Sunday Folgen

It was called 'Project Pearl' and the mission was to smuggle a million bibles into China. On a moonlit night 40 years, vast crates containing the bibles were unloaded on to the sand in Shantou. It was a covert operation and Paul Estabrooks was there. He tells Emily how they managed to avoid capture by the Chinese authorities and what was driving them to get so many bibles into the country.As the easing of COVID restrictions allow more people to attend a wedding, we investigate claims from couples who say the civil registrar system is failing to meet the growing demand for statutory ceremonies. If a couple wish to be married in a non-religious service they may have to take a low cost civil ceremony to ensure their marriage is legal. Julia and Jordan tell us that they were told to buy a more expensive wedding packages from their local authority if they wanted to have the legal paperwork in time for their humanist ceremony. Andrew Copson, the Chief Executive of Humanists UK tells us why he believes there is now a stronger case for marriage reform.On Friday tremors could be felt across the political faultlines of America's Catholic Church. A majority of members of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops voted to go ahead with a process that could deny Holy Communion to public officials who take a position at odds with the church's teachings on issues like abortion. That could include President Biden, the nation's second Roman Catholic president. The decision was even in defiance of advice from the Vatican. Religious journalist Sarah Posner explains the background to the vote and the possible implications of the decision.Producers: David Cook & Helen LeeEditor: Tim PembertonPhoto credit: Terry Madison

What will you be doing on Sunday afternoon? You could look to Cornwall where the G7 will draw to a close and a group of young Christians will meet at Truro Cathedral. There they will bless a wicker boat to be carried in relay to Glasgow in time for the UN Climate Change Conference in October. Edward Stourton asks if they can really hope to change minds with the trip and finds out why they're carrying the boat. Or maybe you'll spend your Sunday afternoon doing something else entirely. As England takes to the pitch for its first Euros encounter, Edward speaks to the Bishop of Willesden who includes Wembley in his diocese. How does this football loving cleric feel about the Euro's theme song which talks about broken churches and broken dreams. Is football the only answer?Also in the programme, the race against time to save some extraordinary murals in a London Church. The now flaking paintings are by the German Jewish artist Hans Freibusch who was exhibited in Hitler's infamous "degenerate art" exhibition of 1937. As a refugee in the UK, he was commissioned by the Church of England and painted more murals than any other artist in the church's history. And Edward hears from a survivor of the Children of God cult that began in the counter culture of late 1960s America but spread throughout the world. It came to be known as The Family and was dogged by allegations of child abuse and psychological manipulation. Followers believed that God was love and love was sex, so there should be no limits, regardless of age. Faith Morgan joins Edward to talk about her memoir of her upbringing in the sect and eventual escape at the age of 19.

A look at the ethical and religious issues of the week