The Pope is to deliver UK’s Thought for the Day message during the Today programme on Radio 4 on Christmas Eve, the programme going out at 07.45 on Christmas Eve and lasting three minutes.
It is the first time that Pope Benedict XVI has presented material specifically written for a radio or television audience and it has been reported that this is the first time that a serving Pontiff has delivered Thought for the Day. That part is hardly surprising, as a non-serving Pontiff would, in fact, be a dead Pontiff.
Also hardly surprising is the reaction of numerous minority groups to the announcement and secularists object to the fact that Thought for the Day is still closed to non-religious speakers, although it does attract a wide range of speakers from many different faiths, previous speakers having included the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Archbishop Vincent Nichols and the Sikh Indarjit Singh.