bearing is revered. Giving birth can be a way of honouring your deity and strengthening your community. In contrast, infertility can be seen as a punishment. So what impact...

Will God protect me? from 2020-08-21T09:17

What does it mean to ask "God to keep you safe" in the time of a pandemic? What is the meaning and scope of divine protection? The belief in divine protection is a significant feature of the Chris...

Zoroastrianism and death from 2020-08-14T08:33

By day Dr Jamasp JamaspAsa, works in the UK as a cancer surgeon, but now, due to the passing of his father he has a new role, the High Priest of the Zoroastrian faith in a Mumbai Fire Temple. Lipi...

Will coronavirus change my faith? from 2020-08-07T18:30

Community is one of main features of religion - but coronavirus has disrupted that. Religious institutions are going through significant changes in response to the coronavirus. But what of these ch...

Burying the dead in New York City from 2020-07-31T16:05

New York funeral director Clive Anderson has been struggling to keep up the sheer volume of new Coronavirus cases coming to his small funeral home in Pelham, New York. Normally he would average fou...

Vipassana: 240 hours of silence from 2020-07-24T16:29

Vipassana, which means to see things as they really are, is one of India's most ancient techniques of meditation. It was taught by the Buddha more than 2,500 years ago as a universal remedy for uni...

The divinity of Haile Selassie from 2020-07-17T15:46

How did the Ethiopian King, Haile Selassie - who lived a life of luxury whilst his country suffered a deep famine - become the god for the Rastafari community? To millions he was a leader, to many ...

The pastor and the prime minister from 2020-07-13T09:51

When Gábor Iványi was a young Protestant minister back in the 1970s standing up to Hungary’s totalitarian Communist regime he promised to stop shaving as a sign of protest. Communism is long gone i...

USA: A discussion about race from 2020-07-03T11:49

In this special American Impendence day program, presenter Martin Bashir brings together Ilyasah Shabbaz - the third daughter of Malcolm X, Joshua DuBois - President Obama's former spiritual adviso...

The paddle-out from 2020-06-26T04:00

The sight of dozens of surfers circled together and floating beyond the breakwater will always mean one thing - that another surfer has died. A paddle-out is a way of honouring someone who’s had a ...

Redemption in recycling from 2020-06-19T12:23

In Philadelphia, husband and wife George and Mimi Limbach sit down in an old warehouse with 15 men who have recently been released from prison. Surrounding them are hundreds of old computers, which...

Moving Forward from 2020-06-12T14:12

In this final programme of a special Heart and Soul series for the BBC World Service, the journalist John McCarthy brings back together those who have been sharing reflections and insights on faith...

Prayer from 2020-06-05T11:23

A man finds himself by chance in the country he fled as a political prisoner as the virus spreads and he is trapped. An atheist looking for peace in lockdown. A writer looking for a way to stay uni...

Community from 2020-05-29T09:00

In this fourth programme of a special Heart and Soul series for the BBC World Service, amidst a global pandemic of Coronavirus, the journalist John McCarthy hears how the notion of community has ch...

Solitude from 2020-05-22T09:00

In a special Heart and Soul series for the BBC World Service, amidst a global pandemic of Coronavirus, the journalist John McCarthy brings together reflections from people of faith around the world...

Compassion from 2020-05-15T13:00

As coronavirus crisis unfolds, with its confusion and heartbreak, John McCarthy brings together reflections from people around the world. In this programme he hears stories of compassion. Most reli...

Ritual from 2020-05-08T09:00

Rituals are at the heart of many religions, they are vital to the practice of faith giving structure, comfort and focus. The best-selling Indian writer Amish Tripathi sees daily yoga practice as c...

Joshua Wong: Standing up to a superpower from 2020-05-01T14:40

Joshua Wong has been the poster boy of the Hong Kong democracy movement for over five years, despite being only 23 years old. An evangelical Christian, he continues to do what he sees as the right ...

The inseparable twins from 2020-04-24T14:43

Senegalese twins Marieme and Ndeye were born sharing much of their bodies, and doctors advised that an attempt to separate them would be fatal for Marieme. But Marieme’s heart condition put both tw...

Faith in lockdown France from 2020-04-17T13:05

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought religious practice to a halt in much of the world. Religious leaders, a large part of whose life’s work is to get people to come to church, mosque or synagogue are...

The Tattooist of Jerusalem from 2020-04-10T13:00

"Every time I tattoo someone, I feel the links of faith, blood and ink in an unbroken chain of thousands of pilgrims, going back hundreds of years" - Wassim Razoouk, 'The Jerusalem Tattooist'. For...

Buddhist detox from 2020-04-03T13:00

Buddhist temple Wat Thamkrabok in Thailand has a worldwide reputation for its successful mix of ‘cold turkey’ and Buddhism in combating addiction.The treatment begins with a sacred Buddhist vow nev...

The discussion from 2020-03-27T14:00

If you ask Cosmo the robot what faith he is, what does he answer? We’ll find out when we bring together young digital media users of different faiths to meet him at MediaCityUK at Salford in the UK...

Take me to VR church from 2020-03-20T14:00

Worshippers are gathering for a church service led by Pastor D.J Soto in Virginia in the USA. Many of them are at home or even in other countries. For DJ, this church is important for worshippers ...

Finding and losing my faith online from 2020-03-13T14:00

Digital journalist Sophia Smith-Galer hears from young faith influencers using social media to spread the word and meets an ex-Muslim who can talk online about losing her faith, but hasn’t told her...

Religion apps: Daily prayer and the devil's data from 2020-03-06T14:00

There are thousands of religious apps offering to help you worship in the right way. In the first of a new season exploring the digital world and the spiritual world, Sophia Smith Galer considers w...

Consulting the Oracle from 2020-02-28T14:03

Not many countries can boast of having a state Oracle. Tibet can, although the medium for their principal oracle – the Nechung – lives exiled from his native land in North India.Cambridge anthropol...

Meeting the bombers who killed my mum from 2020-02-21T14:06

Sarah, together with her father and brother, meets the bombers who killed her mother as she and her family attempt to understand how the men who carried it out could be followers of the same faith ...

The bomber turned peacemaker from 2020-02-14T14:00

“I am an expert bomb maker. I can make bombs in just five minutes; it’s easier than making a kite.” For Heart and Soul, Rebecca Henschke meets a bomber turned peacemaker as part of the Crossing Di...

Dying to worship: The Christians of India from 2020-02-10T13:27

In just two years India has leapt up the table into the top ten of the most dangerous countries to be a Christian. At the same time, there’s a rise in an extreme version of Hinduism which is linke...

The Quran-rescuing monk of Timbuktu from 2020-01-31T14:03

Father Columba Stewart, a Benedictine monk from St Joseph's Abbey, Minnesota, travels to Timbuktu with a team of experts trying to persuade the Imams of the City's three great Mosques to allow them...

Adventures of a Jewish scribe from 2020-01-24T14:00

In the first of two special programmes we meet Marc Michaels who has a rare skill. He’s keeping Jewish tradition alive. He is a Sofer, a scribe. It’s a dexterous skill that has been passed down fo...

Temples of discord: Church building in Putin’s Russia from 2020-01-17T14:00

The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour is a rebuilt structure, a beacon for the resurgent Russian Orthodox Church and a stronghold of Patriarch Kirill who recently boasted that three new churches are ...

Escaping China’s religious prison camps from 2020-01-10T14:00

They tell stories of torture and punishment all because of their faith. Uighurs and other ethnic Muslims locked up and subjected to hours of brainwashing designed to rid them of them their faith.Hu...

The Queen of Sheba from 2020-01-03T13:59

Three-thousand years ago, according to legend, a beautiful and wealthy queen embarked on a long journey to visit a celebrated king. He was King Solomon, and she was the Queen of Sheba.The Queen of ...

Ministry of sport from 2019-12-30T12:08

Christians in the UK are facing a huge crisis of faith, the numbers of people who say they are churchgoers is falling and the church is worried. Shari Vahl meets the Anglicans harnessing the power ...

Joy to the world from 2019-12-20T14:00

The sounds of Christmas will come from Manchester as three choirs that represent the rich diversity of the city share the songs which say Christmas to them. Members of the choirs tell Keisha Thomps...

Praise bee from 2019-12-13T14:00

"And your Lord inspired the Bee, build your dwellings in hills, on trees, and in (human's) habitations." (Qur'an 16:68).The bee has its own Surah or Chapter in the Qu’ran, it is revered in the fait...

Walking the Kartarpur Corridor for Guru Nanak from 2019-12-06T14:00

The Kartarpur Corridor crosses one of the most dangerous and contentious borders in the world, and is generally shut to travellers, but, hundreds of thousands of Sikhs have crossed it to mark the 5...

Buddhism in Cambodia from 2019-11-30T20:00

Cambodia has been a Buddhist country since the 13th Century, apart from a period under the Khmer Rouge. Ninety-five per cent of the population identify as Buddhist. Journalist and blogger, Kounila ...

Halima: Faith and fashion from 2019-11-29T14:00

Halima Aden is one of the world’s first hijab wearing supermodels. A black, Somali-American, born in Kenya, Halima was the first contestant of a Miss Minnesota beauty pageant to wear a hijab. Now ...

Custodians of the synagogue from 2019-11-22T14:05

The magnificent Maghen David synagogue in Kolkata, India, was once a place of worship for a thriving community of Baghdadi Jews in the city. Now, not more than 30 Jews remain, most of them elderly....

Who will call me beloved? from 2019-11-15T14:00

Tania Hershman is single, lives alone and likes it that way. She is the writer-in-residence in one of Europe’s largest graveyards, the Southern Cemetery, a multi-faith burial site in Manchester in ...

Joining the mosque I planned to destroy from 2019-11-08T14:00

Richard McKinney has made an extraordinary life journey – from a US veteran who planned to bomb a mosque, to a d Muslim who prays devoutly at the very Mosque he planned for 2 years to blow up. A v...

Brexit faith borders from 2019-11-01T14:00

Christian communities along the Irish border are free to worship on either side of it. But some worry that the United Kingdom’s plans to leave the European Union could lead to that coming to an end...

100 Women: Assmaah Helal from 2019-10-25T13:00

Growing up as a hijab-wearing football fan in Sydney, Australia wasn’t easy for Assmaah Helal. From an early age she has worn the hijab and played football. She tells us how she was already self-co...

100 Women: Chely Wright from 2019-10-18T13:00

To come out as gay while part of the Christian church and country music is a brave thing to do. As a teenager in deeply Christian Kansas, Chely Wright thought praying would ‘fix her’ and she would...

100 Women: Venerable Dhammananda from 2019-10-11T13:00

She is called ‘the rebel monk’, but has also been called a ‘dangerous dissident’ – one of the few female monks who say they are simply carrying on a tradition started by Lord Buddha thousands of ye...

Husbands and priests from 2019-10-04T13:05

From Europe to Latin America, the Catholic church is woefully short of priests. In the Amazon region of Brazil, the shortage is so dramatic that bishops are getting ready to discuss a radical solut...

The cowboy church of Texas from 2019-09-27T13:05

Bandera, Texas, is the self-proclaimed Cowboy Capital of the World. It is also home to Ridin' The River Cowboy Fellowship, a cowboy church established eight years ago with a mission to connect cowb...

Alabama: America’s battleground from 2019-09-20T13:00

The American state of Alabama, is the new fault-line in the country's battle over abortion. Two Christian women are on polar opposites of the argument. Sarah Howell resolutely opposes abortion. The...

A believer’s guide to atheism from 2019-09-13T13:00

Michael Symmons Roberts is a Catholic who thinks his faith would be a lot worse off if it were not for atheists.He says all faiths need atheists - after all, you can only strengthen and deepen your...

Jewish and returning to Germany from 2019-09-06T13:00

Eighty years ago, just days before the outbreak of the Second World War, a young woman, Kaethe Berliner, fled Nazi Germany. She made a new life in Great Britain and like many others was determined ...

Saving Ethiopia’s church forests from 2019-08-30T13:00

An estimated 95% of the native forest has already lost in northern Ethiopia, yet from the sky it has always been possible to see small green circles of hope across the country – the church forests ...

Our daily bread from 2019-08-23T14:50

The Holy Monastery of the Honorable Forerunner hosts a unique community of Orthodox nuns from across the globe that have made the 500-year-old mountain monastery in Greece their home.In this progra...

The pilgrim paths of Ireland from 2019-08-16T13:00

Manika Bébhinn Ramsay’s husband, Alastair, died suddenly in 2007. Walking along an ancient pilgrim path, St.Kevin’s Way in County Wicklow, Bébhinn recalls the horror of coping with a sudden bereave...

The Last Supper from 2019-08-09T13:00

This year is the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo Da Vinci and marks that start of a major series of international exhibitions celebrating his life and work. In this edition of Heart and ...

My faith and my large family from 2019-08-02T13:00

Colin Brazier is a Catholic and with six children, has long promoted the benefits of a large family. Colin looks at this very personal issue and examines what part religion plays in how many childr...

Walking on a hot coil from 2019-07-26T13:00

Being hung from tall trees on sharp hooks attached to flesh and piercing body parts with hot iron rods; it's a painful, almost sadistic way of praying for the harvest from the Hindu god Shiva in We...

A spiritual awareness from space from 2019-07-19T13:15

There has always been a synergy between spirituality and space, even before man first escaped the boundaries of our home planet. Once they did, astronauts in orbit reported feelings of awe and wond...

Rwanda’s Muslims 25 years after the genocide from 2019-07-12T13:00

Rwanda has been remembering the 100 days of Genocide which led to hundreds of thousands of its people were slaughtered. Twenty five years on from that and to mark the end of the 100 days of mourni...

Religion and climate change in Nairobi from 2019-07-06T19:00

For the BBC World Service, Nairobi based journalist and broadcaster Ciru Muriuki brings together young people of different faiths, together with a live audience, at the National Museum in Nairobi, ...

Rebuilding Notre Dame from 2019-07-05T13:00

In the hours after the fire at Notre Dame Cathedral, French President Macron said France would rebuild Notre Dame to be “more beautiful than ever".In the days that followed, some of Frances wealthi...

Football and belief for Egypt's Copts from 2019-06-28T13:00

Mina Bendary is a good footballer, once thought to be one of the better players in Egypt. As his country hosts the African Cup of Nations, Mina won’t be involved because, he believes, he is a Copti...

The wind phone from 2019-06-07T13:00

When an earthquake and tsunami struck Japan in 2011, 30ft (9.14m) waves obliterated coastal communities. The small town of Otsuchi lost everything including 2000 residents.One resident, Itaru Sasak...

A female rabbi in training from 2019-05-31T13:00

Miriam Camerini is in training. It’s a three year course, and at the end of it, if she is successful, she will become one of the world's first female Orthodox Jewish rabbis. Ever since she was a ch...

Kaka'i: Our fight to survive from 2019-05-17T13:00

Farhad al-Kake tells the story of his people, the Kaka'i of Iraqi Kurdistan, whose faith has put them under threat from Islamic fundamentalists. Persecution has made them secretive about their beli...

Beauty and belief: The story of a Brooklyn salon from 2019-05-03T13:00

For Heart and Soul, American journalist Noor Wazwaz takes us into the private world of New York’s first hijab-friendly hair and beauty salon.Based in Brooklyn, Le'Jemalik - which means For Your Bea...

Pick up your stretcher and walk! from 2019-04-26T13:08

Like many disabled people, Damon Rose is regularly approached by Christians who want to pray for him to be healed. Would-be healers claim they’re simply doing what Jesus himself did and what he ins...

New York Stations of the Cross from 2019-04-19T12:32

For Easter weekend Rosie Dawson joins a group of the faithful in New York as they follow a very different Stations of the Cross - a series that bears witness to the scourge of sex trafficking - a ...

Fork in the Road - Two journeys out of violence from 2019-04-05T13:00

In the final part of Fork in the Road, Jane Little meets two more people who have been through similar life changing experiences, but have had their faith affected in different ways.Jahaziel and Gu...

Young Muslims in France from 2019-03-30T19:10

The BBC World Service is in the city to hear youthful voices with a variety of views on their faith. Islam is the second largest religion in France. In a nation that separates state and religion ...

Fork in the Road - My faith and my sexuality from 2019-03-29T13:18

Can you remain committed to your religion even it it does not accept your sexuality? Jane Little meets two well-known writers who have publicly wrestled with their faiths and been forced to make ch...

Fork in the Road - God in the War on Terror from 2019-03-25T15:33

How is it that two people can share the same experiences and events and it have such different effects on their faith? Jane Little meets two men who both answered the call after 9/11 to join the ...

A year and a day from 2019-03-21T12:42

When Colin Brazier lost his wife Jo to cancer last summer, he felt pressure to put his grief on show, to make her funeral a celebration.Friends expected him to give the eulogy at her funeral, and s...

American Judaism after the Tree of Life from 2019-03-08T20:00

It was the response of Jewish organisations that was possibly most telling the day after last year's Tree of Life shooting. President Trump wasn’t welcome in Pittsburgh unless, that is, he denounce...

Kenya’s Quakers: Best of Friends from 2019-03-01T14:00

Kenya is home to the majority of the world's Quakers and it is vibrant and noisy, much different from the quiet, contemplative religion most of us know. Audrey Brown has been to the spiritual home...

Making friends with the KKK from 2019-02-15T14:05

Daryl Davis collects Ku Klux Klan memorabilia – KKK robes, hoods and masks. He says they are given to him by those leaving the white supremacist organisation, after he has spent time befriending th...

My son’s killer, next door from 2019-02-08T14:05

On 12 February 1993 Mary Johnson’s only son, 20-year-old Laramiun Byrd, was murdered. The perpetrator was 16-year-old Oshea Israel, who received a 25-year sentence for second degree murder. Many ye...

Faith v America’s Opioid Epidemic from 2019-02-01T15:15

When people talk about America’s opioid epidemic, they often focus on the record number of drug related overdose deaths – 72,000 last year – or the growing number of court cases against the drug ma...

Christians praying for one Korea from 2019-01-25T14:00

The secretive state of North Korea is routinely named as the worst place in the world to be a Christian. Fuelled and bank-rolled by American evangelists, Christianity has experienced massive growth...

Raven from 2019-01-18T14:30

The raven has featured in human culture for millennia, taking its place in a wide range of belief systems as a wily trickster and revealer of truths.Two ravens perched on the Norse God Odin's shoul...

Marriage in Israel from 2019-01-12T20:00

Many young Jewish people living in Israel feel religion has too big an influence over their private lives. Numerous aspects of life are governed by a council made up of orthodox rabbis called the ...

Divorce, Communion and Catholic Confusion from 2019-01-11T14:00

The laws around divorced Catholics receiving communion are both clear and strict. But recently Pope Francis has clouded the issue with a number of pronouncements, giving millions of divorced Cathol...

Durga Puja with Amit Chaudhuri from 2019-01-04T14:15

Imagine being swept along the streets of Calcutta by a crowd of over three hundred thousand people all visiting fantastical temporary pandals which are built from clay, silt, wicker, and papier-mac...

Once in Royal David's City from 2018-12-28T14:00

No carol encapsulates the beginning of Christmas like ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ which every Christmas Eve opens the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, in the candlelit Chapel of King's College...

To Be a Jedi from 2018-12-21T14:15

At the last UK Census in 2011 some 170,000 people registered their faith as Jedi. Easily outstripping any other kind of fictional religious faith. It’s a similar situation in many other countries. ...

Women making space in the mosque from 2018-12-14T16:19

The status and role of women in mosques in the United Kingdom is changing. Traditionally playing a secondary role, groups here now are training women to be more active in their religious communitie...

Fighting Prejudice in Eudy’s Name from 2018-12-07T16:19

***Listeners may find some of the material in this programme upsetting.***A grieving mother, Mally Simelane, is fighting to change her community’s view on homosexuality. Mally lives in the Kwa-Them...

Faith in Freedom: Daniel Genis from 2018-12-03T14:55

John McCarthy meets the people who have had to confront their own beliefs while held captive. Born into a Jewish family, but a committed atheist, Daniel Genis had an eventful life which led him to...

Faith in Freedom: Maryam and Marziyeh from 2018-12-03T14:42

John McCarthy meets people who have had to confront their own beliefs while held captive. John who was held hostage by Islamic radical groups in Lebanon, speaks to two Iranian women who risked tort...

Faith in Freedom from 2018-11-16T14:00

Helen Berhane has the type of voice that you may think could only have come from God. There was a long time though when the only people who could hear her were her captors and the fellow inmates of...

Young Catholics from 2018-11-10T20:00

The BBC’s Nuala McGovern is with an audience and panel of speakers to ask what the next generation of Catholics want from their Church. We are at the Teatro Flaiano in Rome, for Heart and Soul Gat...

Breaking the Seal from 2018-09-28T14:56

Whatever is said in the confessional stays in the confessional; it is a sacred, unyielding law throughout Catholicism, but in Australia it's now being challenged. In certain states laws are being ...

Faith and Feminism in Brazil from 2018-09-21T13:00

Brazil has one of the worst records in the world for violence against women, and to combat these attitudes Nadiedja Souza is leading Brazilian women who are challenging the sexism of Brazil and sh...

Heart and Soul Gathering: Birmingham, Alabama from 2018-09-15T19:00

Fifty years after the death of Rev Dr Martin Luther King, and in the era of campaigns such as Black Lives Matter, how are black churches relevant in the fight for social justice today? Two-time E...

Hebron's Cave of Sacrifice from 2018-09-14T14:07

Abraham of the Old Testament, or Ibrahim of Islam, is a vital figure across Christianity, Islam and Judaism. His prophetic fame, arises from the story of his offering of one of his sons to God,...

The Buddhist of Sri Lanka from 2018-09-06T14:00

Nihal Arthanayake was born into a Sri Lankan Buddhist family. As he grew up, he saw it as a peaceful and thoughtful religion - but now the traditionally peaceful faith has made headlines in Myanmar...

The Pope and a New Catholic Ireland from 2018-08-24T13:30

When Pope John Paul II came to Ireland in 1979, half the population turned out to see him, the BBC World Service presenter Nuala McGovern was amongst them. When Pope Francis arrives for the World M...

Ibtihaj Muhammed: A Journey Bigger than Me from 2018-08-17T13:30

Ibtihaj Muhammad has had many firsts in her career in fencing. An African American Muslim woman, she was the first athlete from the U.S. to compete at the Olympics. Her team won bronze at the 2016 ...

Unearthing the Past in Srebrenica from 2018-07-27T13:30

On July the 11th every year, the bodies of those who Sasa helped to identify over the past 12 months are re-buried in a Muslim service and Anna will witness the ceremony at the sprawling Potocari C...

Stepping on Bones - Solovki and Russia's Past from 2018-07-24T15:06

Founded in the 15th century on a remote archipelago in the White Sea, Solovetsky monastery (or “Solovki”) was once one of Russia’s most religious sites. But in the 20th century Solovki gained notor...

God's Word at the World's Borders from 2018-07-16T11:31

At the end of a week when President Donald Trump visited European countries, immigration was one of the many issues which has made the headlines The President used his visit to say that immigrat...

Uzbekistan: The Country of a Hundred Shrines from 2018-06-30T02:00

Uzbekistan - the most populous country in Central Asia is, is sometimes called the country of a hundred shrines or the “second Mecca”. It is home to hundreds of well-preserved mosques, madrasas, ba...

Faith Based Farms from 2018-06-22T13:30

Across the United States communities are growing of people choosing to live, work and worship together. Colm Flynn takes to the farms and fields to meet the Muslims, Christians and even a Druid ...

Uluru: Reclaiming Creation Stories from 2018-06-08T14:05

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that the following program contains images and voices of people who have died. From next year tourists will not be allowed to climb Ulur...

Building Anatevka from 2018-05-25T12:30

The community of Anatevka near the Ukrainian capital Kiev has been created to especially welcome Jews from war-torn Eastern Ukraine. Construction started in 2015, and it was named after a hometown...

Canada's Search for a Papal Apology from 2018-05-18T14:31

This is a story of a community trying to heal, but a warning; there are descriptions of abuse in this programme that may be upsetting. Pope Francis is refusing to bow to pressure to apologise t...

Faith Under Fire from 2018-05-14T11:27

The following programme tells the story of a mass shooting in a small church in Sutherland Springs Texas and how it affected the faith of the community and the church's pastor Frank Pomeroy. A war...

Morocco's Jews: Hospitality or Hostility? from 2018-05-06T05:00

Morocco's Jewish community was once the biggest in the Muslim world. More than a quarter of a million Jews called the North African country home. Most Moroccan Jews left after the establishment of...

Ageing with Grace from 2018-04-27T12:35

Marie-Louise Muir tells the story of the Nun Study; a pioneering study, started in America in the 1980s, which brought a young epidemiologist together with a group of Catholic Sisters to examine th...

Crossing Divides: The Sacred Legitimisation to Fight from 2018-04-23T01:00

Warning: The following programme tells the stories of the child soldiers who took part in Indonesia’s religious conflict that erupted in the Moluccas in 1999. It is ultimately about peace and reco...

Faith and Healing from 2018-04-17T16:46

How is faith tested at our weakest and most vulnerable moments? When Caroline Wyatt was 12 years old she announced she wanted to be the first female Pope. With that career path closed off to her sh...

My Life and Faith in Jerusalem from 2018-04-01T04:00

Jerusalem is the most religiously contentious city in the world On the weekend that Easter coincides with Passover and after President Trump’s controversial declaration of it as the capital of I...

Faith in Freedom: Shahbaz Taseer from 2018-03-18T03:00

John McCarthy was held hostage for five years in Lebanon; it would test not only of his mental resolve but also his faith. In this three-part season for Heart and Soul John meets three people of th...

Faith in Freedom: Dr Sina Hakiman from 2018-03-13T13:02

John McCarthy was held hostage for five years in Lebanon; it would test not only of his mental resolve but also his faith. In this three-part season for Heart and Soul, John meets three people of t...

Faith in Freedom: Ingrid Betancourt from 2018-03-04T04:00

John McCarthy was held hostage for five years in Lebanon; it would test not only of his mental resolve but also his faith. In this three-part season for Heart and Soul John meets three people of th...

Escaping 'America’s Most Hated Family' from 2018-02-25T04:00

Libby Phelps is the granddaughter of the founder of Westboro Baptist Church, Fred Phelps. Nicknamed “America’s Most Hated Family”, the church in Kansas became infamous for telling homosexuals they ...

The Right Thing: Life or Death in the DRC from 2018-01-26T14:00

Sasha Chanoff is a humanitarian worker descended from Jewish great-grandparents who fled the early 20th Century pogroms in Russia and settled in the United States. The story of his courageous and r...

Finding Shelter In Germany's Cities of Refuge from 2018-01-14T04:30

Germany has gained itself the role as Europe’s great provider of sanctuary for some of the millions of refugees that have fled from the most troubled parts of the world. But Chancellor Angela Me...

Preaching Across the Divide from 2018-01-07T04:30

Naco Christian Church serves a small but devout congregation, Jesse Wood, its pastor spends hours in his pick-up, driving around meeting and praying with his parishioners. His journey routinely ...

Iceland's Dark Lullabies from 2017-12-29T13:40

At the darkest time of the year in Iceland scary creatures come out to play. Storyteller Andri Snaer Magnason used to be terrified by his grandmother's Christmas tales of Gryla, the hag who eats ch...

The Icon Painters of Bethlehem from 2017-12-22T13:40

The lives of young Palestinian Christians are being transformed by this ancient spiritual art. At the heart of Bethlehem's old city sits the Bethlehem Icon Centre, a school training local Palestini...

Christianity and White Supremacy in Charlottesville from 2017-12-17T04:00

Charlottesville in the American state of Virginia, was thrust into the limelight in the late summer when white supremacists groups violently clashed with counter demonstrators The city is Jane...

Eritrea to Huddersfield from 2017-12-10T04:30

Pastor Daniel Habteys journey to becoming a church leader in the north of England has taken him through the toughest of tests. In 2002 he fled persecution and imprisonment in his native Eritrea...

New Life with Old Belief from 2017-11-26T04:30

Old Belief communities formed as a result of Russian Orthodox Church theological reforms of the 17th century. After a period of torture and mass executions and unrecognised by the state, Old Be...

Being Muslim in Manchester - One Love? from 2017-11-19T04:30

Baktash Noori is a 23-year-old practising Muslim Mancunian YouTube vlogger. He lives just five minutes drive from the Manchester Arena where, six months ago, 22 people were killed by suicide bomber...

Jesus Lived in the Townships from 2017-11-15T11:19

Audrey Brown is in South Africa to meet Pastor Xola Skosana. After nearly 20 years of ministering to a congregation impoverished by the legacy of apartheid he has rejected his Christian faith. It i...

Africa’s Mother from 2017-10-30T12:22

Mercy Amba-Oduoye is a true reformer; in fact in her native Ghana she embodies the phrase. She is called the Mother of African Feminist Christian Theology and is globally recognised as the leader...

An Equal Partnership? from 2017-10-22T03:30

Dotted around London, in the concentrated areas where Orthodox Jews have made their home, groups of believers meet to pray and share their faith. Nothing unusual in that, but what make these gather...

Are Muslims Ready for a Female Imam like Seyran Ates? from 2017-10-15T03:00

To mark the 500th anniversary idea of Reformation which spilt Christianity, Heart and Soul investigates the role of women in disrupting the status quo and challenging the traditions in three of the...

Underground Islam in Italy from 2017-10-01T03:30

Unlike Christianity and Judaism, Islam is not recognised in Italy. There are only eight officially recognised mosques and that is despite being home to the fourth largest Muslim population in Europ...

Fighting for Their Forest Faith from 2017-09-27T16:35

Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim country. There are hundreds of indigenous faiths, practised for centuries. They are not recognised by the State and are viewed as unbelievers. Rebecca Hensc...

A Square Dance in Heaven from 2017-09-17T03:00

For Martin Luther, music, with its power to move emotions, was an “inexpressible miracle” second only to Theology. When people engage in music, said Luther, singing in four or five parts, it is li...

The Tree Spirits: The Bodhi Tree from 2017-08-18T13:20

Climate change and security concerns are threatening one of Buddhism's most sacred sites. The Bodhi Tree, in northern India, is believed to be descended from the actual tree under which Buddha gain...

Faith in the Fire from 2017-08-14T09:02

On the night the Grenfell Tower fire began on 14 June 2017, the mosques and churches which encircle the tower block in Kensington, West London, provided bases for vital relief work. It was Ramadan ...

The Jamaican Bible Remixed from 2017-08-06T03:30

Christianity has been part of Jamaica for 500 years and it’s said there is a church on every corner. Christian worship is conducted from the King James bible in antiquated English rather than t...

Diary of a Pakistani Atheist from 2017-07-31T16:00

In March 2017, a High Court Judge in Pakistan made the dramatic declaration that “blasphemers are terrorists.” The declaration is just one part of a growing national campaign to make disbelief soci...

Sacred Songs of the Sikhs from 2017-07-31T13:34

The YouTube generation are re-inventing Kirtan, an ancient form of Sikh worship. Kirtan, the devotional singing of the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, has traditionally been accompanied b...

Spirit of the Midnight Sun from 2017-07-21T12:32

In the long summer, as they enjoy the 22 hours of daylight in the Arctic town of Vadso, Norway, Sami singers and young reindeer herders share their ancient beliefs and culture. The Sami traditio...

My Journey into Judaism from 2017-07-09T03:00

Stepping into the Micvah, the ritual pool, is the final stage of a convert's journey to Judaism. After a full body immersion they are officially Jewish. It is a one way street. Reminding a convert ...

Giving Death Back to the People from 2017-06-23T13:00

Giving Death Back to the People is how Cara Mair describes her work as a funeral director. Her company, Arka Original Funerals, is part of a movement to de-industrialise, and re-personalise funera...

Good Without God? from 2017-06-04T03:00

They were a famous father-son team, perhaps the best known evangelical pastors in America. Tony and Bart Campolo spent decades preaching a gospel focused on serving the poor and the marginalised an...

Duterte's Drug War from 2017-04-07T15:00

The Philippines is a devoutly religious country, with more than 86% of the population Roman Catholic – and it has huge drug problem. President Rodrigo Duterte, himself a Catholic, has been waging ...

The Return of the Heathens from 2017-03-27T10:55

The fastest growing religion in Iceland is Norse paganism. Floating in a hot spring, snow falling from the night sky, John Laurenson meets Teresa Drofn. A 25 year-old Heathen, Teresa describes ...

Inside the Mosque Ruled by Women from 2017-03-19T04:30

In Copenhagen, on an upmarket shopping street, above a burger joint, two female imams are leading Friday prayers.The Mariam mosque is the first female led mosque in Scandinavia and one of only a ha...

Standing Trial for Blasphemy from 2017-02-13T12:53

The national motto of Indonesia is ‘Bhinneka Tunggal Ika’ - Unity In Diversity. It is the world’s largest Muslim majority country, but across its thousands of islands live more than 300 ethnic grou...

Searching for the Spirit of Benin from 2017-02-12T04:30

Ed Davey travels to Benin to attend the annual Voodoo Festival in Ouidah, encountering this ancient African religion in all its faith and fervour. As travellers’ tales go, Jafar Habib’s account...

Bahá'i - The World's Faith from 2017-01-15T04:00

The Bahá'i faith is one of the youngest of the world's major religions. A faith without borders, most of the Bahá'is live outside of the birth place of the religion, Iran, where they are seen a...

Off the Derech from 2017-01-08T04:00

Leaving the Orthodox Jewish community does not just mean forgoing your faith – it also means leaving a community, a life and in many cases your family. It can be so traumatic for many people that t...

Doping, Diving and God from 2017-01-03T13:49

Dr Robert Beckford explores how cheating in sport conflicts with Christian principles. He asks how can an Olympic champion stand on the podium with a gold medal and then thank God in an intervi...

The Radical Disciple from 2016-12-25T04:00

Every week Father Michael Pfleger takes to social media to share the number of people killed over the past few days in his city, Chicago. The numbers are almost always in double figures and many of...

When the Soul Goes Out from 2016-12-11T04:00

He is he says, on a mission from God, Robert Berman’s lifelong campaign for organ donation to be permissible under Jewish/Talmudic law – Halacha – is at the centre of an ongoing debate in Israel. B...

Nepal's Living Goddess from 2016-12-04T04:00

In the centre of Patan City in Nepal resides a living goddess, a child as young as four, chosen to host a deity of invincible feminine power. On her young shoulders rests the fate of the nation. ...

Finding the Light from 2016-11-27T04:00

Huge numbers of Gypsies and travellers across Europe now say they've joined a new movement called Light and Life. Those who join have given up on some parts of their lives that have become associat...

Trump and the Evangelical Vote from 2016-11-13T03:00

Donald Trump predicted that if he won the votes of America's evangelical Christians he would win the election, and he was right. A quarter of all voters count themselves as evangelical and 81% o...

Out of the Silence from 2016-11-06T04:00

25 years ago this month Terry Waite returned to the UK after nearly five years of captivity in Beirut. During the violent and destabilising civil war in Lebanon he had been sent by the Church of En...

Power of the Word from 2016-10-30T09:30

Reading can be solitary, peaceful, a moment to be alone with your own thoughts, but it can also provide collective wisdom and shared experience. This week as part of the #LovetoRead season acros...

America's Muslim Town from 2016-10-26T08:55

Right next to the city of Detroit, Michigan is Hamtramck, the first Muslim majority city in the United States. Just over 50% of the residents are immigrants from Bangladesh, Yemen and Bosnia. There...

Wrestling with God from 2016-10-16T03:00

David Baker is a practising and proud Jew. He is also gay and in the eyes of many of his fellow Jews the two cannot go together. He has had to wrestle with these two sides to his identity leading t...

Amazigh Women of Morocco from 2016-10-09T03:00

The Amazigh women of Morocco have faced threats to their strong traditions and distinct religious identity for thousands of years. Celeste Hicks travelled high into the Atlas Mountains to find out ...

Communism and the meteoric rise of Christianity in China from 2016-09-25T03:00

Every year millions of rural Chinese workers swarm into the new vast mega cities that are growing seemingly unconstrained all over this vast country As they settle and populate cities like Beijing ...

Being Christian in China's Jerusalem from 2016-09-18T03:00

China is an atheist state, officially, but Christianity is booming. It is estimated that there are more Christians in the country than members of the Communist Party. Danny Vincent travels to the ...

Faith on the Ukrainian Fault Line from 2016-08-22T10:53

The schism in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is dividing communities, friends, even families, as they are forced to choose between Kiev or Moscow as their spiritual guide. After Russia's annexa...

Benedict Spinoza - A Philosopher for Our Time from 2016-08-07T03:00

We live in fearful times. All over the world renewed wars of religion are being fought. Politicians exploit our fears of one another in order to win power. 350 years ago, the philosopher Benedic...

Religion and Refugees in Hispaniola from 2016-07-31T03:00

Will Grant reports from both sides of the border in Hispaniola to look at the role of the church in the world's forgotten migrant crisis. Neighbours Haiti and the Dominican Republic have a long...