Sunday Folgen

The Archbishop of York has said that a slow "environmental genocide" is taking place in Nigeria’s Bayelsa State. Speaking in an exclusive interview with the BBC as part of a commission investigating oil spills in the Niger Delta, Dr John Sentamu said that oil companies needed to end a culture of double standards in Nigeria. The BBC’s Mayeni Jones travelled with the Archbishop to Nigeria earlier this year, ahead of the publication of the commission’s interim report this week. She spoke to him about what he found there. Women aren't allowed to be ordained as monks in Thailand but some women have instead been ordained abroad, and have returned to the country to live as female monks. It began with Dhammananda, who was the first woman in Thai history to be ordained as a female monk. She is being celebrated as a member of the BBC 100 Women list this year. Aurora Almendral met her and heard her story. The Catholic Church is the focus of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) this week. Donna Birrell reports on what the inquiry has heard.To mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Edward hears from a couple with an extraordinary story to tell.Producer:Catherine Earlam Peter Everett Series Producer:Amanda Hancox

From this weekend there’s a ban on climbing ‘Uluru’ in Australia’s Northern Territory. Anthropologist Professor Veronica Strang tells William Crawley why the site is so sacred to the aborigines.In the wake of the deaths of 39 people in a lorry William hears from the Salvation Army’s Kathy Betteridge about their work with victims human trafficking. Dr Carrie Pemberton Ford from the Cambridge Centre for Applied Research in Human Trafficking tells him about the numbers of people caught up in this trade – and some of the stories behind them. To mark the 100th anniversary of the confirmation of the theory of relativity, Professor Alister McGrath talks about Eistein's religion and his quest for a theory of everything.As the Vatican’s ‘Amazon Synod’ comes to an end we hear about the issues that were discussed and the decisions reached.Childlessness is on the rise in the UK due to infertility but also to choice. What are the implications of this for the practice and theology of the churches? William discuss this with Dr Dawn Llewellyn from Chester University who has studied Christian attitudes to childlessness and Sheridan Vosey, the Christian writer and speaker, who has been unable to have children with his wife.Producers: Amanda Hancox Rosie Dawson

Edward Stourton visits Westminster Abbey with the historian William Whyte to talk about a new book commemorating the 750th anniversary of the consecration of the current Abbey Church building. Bake Off contestant and Sikh Rav Bansal came out as being gay publically earlier this year. Rav received a strongly worded homophobic letter from another Sikh who said he should dissociate himself from the faith. Other Sikhs have voiced their support for Rav and say there is nothing against being gay in their religion. Rav shares his experience with William.And should a statue of Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi be erected in front of Manchester Cathedral? The statue is set to be put up in November but now some students at Manchester University say the decision should be reversed because of his "well-documented anti-black racism." Supporters of the statue say criticisms of Gandhi are too limited in view and the statue is an important message of peace for the city. William hears opposing views from Professor Meena Dhanda and Professor Anindita Ghosh.PRODUCERS: RAJEEV GUPTA CARMEL LONERGANEDITOR: AMANDA HANCOX