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Gaza Christians; Trump bible; Easter Island

We hear from a dwindling Christian community hiding in a Gaza church. Former President Trump sells a 'new' King James's Bible.
Ancient wooden tablets discovered on Easter Island.

Parishioner's in Gaza’s only Roman Catholic church are marking Easter Sunday with some extra pomp and pageantry but basically as they do everyday, with prayers for food and a ceasefire. More than 500 people have been sheltering in the Holy Family Church since the outbreak of war. They’re part of the dwindling Christian community in Gaza who’ve stuck together for protection and ignored warnings to leave the northern part of the strip. Producer Catherine Murray has kept in touch with one of their members, George Antone, and tells us how they have communicated over the past six months.

Former United States president Donald Trump is selling Bibles during the Easter holiday, encouraging his supporters to "Make America Pray Again".
In a three-minute video posted on his Truth Social network on Tuesday, Mr Trump told supporters that "Christians are under siege" as he endorsed a large-print King James Version of the Bible complete with what he called America's "founding father documents."
We’ll hear from Theologian Brad Onishi, a professor of religion at The University of San Francisco and co-host of the 'Straight White American Jesus' podcast to get his view on how the move has been received.

Polynesia’s Rapa Nui was given the nickname ‘Easter Island,’ after its first-recorded European contact, on Easter Sunday, 1722. Home of the Moai and giant, stone platforms (‘ahus’), masterful feats of construction, still part of ancestral beliefs and practises today, the island is also one earth’s most remote places, with a history long shrouded in false narratives. We speak to philologist Silvia Ferrara about how new research into a wooden tablet, featuring an independent writing system, that pre-dates European influence by at least two centuries, can widen our understanding of historical religious beliefs and practises on the island.

Presenter: William Crawley
Producers: Bara'atu Ibrahim & Linda Walker
Production Coordinator: David Baguley
Editor: Tim Pemberton

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44 minutes

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  • Sun 31 Mar 2024 07:10

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