Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the spiritual leader of the Roman catholic Church in England and Wales, has used his New Year message to stress the importance of marriage and what are thought of as "traditional family values".

Supporters of the US- and Canadian-based international conflict transformation organisation Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) - now known worldwide as a result of the 2005-6 hostage crisis in Iraq - have been challenging the prevalence of war toys through nonviolent actions at a well known retailer.

When Russians celebrated the Julian calendar's New Year on 14 January 2007, they concluded an extended Christmas holiday with a particular significance for religion in their country - reports Sophia Kishkovsky from Moscow for Ecumenical News International.

The leaders of Northern Ireland's four major churches have called for an end to sectarianism and prejudice in a joint New Year message. The move represents an increasing willingness among Protestant and Catholic leaders to speak together in the face of division.

For the first time ever, the spiritual heads of Scotland's Catholics and its largest Protestant church have joined together to make a New Year appeal for peace and social harmony - recalling the sordid history of religiously justified sectarianism in Scotland as the backdrop to their pledge.

The new head of the US Episcopal Church, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, has made tackling global poverty her 2007 resolution. In a message sent to local congregations and other church and public leaders, the ECUSA Primate highlights the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as a practical Christian priority.

Churches joined enthusiastic 2007 New Year celebrations in Bulgarian and Romanian towns and cities earlier today ‚Ä' events which also marked the two countries' entry into the expanding European Union.

Pope Benedict XVI, leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, has highlighted the links between human rights and human reconciliation in his 2007 New Year message, delivered at St Peter's Rome.

The New Year has started more-or-less where 2006 left off, with a new row about religious symbolism and artefacts in relation to the policy of a major airline.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has said that we need to feel the same hunger for justice that ended the slave trade if the world is to be changed for the better.