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Sunday: Integrating refugees; St John Passion; the Value of Religious Education

Integrating refugees; St John Passion; the Value of Religious Education

BBC Radio 4 - Sunday, Integrating refugees; St John Passion; the Value of Religious Education

Are there better ways to help refugees to integrate quickly into British society?

Are there better ways to help refugees to integrate quickly into British society?
300 years of J S Bach's St John Passion.
The value of school RE when young people get a job.

Faith leaders including the Archbishop of Canterbury and Cardinal Vincent Nichols have welcomed a new report which calls for better support for asylum seekers. It comes from a commission set up to consider how refugees might be helped to integrate into society more easily. It makes a series of recommendations and suggests that the current system creates barriers to asylum seekers who want to quickly make good use of their existing skills and qualifications. The government says it's committed to ensuring refugees can take positive steps towards integration as they rebuild their lives in the UK.

It's 300 years since J S Bach's setting of the Passion narrative from St John's gospel was first performed on Good Friday at the St Nicholas Church in Leipzig. This week many of the UK's cathedrals and churches will be marking the anniversary by performing it. The composer, conductor and singer, Bob Chilcott celebrates the work and reflects on what is one of the most revered of all musical settings of the Passion. 

Does religious education at school help young people when they get a job? Lord Karan Bilimoria, a former president of the CBI, thinks it can. He believes RE helps young people to navigate the complexity of modern belief and the diversity of worldviews in the UK today. The businessman, who is from the Zoroastrian tradition, has launched a campaign urging employers to support higher standards in religious education. We hear from Lord Bilimoria, and also from the National Secular Society who feel there are better ways to equip young people for the workforce.

Presenter: Edward Stourton
Producers: Jonathan Hallewell and Alexa Good
Editor: Dan Tierney

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Integrating refugees; St John Passion; the Value of Religious Education

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