France is a country that, since the early 20th century, has built its politics and civil life around a strict practice of secularism. 

The law even bans the wearing of crosses and other religious symbols in some public institutions. 

So how much of a shock has it been to see Pope Leo draw massive crowds during his brief visit to France? An estimated 800,000 people turned out to see him in Paris. 

And does it suggest a religious revival in a country where only about 5% of people attend church each week?

GUEST:

• Professor CHARLES MERCIER specialises in public religion at the School of Advanced Studies in Paris.

The plan was that, at 8am on Sunday, 35 men dressed in orange sashes and black bowler hats would march up a street in Portadown, in Northern Ireland. By 8.30, it was supposed to be over. Now, the planned march, which never took place, has become a stand-off that threatens to bring down Norther Ireland’s provincial government. The controversy has also reopened a tension between the town’s Catholic nationalists and Protestant loyalists that’s been contained for almost three decades. 

AND

France is a country that, since the early 20th century, has built its politics and civil life around a strict practice of secularism. The law even bans the wearing of crosses and other religious symbols in some public institutions. So how much of a shock has it been to see Pope Leo draw massive crowds during his brief visit to France? An estimated 800,000 people turned out to see him in Paris. And does it suggest a religious revival in a country where only about  5% of people attend church each week? 

GUESTS:

• Professor Dominic Bryan is a specialist in politics and religion at Queens University in Belfast.
• Professor Charles Mercier specialises in public religion at the School of Advanced Studies in Paris.

This program was recorded and produced on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation

The plan was that, at 8am on Sunday, 35 men dressed in orange sashes and black bowler hats would march up a street in Portadown, in Northern Ireland. 

By 8.30, it was supposed to be over. 

Now, the planned march, which never took place, has become a stand-off that threatens to bring down Norther Ireland’s provincial government. 

The controversy has also reopened a tension between the town’s Catholic nationalists and Protestant loyalists that’s been contained for almost three decades. 

GUEST:

• Professor Dominic Bryan is a specialist in politics and religion at Queens University in Belfast.

In the early 1990s, a young economist and philosopher anticipated the end of Labor's era in government and asked what came next for Australian politics. 

Clive Hamilton then set up the Australia Institute. 

It became the country's premier centre-left think tank. He later became Professor of Public Ethics at Charles Sturt University. 

Despite being a man of the left, Clive began to despair about the state of progressive politics, especially the movements around gender and sexual identity. 

Clive's retiring from academic life but his voice remains as prophetic as ever in the battle of ideas.

Guest:Clive Hamilton, retiring Professor of Public Ethics, Charles Sturt University and founder of the Australia Institute.

This program was made on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora nation

As ethno-nationalists continue their march across much of Europe, what has become of the once predominant political movement in Europe — Christian Democracy?

While it might share a religious origin, it is worlds away from today's abrasive Christian nationalism. 

Christian Democracy was the driving force behind the rebuilding of Europe in the wake of World War II; bolstering welfare states and helping to create the communal organisation that would become the European Union. 

But today, the influence and appeal of Christian Democracy has significantly diminished. 

Does it have a future in an increasingly volatile political climate?

Guest: Jan-Werner Muller, Professor of Politics, Princeton University. Author of the new book, Street, Palace, Square: The Architecture of Democratic Spaces and a recent essay for Foreign Policy magazine.

This program was made on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora nation

As ethno-nationalists continue their march across much of Europe, what has become of the once predominant political movement in Europe — Christian Democracy? From its origins in Catholic teaching, with a focus on social welfare, the political ideology swept across Europe in the aftermath of World War II. It symbolised political stability, social support and the promise of a brighter, united future. But in the era of identity politics, does Christian Democracy have a future?

PLUS

Clive Hamilton, retiring Professor of Public Ethics, Charles Sturt University and founder of the Australia Institute, on the end of his controversial career in public life.

GUESTS:

Jan-Werner Muller, Professor of Politics, Princeton University. Author of the new book, Street, Palace, Square: The Architecture of Democratic Spaces and a recent essay for Foreign Policy magazine. 

Clive Hamilton, retiring Professor of Public Ethics, Charles Sturt University and founder of the Australia Institute.

This program was recorded on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation

Who are the real leaders behind the current MAGA movement in the US? There's no doubt that Trump has amassed a significant, largely male support base. But there's a growing movement of politically-engaged conservative Christian women who are challenging long-held stereotypes and proving to be a formidable force in right-wing politics. They have modelled themselves on a prominent figure of the Old Testament and are reshaping perceptions of what it means to be on the religious right.  

GUEST

• Katie Gaddini, associate professor at University College London and author of Esther's Army: The Christian Women Who Power the American Right.

This program was made on the lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora nation

Australia’s Law Reform Commission is due to release its review of surrogacy laws this week. 

Surrogacy advocates have lobbied hard to allow commercial or compensated surrogacy for women who bear children for couples who cannot, or choose not to, have a natural pregnancy. 

But the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women is urging the federal government not to liberalise the laws. 

Reem Alsalem says it will lead to the exploitation of poor women. She was in Australia recently and met the commission to put her case.

GUEST:

• Reem Alsalim  is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women

For the first time since the 1930s, a far-right party is poised to take government in a German state. 

In the weekend elections in Saxony-Anhalt, the Alternative for Deutschland won 44 per cent of the vote. 

The party’s unmistakably, and unashamedly, anti-Islam but its relationship with the Christian churches is severely strained.

GUEST:

• Jan-Werner Mueller is a Princeton University political scientist and one the world’s leading experts on the far right. His latest book is called Street, Palace, Square: The Architecture of Democratic Spaces.

As the war in Sudan continues into its fourth year, with a death toll as high as 400,000, violence has come to the last refuge. 

In the Nuba mountains, Christian and Muslim Sudanese have traditionally lived in peaceful co-existence, and in roughly equal numbers. 

But the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement has set up a de facto government, principally to control the abundant resources of the mountains. 

GUEST:

• Mohaned El Nour is a distinguished Sudanese human rights lawyer who works with the group Christian Solidarity Worldwide.