05/06/2022

Sunday

It’s the Platinum Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend and Sunday is joining in the day’s celebrations.

Her Majesty the Queen has always had a strong Christian faith, but how has that become more evident to the public throughout her reign? We hear from two experts in the field.

What does the Jubilee mean to people of other faiths? We join the Muslim organisers of one event in London, bringing together dozens of different nationalities and faiths, as well as refugees, at a food bank in London. Across the country, more than 60,000 people have registered to host Big Jubilee Lunches.

There’s a battle in the music charts as several different versions of “God Save the Queen” compete for the number 1 spot. But choirs across the country will be singing the Jubilee anthem – Rise Up and Serve – which was composed especially for this weekend.

The war in Ukraine has increased the tensions between the independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine, and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate, which comes under the authority of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. Now the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate has also declared its independence. We hear about the fallout for both churches.

And it's the start of Pride month, and in a new series, we bring together LGBT people of faith. This week two Catholics talk about their experiences. George White is a 28-year-old transgender man and an RE teacher at a Catholic secondary school. Claire Jenkins is 73, and was also a teacher, but felt she had no option but to leave the profession when she transitioned from male to female in the 90s.

Presented by William Crawley.

Produced by Julia Paul and Katharine Longworth.

Photo credit Georgina Poullais.