RMC Briefing: The stories likely to bring religion into the headlines in 2025

What stories about religion can journalists expect to make the headlines in 2025? That was the question for our first briefing of the year, when a panel of journalists and commentators gingerly made predictions for the year ahead.At home, the appointment of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the volatile state of the Church of England will be centre stage. The new UK Labour government, which faced riots only weeks after taking office, faces high hopes from people wanting to see more engagement with diverse communities, to promote peace on the streets. There's a demand for improved good relations within faith groups and between people from different traditions.Alongside this, war in the Middle East and Ukraine, the new presidency of Donald Trump, rising disquiet at populism played out through social media and inaction over climate change, will all touch the UK and provide issues for comment and debate through the year. Rosie Dawson hosted this discussion with guests:Madeleine Davies, Senior Writer at the Church TimesRichard Allen Greene, formerly CNN's Jerusalem Bureau Chief, now training to be a RabbiBurhan Wazir, Editor in chief, Hyphen OnlineSr Gemma Simmonds CJ, senior research fellow, Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology, CambridgePeter Heneghan, communications consultantKaya Burgess, Religious Affairs Correspondent and Science Reporter at The TimesFor further information about RMC briefings: [email protected]: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/X: https://twitter.com/RelMedCentre/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/religion-media-centre/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthZf6RVTqJki6oTQTB6qmwContact [email protected](+44) 0203 970 0709