The decision by Tony Blair, joint architect of the invasion of Iraq, to be received into the Roman Catholic Church has excited comment across the world in the run up to Christmas, which focuses on the birth of Christ, the prince of peace.

Anil Bhanot, the general secretary of the Hindu Council UK (HCUK), has written to the main leaders of all faiths in Britain to express his growing concern at divisive elements between religions, urging them to root out and stand against intolerance and religious dogma.

The signing of a declaration between a group representing Muslims and a leading Christian body in Norway, which supports the mutual right to convert between faiths without harassment, is the first pact of its type in the world, the two bodies have announced.

With Evangelical and Pentecostal representatives joining an 8-12 August consultation in Toulouse, the joint Vatican-WCC study process on religious conversion has moved one step closer to its goal of a common code of conduct.

US-based Jewish groups have praised a Vatican declaration that it will consider the elimination of a prayer of conversion that exists in the Catholic Church's traditional Latin Mass, and that has caused much offence.