Fewer baptisms. Civil rights leaders of today. Revisiting Lampedusa.

Available for 29 days

There’s been a sharp drop in the number of baptisms over the last decade in Catholic and Presbyterian churches across the island. What does that say about society today and what might it mean for organised religion in the decades to come? Audrey is joined by Dr Tom Finnegan (chairperson of The Iona Institute), Dr Rebecca Stevenson (Public Affairs Officer with the Presbyterian Church in Ireland) and sociologist of religion Professor Gladys Ganiel (Queen's University Belfast). Who is willing to stand up and fight for those being dehumanised and discriminated against in this society? Have activists become jaded? Who are the courageous and brave of today? Does anyone using a hashtag now deem themselves an activist? Trade unionist Dr Kellie Turtle, theologian Dr Elaine Storkey, and civil rights historian and author Forrest Issac Jones compare the activists of today with those during the civil rights movements of the 1960s. Sally Hayden has been reporting on migration into Europa for more than a decade. She recently returned to island of Lampedusa, the most southerly point of Europe and the destination of people taking dangerous journeys from the coast of Libya. She explains how the humanitarian and political situation has changed.