A new BBC backed poll suggests a majority of people in Britain believe religion should be respected and valued in public life - but other research also says they oppose domineering religion.

BBC chief Mark Thompson has given a robust defence of the Corporation's engagement with religion. Those who say the BBC is anti-Christian, or alternatively that it is broadcasting religious propaganda, are wrong, he says.

The Vatican has announced an upcoming international conference on "Biological Evolution: Facts and Theories. A Critical Appraisal 150 years after 'The Origin of Species'", to mark the Darwin celebrations and build the science-theology dialogue.

Civil rights organisations and national leaders are expressing alarm at a United Nations General Assembly resolution that demands respect for religion but which critics say has been used to justify suppression of religious minorities.

The growth of Islam in Europe is challenging deeply-held notions that faith is a private matter which should be banished from public life, a prominent sociologist of religion has told a gathering of European Christian leaders - writes Stephen Brown for Ecumenical News International (ENI).

Churches in Romania have denounced calls from an anti-discrimination body for a French-style ban on religious symbols from schools in order to protect the state's secular character and ensure "freedom of conscience" for pupils - Jonathan Luxmoore for Ecumenical News International.

Secularity as an ecumenical virtue