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Pope Benedict XVI will deliver the Thought For The Day on BBC Radio 4 on Christmas Eve morning.
His Christmas message to the British people follows a visit to the UK in September - the first official state visit to the country by a pontiff.
It is an unprecedented move, as Pope Benedict is not thought to have presented material specifically written for a radio or TV audience before.
The Pope recorded Thought For The Day in Rome on Wednesday.
Gwyneth Williams, the controller of Radio 4, said: “I’m delighted Pope Benedict is sharing his Christmas message with the Radio 4 audience.”
“It’s significant that the Pope has chosen Thought For The Day to give his first personally scripted broadcast - and what better time to do so than on the eve of the biggest celebration on the Christian calendar.”
Thought For The Day is broadcast within the Today programme at 0745 from Monday to Saturday.
It offers approximately three minutes of personal reflection from faith leaders and believers of a variety of religious denominations.
BBC Director-General Mark Thompson, a Jesuit-educated Roman Catholic, is understood to have approached Vatican officials about a contribution from the Pope ahead of his state visit.
The decision however has been criticised by the UK’s National Secular Society.
“The BBC is giving the Pope an unquestioned slot to continue whitewashing his Church’s disgraceful record on covering up child abuse by its priests,” NSS president Terry Sanderson said in a statement.
"Why isn’t the Pope being subjected the same rigorous questioning that other heads of state would get?
“After the overkill from the BBC during the Pope’s visit, this indicates the corporation’s obsession with religion, whereas the nation is largely indifferent to it,” he added.
bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12063684
His Christmas message to the British people follows a visit to the UK in September - the first official state visit to the country by a pontiff.
It is an unprecedented move, as Pope Benedict is not thought to have presented material specifically written for a radio or TV audience before.
The Pope recorded Thought For The Day in Rome on Wednesday.
Gwyneth Williams, the controller of Radio 4, said: “I’m delighted Pope Benedict is sharing his Christmas message with the Radio 4 audience.”
“It’s significant that the Pope has chosen Thought For The Day to give his first personally scripted broadcast - and what better time to do so than on the eve of the biggest celebration on the Christian calendar.”
Thought For The Day is broadcast within the Today programme at 0745 from Monday to Saturday.
It offers approximately three minutes of personal reflection from faith leaders and believers of a variety of religious denominations.
BBC Director-General Mark Thompson, a Jesuit-educated Roman Catholic, is understood to have approached Vatican officials about a contribution from the Pope ahead of his state visit.
The decision however has been criticised by the UK’s National Secular Society.
“The BBC is giving the Pope an unquestioned slot to continue whitewashing his Church’s disgraceful record on covering up child abuse by its priests,” NSS president Terry Sanderson said in a statement.
"Why isn’t the Pope being subjected the same rigorous questioning that other heads of state would get?
“After the overkill from the BBC during the Pope’s visit, this indicates the corporation’s obsession with religion, whereas the nation is largely indifferent to it,” he added.
bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12063684
