• Muslim population of England passes the three million mark for the first time as the numbers of Christians continues to decline, figures reveal

• 2020s to be decade of women bishops

• Tomb reveals real race of ancient warrior women

• Protesters set fire to church used by city's police force as violent demonstrations against Chilean government continue

• Kenyan pastor stabs his wife to death in the pulpit after row over custody of their children and slits his own throat in front of horrified congregation

• Price of a basic funeral has risen to £4,417 - but a budget cremation will cost just a third of that after the cost fell by 5% last year

• China removes Christian references from 'Robinson Crusoe' and other children's classics

• Donkey was ideal choice to carry the Messiah to Bethlehem, say scientists

• Pope tells Catholics: God loves 'even the worst of us', as Church embroiled in child abuse and financial scandals

• Texas church shooting: armed parishioners kill gunman after two left dead in shotgun attack

• Church forced to launch investigation after elderly man is buried unlawfully while vicar is away

• Church ashes error incurs judge’s wrath

• Cave figures show Man had designs on deity 44,000 years ago

• Church investigated by charity watchdog over claims pastors pressured congregants into selling blood for donations

• Bishop of Chelmsford Stephen Cottrell is named the 98th Archbishop of York

• Archaeologists find remains of 3 people beneath monks' burial room and church nave at the Alamo during renovations

• Finnish Lutherans under investigation for upholding biblical teachings on sexuality

• Crack archaeologists find four Roman chicken eggs

• “Hot priest” wins online adoration

• 10 facts about atheists

• Christians celebrate as tiny wooden relic believed to have been part of Jesus' manger returns to Bethlehem 1,400 years after it was sent to Rome as a gift to the Pope

• The Japanese Christians who were forced to trample on Christ

• Church of England offers mea culpa on antisemitism

• Essex tries to reclaim Mayflower and attract American tourists by opening captain's house to the public

• Almost 40 cases a week linked to witchcraft and child abuse, councils report

• In Jerusalem hotel, eviction fears dampen Christmas cheer

• General election 2019: Chief rabbi attacks Labour anti-Semitism record

• Religious conviction does not trump right to teach children about LGBT relationships, high court judge rules as he bans all future protests

• Inscriptions in Byzantine-era church intrigue archaeologists

• Italy falls in love with civil marriage

• Skeleton crew found at rest in the cliffs of South Wales

• Confessional Lutherans and Anglicans take talks global

• Thieves steal church pulpit and rare 120-year-old religious artefacts

• Cotswold Ghost Tours stopped in vicar 'harassment' row

• Church of Scotland’s minister who heckled Jeremy Corbyn suspended over tweets

• Banned books on display at Durham Cathedral

• Cardinal Vincent Nichols backs Vatican’s right to avoid sexual abuse questions

• Bill Bryson fears winter will ravage old churches

• Global debate gets underway over married Catholic priests

• Catholic Church investigates after two missionary nuns became pregnant while working in Africa

• Florida sheriff refuses to remove 'In God We Trust' from patrol cars after atheist group files complaint

• World Seminaries International Lutheran Conference comes to an end

• New General Secretary for the International Lutheran Council

• Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia elects new Bishop

• Iowa man, 36, is arrested for 'beating a pastor to death and robbing him outside his own church'

• Mobster claims he helped poison Pope John Paul I with cyanide and threatened to kill Pope John Paul II because they both tried to expose a billion dollar stock fraud scam involving cardinals and gangsters in Vatican City

• ILC World Seminaries Conference opens in the Philippines

• West Malling nuns 'delighted' nearby housing plans rejected

• Oxford professor accused of selling ancient Bible fragments

• Westminster Abbey treasures go on display for 750th anniversary

• Holy sites to be resurrected in new Welsh pilgrims’ trail