THE BBC has announced its plans to mark Holy Week and Easter under the banner Faith and Hope for Spring 2022, which also includes programmes related to other faiths’ observances, such as Passover, Ramadan, Eid, Holi, Vaiskakhi, and Vesak Day.
There will be live services, worship, and reflections on Easter Day from around the country. The schedule includes a live service from Leeds Minster on BBC1, led by the Bishop of Leeds, the Rt Revd Nick Baines. The Archbishop of Canterbury will broadcast live from Canterbury Cathedral on Radio 4.
In a new series for Easter on BBC1 and iPlayer, Jill Halfpenny’s Easter Walks, the actor takes viewers on a journey through north-east England, exploring the connections between faith and place in Northumbria.
Easter from King’s on BBC2 will have seasonal choral music and readings from King’s College, Cambridge. Urbi et Orbi, on BBC1, will broadcast Pope Francis’s Easter message and blessing of the city and the world, live from Rome.
Before Easter, Pilgrimage: The road to the Scottish Isles returns to BBC1. Seven new pilgrims will follow in the footsteps of St Columba in the sixth century.
On BBC radio, Katie Piperwill brings an evening of music and reflections to Radio 2 on Good Friday, with At the Foot of the Cross (7-9 p.m.). On Radio 3, the Revd Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch will explore varieties of spiritual silence in human life and beyond in a new series of essays, Talking About Silence. Both programmes will be available for 30 days after broadcast on BBC Sounds, as is all other BBC radio content.
The BBC also announced a new five-part series, A Believer’s Guide, for BBC1 and iPlayer, which follows people as they navigate significant moments in their lives, such as dealing with loss, becoming a parent, or growing older. The series explores what faith has to offer during times of change.
There will also be another opportunity to see a range of recent religious programmes, including the documentary Mission Joy: With Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama, on BBC4, on the Faith and Hope page on BBC iPlayer.
“The BBC is passionate about providing audiences with a vibrant mix of religious content across its networks, bringing people together to worship, reflect, and celebrate,” the BBC Commissioning Editor, Religion, Daisy Scalchi, said this week.
“Our Easter content this year offers everything from insights into how kindness and compassion can bring joy, to how communities have been built on faith over millennia. After the success of last year’s special Faith and Hope for Spring season, I’m delighted that we are returning this year with a wide range of content to mark the faith festivals.”