Many children in Britain are growing up in a much more secure and affluent environment, but this is being undone by a culture of selfishness, says a major report from the Church of England Children's Society.

Religious leaders have joined the World Health Organisation in calling for an end to the common misuse of the word "leper", which they believe has become a deeply discriminatory and damaging term.

A brand new service from the religion and society thinktank Ekklesia details what's on the agenda in the next four weeks with regard to religion and public life.

Half of the Catholic adoption agencies that the Church threatened to close if they were required to work with gay couples have now adopted the new equality law following an exemption period that ended on 1 January.

Confusing divine greatness with human notions of power and grandeur can end up justifying human rights abuses, says Savi Hensman. The Christmas story is a radical corrective.

Five leading Church of England bishops have criticised the government's social policy, suggesting that Labour policy has led to the neglect of the most vulnerable.

The Christmas message is one of deliveerance from fear, says Giles Fraser. But the approach the Pope has taken to 'human ecology' heads perilously in the other direction.

In his Christmas sermon at Llandaff Cathedral, the Anglican Archbishop of Wales has said that the pressure of modern life towards perfection can be humanly oppressive.

A London borough has won its appeal against a ruling that it unlawfully discriminated against a Christian registrar who refused to perform same-sex civil partnerships.

Christmas is a good time to think again about our attitudes to children and about what happens to children in our societies, says Rowan Williams. Christians who recognise the infinite God in the vulnerability of a newborn baby have particular reason to do so.

Auxililary Catholic Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn Pat Power has expressed concern that Pope Benedict's recent comments on homosexuality have hurt the gay and lesbian community and damaged the church's standing.

Methodists have joined a range of charities in expressing concern for lone parents and people receiving incapacity benefits following the publication of the British government's Welfare Reform White Paper on 10 December 2008.

A leading British theologian will make an appeal for humanity and justice to be at the centre of the asylum system in a lecture to be given at Westminster Abbey in Central London tomorrow night (10 December).

Church leaders are being encouraged to help make 2009 ‘a year to remember’ for young people and the Church with the launch of an interdenominational Year of the Child, to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the United Nations’ International Year of the Child.