New Archbishop of Westminster; Billy Bragg protest song; Priestess of Avalon

The Catholic Church in England and Wales has a new leader - Richard Moth has been named as the new Archbishop of Westminster, succeeding Cardinal Vincent Nichols who turned 80 last month. We hear from Ruth Gledhill, Assistant Editor at the Catholic weekly The Tablet. A new song from the singer-songwriter and political activist Billy Bragg is called "Put Christ back into Christmas". The title is a reference to the current campaign by the far-right activist Tommy Robinson. Last weekend we reported on the Robinson-inspired carol service in London; Billy Bragg turned out for a rival carol service orgainsed by Stand up to Racism. He explains why. Today is the winter solstice - the shortest day of the year when, as the priest poet John Donne put it, the "whole world's sap is sunk". At three minutes past three this afternoon the earth tilts furthest from the sun, and from that moment the days begin to lengthen. It is a moment marked in pagan tradition, and we are joined by Erin Johansen, the first pagan chaplain at Sussex University who is also training to be a Priestess of Avalon. Presenter: Edward Stourton Producers: Katy Davis and James Leesley Technical Producers: Isabelle Whitehead & Sharon Williams Editor: Tim Pemberton

You can listen to New Archbishop of Westminster; Billy Bragg protest song; Priestess of Avalon online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

New Archbishop of Westminster; Billy Bragg protest song; Priestess of Avalon is an episode from Sunday by BBC.

This episode is 37:37 long.

This episode was published on Dec 21, 2025.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Sunday when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.