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In 2006, we named the scientist and culture warrior Richard Dawkins our Person of the Year. In 2007, Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness shared the accolade as Person and Deputy Person of the Year. In 2008, the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, took the title. And last year it was awarded jointly to the Irish abuse survivors Marie Collins and Andrew Madden (pictured). Who should be the choice this year?

Which man, woman or child has most inspired us, challenged us, impressed, infuriated, or simply pre-occupied us in the past twelve months? The person, in short, who will be forever associated with this year. Who gets your nomination? Will it be a politician, a scientist, a religious leader, an entertainer, a military leader, or a campaigner. It could be a hero or a villain. It could even be an idea whose time has come, or an object that defines this year.

Submit your suggestions, and tell us your reasons for the suggestion. But remember, it's not a competition: I get to pick the Will & Testament Person of the Year (it's one of my few remaining pleasures), and I'll reveal his, her or its identity on the first edition of Sunday Sequence in the new year. On our 2 January programme, my panel of media-watchers will nominate their person of the year and debate our choice.

1. Pope Benedict visits the UK - and dominates the year's headlines. It was, by any reckoning, the Pope's year. In March, Pope Benedict published a Letter to the Catholics of Ireland, the clearest statement to date of the Vatican's thinking on the causes and possible responses to the international clerical abuse crisis.

The Pope's supporters saw it as evidence that he had engaged his officials in a serious effort to deal with clerical abuse, while many victims and survivors saw it as more of the same: the Pope pointed to secularisation and an abandonment of traditional spiritual practices as part-explanations for the abuse crisis and failed to accept any personal responsibility for mismanaging the crisis. Soon, the Vatican's "Apostolic Visitors" began their still ongoing investigation of the Irish Catholic Church. But the Pope's refusal, in August, to accept the resignations of two bishops named in the Murphy Report into abuse in the Dublin archdiocese outraged many commentators and was interpreted widely as a criticism of the leadership in Dublin of Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, the man seen by many victims of abuse as the only member of the Irish hierarchy with a mind to change the status quo.

Pope Benedict's state visit to the United Kingdom was preceded by calls for his arrest by leading human rights experts, though the UK government emphasised that, as a head of state, the Pope enjoys immunity from prosecution. Then came a leaked Foreign Office memo summarizing some "blue sky thinking" amongst the papal visit planning team--including the suggestion that the Holy Father might launch new Benedict-branded condoms while in the UK. The British Ambassador to the Holy See, Francis Campbell, was forced to make a grovelling apology on behalf of the government, and Lord Patten was brought out of diplomatic retirement to knock the British end of the visit into shape. It all pointed to a papal tour that would be mired in controversy.

In the end, it was an unexpectedly successful visit, with tens of thousands of people lining the streets and celebratory large-scale public events, including the Beatification Mass for Cardinal John Henry Newman, the most famous Anglican convert to Catholicism. On more than one occasion, the Pope returned to his key message: a call for the restoration of Christian spiritual and moral values in British public life and an assault on secular humanism. Later in the year, Benedict XVI became the first pope to give a book-length interview, during which he appeared to change his mind on whether condoms can be used in the fight against HIV and Aids. Then came clarification after clarification from the Vatican, leaving Catholics increasingly confused about their church's teaching. The Pope's decision to create "a Personal Ordinariate for Anglicans who wish to enter full communion with the Catholic Church" was seen by some Anglicans as the ecclesiastical equivalent of parking tanks on the Archbishop of Canterbury's lawn. A US embassy cable later published by WikiLeaks reported Ambassador Francis Campbell suggesting that the Pope's intervention in Anglican affairs could trigger anti-Catholic "violence" in the UK.

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In 2006, we named the scientist and culture warrior Richard Dawkins our Person of the Year. In 2007, Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness shared the accolade as Person and Deputy Person of the Year. In 2008, the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, took the title. And last year it was awarded jointly to the Irish abuse survivors Marie Collins and Andrew Madden (pictured). Who should be the choice this year?

Which man, woman or child has most inspired us, challenged us, impressed, infuriated, or simply pre-occupied us in the past twelve months? The person, in short, who will be forever associated with this year. Who gets your nomination? Will it be a politician, a scientist, a religious leader, an entertainer, a military leader, or a campaigner. It could be a hero or a villain. It could even be an idea whose time has come, or an object that defines this year.

Submit your suggestions, and tell us your reasons for the suggestion. But remember, it's not a competition: I get to pick the Will & Testament Person of the Year (it's one of my few remaining pleasures), and I'll reveal his, her or its identity on the first edition of Sunday Sequence in the new year. On our 2 January programme, my panel of media-watchers will nominate their person of the year and debate our choice.

Even the on Christmas. During his state visit to the UK, Pope Benedict told an assembly of politicians and representatives from civil society: "'There are those who argue that the public celebration of festivals such as Christmas should be discouraged, in the questionable belief that it might somehow offend those of other religions or none . . . These are worrying signs of a failure to appreciate not only the rights of believers to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, but also the legitimate role of religion in the public square."

But is it true? Is there really a secularist or pluralist war on Christmas? Are you feeling any pressure to avoid sending Christmas cards this year or to send cards which read "Season's Greetings" rather than "Merry Christmas"? Or is the so-called "war on Christmas" and annual phony war? You can debate (or lack thereof) on this thread and also add your links to other news stories worth noting. If they are interesting, I'll add them to the main page.

Religion stories
The Pope defends .
What does Christmas
"Christmas has been banned" --
Merry Christmas
Christian hotel owners who barred gay couple
Bishops back Christian B&B owners on eve of
Secularists attack day of
George Bush
Amnesty says Iraq church

Ethical news
Irish abortion ban 'violated woman's rights'.
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange awaits bail appeal.
Q&A: Arrest of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
Ex-minister Bob Ainsworth: Make drugs legally available.
The Moral Maze: can be an intellectual and still watch the X Factor?

Thinking allowed
Richard Owen: the greatest scientist
Young Mandela:
Oliver Sacks on
Inside the mind of

I don't often post an open thread, but some of you tell me it's a good idea because it lets you get stuff off your chest without throwing the direction of other threads. It also permits you to make suggestions about subjects we might give some more substantial space to on Will & Testament. Let's see. Expatiate at will (sorry about the pun). Keep it legal. The house rules still apply.

Now's your chance.

You can "walk the streets of Bethlehem village, meet the villagers for yourself, hear the sounds and savour the smells of those remarkable times" in a unique event that's coming to Belfast this weekend.

Here's how the organisers describe it: "The village of Bethlehem was a not a particularly pleasant place. Already under Roman occupation, the streets are thronged with more visitors than the small village can handle. The puppet ruler has flooded the streets with spies seeking out a threat to his authority. And in the midst of the chaos, rumour has it that a radical king has been born and is lying in an animal stable."

The comes to the Livestock Hall in the King's Hall complex on Friday (7 - 9 pm) and Saturday (10am - 9pm). And it's free.

The Guardian's WikiLeaks team has been combing through leaked diplomatic cables from the US Embassy to the Vatican, and other related cables, and turning the revelations into stories. Today, they publish four stories that the Vatican and the diplomats would rather we didn't know.

deals with a visit to Rome by Rowan Williams. Francis Campbell (pictured, left), the UK's Ambassador to the Holy See, is reported to have claimed that the Pope's creation of an Anglican Ordinariate to provide an ecclesial home for disaffected English Anglicans could trigger violence against England's mostly Irish-origin, Catholic minority.

Money quote: "There is still latent anti-Catholicism in some parts of England and it may not take much to set it off. The outcome could be discrimination or in isolated cases, even violence, against this minority." Many will regard this claim -- if the cable is a fair record -- as bizarrely over-the-top.

The same cable reports Francis Campbell's concerns about the pending papal visit to the UK: "As for the Pope's visit next year to England, Campbell said he now expected a chilly reception, especially from the Royal family - which was not a great supporter of ecumenical dialogue even before the crisis." As it turns out, the visit was an unalloyed success and the Queen's welcome could not have been warmer. If this cable is a fair record of Francis Campbell's comments, it would appear that Her Majesty's Ambassador has been telling American diplomats that the Queen is not a fan of inter-church relations.

More significant in Ireland is which lifts the lid on the secret diplomacy that led to the Irish government. The cable will be read by many as yet more evidence that the Vatican was more focused on diplomatic niceties than on the abuse of children in Ireland.

Money quote: "The Murphy Commission's requests offended many in the Vatican, the Holy See's Assessor Peter Wells (protect strictly) told DCM [deputy chief of mission], because they saw them as an affront to Vatican sovereignty. Vatican officials were also angered that the Government of Ireland did not step in to direct the Murphy Commission to follow standard procedures in communications with Vatican City." The Vatican's ambassador to Ireland (the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza, pictured, right) simply ignored all requests for co-operation because they had not come through the appropriate diplomatic channels. After a failed attempt by Ireland's Ambassador to facilitate communications between his government and the Holy See, the Irish government relented.

This first batch of Vatican cables also reveals that US diplomatics are deeply unimpressed -- and the technophobia of Vatican officials in a world dominated by the internet and high-speed communications. And from 2004 shows that the future Pope Benedict lobbied against Turkey's membership of the EU. We are also beginning to see more details of the Vatican'sof political and moral issues. A is critical of the Pope's "unhelpful" role in the Middle East peace process, but gives the Vatican credit for helping to secure the release of British sailors captured by Iran -- indeed more credit than British officials

Further commentary on this breaking news story from:

Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú News: Pope's conversion offer damaged relations.
John Allen on
Protect the Pope
Damian Thompson of the

The first cable from the US Embassy to the Holy See . And it is just the first. WikiLeaks is said to have acquired 700 cables from the American mission to the Vatican and 100 additional cables from non-US embassies dealing with Vatican-related issues. The Guardian is expected to begin publishing some of this material tomorrow. The published cable, dated 21 January 2010, is classified "Confidential" and headed "'Green' Pope Supports US Path Forward From Copenhagen".

The cable relates a meeting between an official of the US embassy and Dr Paolo Conversi, an official at the Vatican's Secretariat of State who tells the diplomat that the Holy See would use its good offices to encourage other nations to "discreetly ... associate themselves with" the Copenhagen Accord on climate change. The cable notes the significance of this offer of lobbying assistance by the Vatican given the Holy See's previous reluctance "to appear to compromise its independence and moral authority by associating itself with particular lobbying efforts."

Dr Paolo Conversi made an appearance in the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú's recent Our Man in the Vatican series. He is shown in the background of a meeting between the British Ambassador, , and officials from the Secretariat of State. The British press will take a particular interest in any cables from the UK's embassy to the Holy See which might give us more information about the planning of the Pope's recent visit to the UK. We'll also be looking for any commentary dealing with the leak of what has , which proved deeply embarrassing for the UK government in the lead-up to the papal visit.

Picture: Ambassador Francis Campbell is received by Pope Benedict XVI.

The three daughters of Pakistani Christian woman Aasia Bibi pose with a photograph of their mother. Aasia Bibi was by a court near Lahore and to death by hanging. On Sunday, I interviewed a former Pakistani bishop, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, who explained why he believed there is little political will in Pakistan to repeal a law has harmed the country's reputation across the world (listen here), notwithstanding the calls for repeal from church leaders, international human rights agencies and leading politicans. The case for repeal is Pope Benedict has called Meanwhile, a hardline to anyone who , even if she is eventually pardoned by the president. Aasia Bibi has consistently denied that she used any language offensive to Islam in a dispute with neighbours that resulted in blasphemy proceedings. Her lawyers claim that Pakistan's blasphemy law is sometimes used by citizens as a means to harrass others and that Aasia bibi is being persecuted for her strong Christian faith. You can debate the issues raised by Aasia Bibi case on this thread and also add your links to other news stories worth noting. If they are interesting, I'll add them to the main page.

Religion stories
Former singing priest Tony Walsh s
While a cardinal, Pope Benedict asked for swift action
Church, not faith,
Santa's helpers are
Sins of omission are more common than sins of commission:
Narnia's Aslan the lion represents all great spiritual leaders, says
Dr Jeffrey John preaches at
The diocese of London experiences
Christian group campaigns to have anti-gay app .
Monk tragedy Of Gods and Men proves surprise hit.
When does Chistmas ?
Doing God in education:
can shape a person's theology:
Meet the Billy
Louisiana blocks textbook .

Ethics news
WikiLeaks:
WikiLeaks in
Mispronouning Jeremy Hunt's name: what makes a word
Unmarried parents
UK in-work child poverty highest on record,

Thinking allowed
Can Civilization Survive Without God? A Conversation with .
Theologian asks, "Didn't Jesus
America's death penalty in
What is "
Take a UCLA course on
From Disgust to Humanity: Sexual Orientation and Constitutional Law
Healthier and wealthier in 400 years:
Eamon Duffy reviews
The WikiLeaks Debate: Julian Assange is

In 2006, we named the scientist and culture warrior Richard Dawkins our Person of the Year. In 2007, Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness shared the accolade as Person and Deputy Person of the Year. In 2008, the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, took the title. And last year it was awarded jointly to the Irish abuse survivors Marie Collins and Andrew Madden (pictured). Who should be the choice this year?

Which man, woman or child has most inspired us, challenged us, impressed, infuriated, or simply pre-occupied us in the past twelve months? The person, in short, who will be forever associated with this year. Who gets your nomination? Will it be a politician, a scientist, a religious leader, an entertainer, a military leader, or a campaigner. It could be a hero or a villain. It could even be an idea whose time has come, or an object that defines this year.

Submit your suggestions, and tell us your reasons for the suggestion. But remember, it's not a competition: I get to pick the Will & Testament Person of the Year (it's one of my few remaining pleasures), and I'll reveal his, her or its identity on the blog shortly before the end of this year.

Some churches, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, have already done do -- providing an opportunity for all church members to have an HIV test on the premises. In a few cases, churches have for all pastors, church workers and would-be married couples. But some churches in Britain and Ireland have failed even to acknowledge the existence of a global HIV pandemic in prayers, sermons or special liturgies.

HIV campaigners are challenging churches and other religious groups to put HIV on their agenda by encouraging clergy to preach against the stigmatization of people living with HIV. That might be a very appropriate way to mark .

Or perhaps churches here should consider offering their members HIV tests during or after worship. Would that be such a bad idea?

Why are so many human beings "religious"? And not just church-goers. Even self-confessed atheists have been known to offer the odd prayer while in desperate straits. If you believe in God, you might explain our species' special relationship with the divine by saying, we are the way we are because God made us that way -- with minds that are restlessly in pursuit of their creator. But how do you explain human religious thinking if you don't assume that God actually exists? Some atheists say religious belief is a kind of irrational glitch in the system that we should work hard to overcome; the more strident have even used the term "mental illness" to describe religious belief.

Step forward a scientist and author with a new theory that is getting a lot of talk around the world. is an American psychologist and who . In his new book, , he argues that humanity's religious instinct is what sets us apart from other animals -- and it carries powerful evolutionary benefits. I asked Jesse Bering to explain his theory in this Will & Testament interview.

Why is your book called The God Instinct?
At it's core, the book is about our species' strange wild goose chase for the so-called meaning of life. The term "instinct" is riddled with technical difficulties in scientific parlance, and I'm well aware of that, of course. But the term also has an immediate currency when it comes to effectively characterising a species' strong, "natural", unlearned inclinations. And our species' pursuit of the supernatural, whether it exists or not, is very much an instinct in this sense. It turns out that things are much more complicated than observing that religious people are silly or that atheists are arrogant and blinded by science. It's time to look more deeply at the cognitive seductiveness of religious beliefs; simply attributing religion to a lack of education, or a fear of death and meaningless, isn't going far enough. That's just polemical hand-waving. The actual science behind the story reveals just how much believers and nonbelievers have in common.

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, the former head of the Work Foundation, suggests that public sector bosses should be paid a maximum multiple of their organisations' lowest pay rate and . In , Hutton also argues that the Prime Minister's salary is an "invalid" gauge of public sector salaries because "the prime minister's salary is not objectively linked to the value of his job, or the need to recruit and retain individuals". He also suggests that David Cameron's total remuneration including his living arrangements and allowances could be as much as £581.651.

Read the Hutton Review of Pay Pay in the Public Sector (interim report) .