One of the geopolitical tactics Russia has used in its war with Ukraine has been to divide opinion among the world’s Orthodox Christians.  Vladimir Putin is not the first Russian leader to style himself as a champion of Orthodox communities but in Greece and the Middle East, he’s tried to marshal sympathy among Christians. Dr MANOS KARAGIANNIS specialises in international security at Kings College, London.  He was in Australia recently with the Affinity Intercultural Foundation.

A group linked to the Al Qaeda Islamist network is closing in on the capital of Mali, in north-west Africa.  This group, known as JNIM, now controls swathes of territory in the Sahel, a region that stretches across several countries in the Sahara.  If JNIM takes the capital, Bamako, it would be the first time an Al Qaeda affiliate has seized power in a country.  What would that mean for Africa and the Islamic world?  GUEST: Dr Tessa Deveraux- Assistant Professor in Politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London

A group linked to the Al Qaeda Islamist network is closing in on the capital of Mali, in north-west Africa. This group, known as JNIM, now controls swathes of territory in the Sahel, a region that stretches across several countries in the Sahara. If JNIM takes the capital, Bamako, it would be the first time an Al Qaeda affiliate has seized power in a country. What would that mean for Africa and the Islamic world? Dr TESSA DEVEREAUX has been analysing the situation. On the fiftieth anniversary of the dismissal of the Whitlam government, you’ll hear many theories about Gough Whitlam’s downfall. But ROY WILLIAMS has explored one reason that by no means caused but may have contributed to the events of November 11, 1975. Williams is the author of In God They Trust: The Religious Beliefs of Australia’s Prime Ministers. He also has a very personal connection. His late father, Evan Williams, was a speechwriter and long-time confidante of Whitlam. Roy wonders if a throwaway insult about the faith of then Queensland premier Joh Bjelke Petersen hardened the resolve of Whitlam’s opponents. One of the geopolitical tactics Russia has used in its war with Ukraine has been to divide opinion among the world’s Orthodox Christians. Vladimir Putin is not the first Russian leader to style himself as a champion of Orthodox communities but in Greece and the Middle East, he’s tried to marshal sympathy among Christians. Dr MANOS KARAGIANNIS aas in Australia recently with the Affinity Intercultural Foundation. GUESTS: Dr Tessa Deveraux- Assistant Professor in Politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London Professor Roy Williams - legal academic and author Dr Manos Karagiannis specialises in international security at Kings College, London. This program was made on the lands of the Gadigal People

While the tragedy of Gaza never seems to leave the headlines, the war in Ukraine dips in and out of the news. That’s despite the past six months seeing the most intensive fighting of the conflict.  Tetiana Stawnychy heads the Ukraine operation of the aid agency Caritas. She’s in Australia meeting supporters. The early 1990s was, for Catholics, a time of political ascendancy – a Catholic prime minister, governor-general, and five of the seven high court justices. One of them was Sir Gerard Brennan, whose most famous judgement was the Mabo decision granting native title to indigenous Australians.  How did his religion influence his decisions as a judge? His son, Jesuit priest Frank Brennan, has released a two volume-collection of his father’s articles and speeches, giving an extraordinary insight into the thinking of a jurist who helped shape Australian law. GUESTS: Tetiana Stawnychy, President of Caritas Ukraine, based in Kyiv, Ukraine Father Frank Brennan Jesuit priest, human rights lawyer and academic During the COVID pandemic emergency physician Stephen Parnis from St Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne was a prominent medical voice.  Dr Parnis will be giving the 2025 lecture to the Plunkett Centre for Ethics on Wednesday November 5 in Sydney at the Australian Catholic University. This program was made on the lands of the Gadigal People

While the tragedy of Gaza never seems to leave the headlines, the war in Ukraine dips in and out of the news.  That’s despite the past six months seeing the most intensive fighting of the conflict.  Tetiana Stawnychy heads the Ukraine operation of the aid agency Caritas.  She’s in Australia meeting supporters and explains what day to day life is like in the capital Kiev, and the complexities of the agency's work across war-torn Ukraine. GUEST: Tetiana Stawnychy, President of Caritas Ukraine, based in Kyiv, Ukraine

The early 1990s was, for Catholics, a time of political ascendancy – a Catholic prime minister, governor-general, and five of the seven high court justices.  One of them was Sir Gerard Brennan, whose most famous judgement was the Mabo decision granting native title to indigenous Australians.  How did his religion influence his decisions as a judge?  His son, Jesuit priest Frank Brennan, has released a two volume-collection of his father’s articles and speeches, giving an extraordinary insight into the thinking of a jurist who helped shape Australian law. GUEST:  Father Frank Brennan Jesuit priest, human rights lawyer and academic

How can Christians and other religious believers live out their faith when many of its principles conflict, not only with new social norms but the laws of the land?  Patrick Parkinson is the former dean of the Queensland University law school and an internationally recognised expert on child protection.  He tries to chart a course in his new book, Unshaken Allegiance: Living wisely as Christians with Diminishing Religious Freedoms. GUEST: Patrick Parkinson is Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of Queensland

King Charles and Pope Leo will have their first meeting this week at the Vatican. But it will be much more than a meeting of two heads of state. For the first time in 500 years, the leader of the Catholic church and the supreme governor of the Church of England, which broke away from Rome in the 1530s, will pray together publicly in the Sistine Chapel. They’ll devote their prayers to their shared concerns about the environment, religious harmony and global peace.  Fiji is facing an HIV crisis, with one of the fastest growing rates of infection in the Asia-Pacific. The number of people with HIV has more than tripled in the past six years. It now stands at just over 6,000. The Uniting Church’s overseas agency is working with local health authorities.  How can Christians and other religious believers live out their faith when many of its principles conflict, not only with new social norms but the laws of the land? Patrick Parkinson is the former dean of the Queensland University law school and an internationally recognised expert on child protection. He tries to chart a course in his new book, Unshaken Allegiance: Living wisely as Christians with Diminishing Religious Freedoms. GUESTS: Luke Coppen is UK editor of The Pillar, a website that covers the Catholic world Alice Salomon is the head of United advocacy and she’s just back from the capital, Suva Patrick Parkinson is Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of Queensland This program was made on the lands of the Gadigal People

Fiji is facing an HIV crisis, with one of the fastest growing rates of infection in the Asia-Pacific.  The number of people with HIV has more than tripled in the past six years. It now stands at just over 6,000.  The Uniting Church’s overseas agency is working with local health authorities.  GUEST: Alice Salomon is the head of United advocacy and she’s just back from the capital, Suva

King Charles and Pope Leo will have their first meeting this week at the Vatican.  But it will be much more than a meeting of two heads of state. For the first time in 500 years, the leader of the Catholic church and the supreme governor of the Church of England, which broke away from Rome in the 1530s, will pray together publicly in the Sistine Chapel.  They’ll devote their prayers to their shared concerns about the environment, religious harmony and global peace.  GUEST: Luke Coppen is UK editor of The Pillar, a website that covers the Catholic world

Sarah Mullally may be a historic choice as the new Archbishop of Canterbury but how will she deal with the chasm that has opened in the world-wide Anglican Church in recent years?  The church of 85 million followers is deeply divided over sexuality and gender.  Is there also a lingering opposition to women as bishops and even priests?  GUEST: Australian priest Andrew McGowan is dean of the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University and a former editor of The Journal of Anglican Studies.

A former legal adviser to the Palestinian Authority, Victor Kattan, examines the reality of the Trump plan for Gaza. He also discusses why an almost 100-year-old case of British war crimes in Palestine could haunt events today. GUEST: Victor Kattan is Assistant Professor in Public International Law at the University of Nottingham and wrote a piece for the Religion and Ethics website on British war crimes in Palestine in 1935

Pope Leo XIV has issued his first major statement since assuming office. In a “papal exhortation” titled I Have Loved You, he echoes Francis’s concern about deepening economic inequality.  At a time when tech moguls have amassed extraordinary fortunes, Leo has some tough words about hoarding wealth.  GUEST: Dr Sandie Cornish is Senior Lecturer in the School of Theology at the Australian Catholic University and specialises in the field of Catholic Social Teaching

Victor Kattan, former legal adviser to the Palestinian Authority, examines the reality of the Trump plan for Gaza. He also discusses why an almost 100-year-old case of British war crimes in Palestine could haunt events today. Pope Leo XIV has issued his first major statement since assuming office. In a “papal exhortation” titled I Have Loved You, he echoes Francis’s concern about deepening economic inequality. At a time when tech moguls have amassed extraordinary fortunes, Leo has some tough words about hoarding wealth. Dr Sandie Cornish of Australian Catholic University has been reading the statement closely. Sarah Mullally may be a historic choice as the new Archbishop of Canterbury but how will she deal with the chasm that has opened in the world-wide Anglican Church in recent years? The church of 85 million followers is deeply divided over sexuality and gender. Is there also a lingering opposition to women as bishops and even priests?  GUESTS: Victor Kattan is Assistant Professor in Public International Law at the University of Nottingham and wrote a piece for the Religion and Ethics website on British war crimes in Palestine in 1935 Dr Sandie Cornish is Senior Lecturer in the School of Theology at the Australian Catholic University and specialises in the field of Catholic Social Teaching Australian priest Andrew McGowan is dean of the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University and a former editor of The Journal of Anglican Studies. This program is made on the lands of the Gadigal People

The headlines scream about a university sector in crisis.  Are they credential factories or places of pure intellectual inquiry?  For historian Peter Harrison of Notre Dame University, the sector should reach right back to the ancient wisdom of the Greeks for inspiration.  GUEST: Peter Harrison is the author of the new book, Some New World.  He’s also delivering the 2025 New College lectures at UNSW, titled “God and the Secular University”.

One in three girls around the world routinely experience violence and many are forced into marriage, according to the United Nations. October 11 is International Day of the Girl Child. To mark the day, the Christian aid organisation World Vision has launched an Australian initiative called “1,000 voices for 1,000 girls”.  The world’s 85 million Anglicans have a new spiritual leader, and she’s made history. Dame Sarah Mullally is the new Archbishop of Canterbury. The one-time nurse is the first woman to hold the position. But she faces formidable obstacles. Many Anglicans, especially in the Africa, where the faith is booming, disapprove of women priests and the growing liberalism in the church towards homosexuality.  The headlines scream about a university sector in crisis. Are they credential factories or places of pure intellectual inquiry? For historian Peter Harrison of Notre Dame University, the sector should reach right back to the ancient wisdom of the Greeks for inspiration. Peter’s the author of the new book, Some New World. He’s also delivering the 2025 New College lectures at UNSW, titled “God and the Secular University”. GUESTS: Mel Carswell is World Vision’s Australian spokesperson. Madeleine Davies is a senior writer who wrote a piece on the new Archbishop in The Church Times in London. Peter Harrison is an historian at Notre Dame University Australia   This program was made on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation

The world’s 85 million Anglicans have a new spiritual leader, and she’s made history.  Dame Sarah Mullally is the new Archbishop of Canterbury.  The one-time nurse is the first woman to hold the position.  But she faces formidable obstacles.  Many Anglicans, especially in the Africa, where the faith is booming, disapprove of women priests and the growing liberalism in the church towards homosexuality. Guest: Madeleine Davies is a senior writer with The Church Times in London and wrote a profile on the new Archbishop

One in three girls around the world routinely experience violence, according to the United Nations.  And child marriage remains a problem for many girls, some as young as 9 years old! October 11 is International Day of the Girl Child.  To mark the day, the Christian aid organisation World Vision has launched an Australian initiative called “1,000 voices for 1,000 girls”.  GUEST: Mel Carswell is World Vision’s Australian spokesperson.

The streets of London recently filled with thousands of protesters taking part in so-called “Unite the Kingdom” rallies. Many objected to large-scale immigration.  Some used Christian symbols to bolster their cause, prompting a former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, to warn against co-opting the cross for nationalist campaigns.  Has the Christian nationalism that defines much of the American Right now migrated to Britain?  GUEST: DAVID CAMPANALE is a freelance journalist who spent 30 years with the BBC. He covered the rally for Premier Christian Radio and Christianity Magazine. David’s also a fellow of the Danube Institute.

The leader of the world’s 17 million Mormons, Russell Nelson, has died, aged 101. The former heart surgeon didn’t assume the role of prophet until he was in his nineties and, yet, in death, he’s being described as a transformational figure in the Church of Latter-Day Saints, as Mormons are known formally. His death came the same day that four members of the church died in an attack on a church in Michigan. Professor DAVID SMITH of the US Studies Centre wrote about extensively about the Mormon church in his 2015 book Religious Persecution and Political Order in the United States. Why would a liberal Muslim who spent his teenage and college years arguing against the power of Christianity in American politics now pine for the old-fashioned religious right? Why would he look kindly on a Republican president who started a war in Iraq and call it a “religious crusade”? In an essay for The New York Times, published over the weekend, writer ZAID JILANI explained this radical change of heart. The streets of London recently filled with thousands of protesters taking part in so-called “Unite the Kingdom” rallies. Many objected to large-scale immigration. Some used Christian symbols to bolster their cause, prompting a former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, to warn against co-opting the cross for nationalist campaigns. Has the Christian nationalism that defines much of the American Right now migrated to Britain? DAVID CAMPANALE is a freelance journalist who spent 30 years with the BBC. He covered the rally for Premier Christian Radio and Christianity Magazine. David’s also a fellow of the Danube Institute.