Off to Lebanon, eh? Sounds like a fun trip.

So His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has signed up for Twitter. Having settled on the snappy handle of @pontifex, the Vatican advised followers to note that tweets shouldn't be regarded as "infallible teachings". But they won't be Instagrammed LOLcats either - the Pope will use the account for live responses to questions about faith during his weekly general audience, starting December 12th.

In a rare intervention into religious matters, the PM said he was 'very sad' about the outcome

Dr Rowan Williams admitted that the Church of England loses credibility every day it fails to approve women bishops

Andreas Whittam Smith was among those deliberating

The General Synod votes today as the traditionalists make  a last-ditch stand

More than 1,000 clergy and senior laity back the historic move in an open letter to The Independent

A protestor who interrupted Tony Blair’s evidence at the Leveson Inquiry in May has been fined £100.

Gambling, misogyny, homosexuality were the themes around a major appointment last week. But this wasn't about an England football captain. It was a new Archbishop of Canterbury.

He delivered his homily in ancient surroundings to a respectfully silent congregation but the freshly-minted 105th Archbishop of Canterbury could do nothing to avoid the noisy issues that haunted his predecessor and already risk defining his stint as leader of 77 million Anglicans worldwide.

It is a matter of some irony that the Church of England – a body which would outline the parameters of a moral life – sets such a poor example in its own affairs. The selection of a new Archbishop of Canterbury has been a shambolic affair, fraught with leaks and flurries of clandestine betting from individuals ready to preach to others about respect, integrity and the evils of avarice. High up the agenda of Justin Welby (if he is, as expected, elevated from the bishopric of Durham today) must be ensuring a more dignified and transparent method of choosing his own successor.

As the next Archbishop of Canterbury in all but name made his way into the Houses of Parliament, a police officer made a point of congratulating him on his new post. The response of Bishop Justin Welby was to laugh and raise his hands self-deprecatingly in defence.

There are fresh demands to reform the system of appointing Archbishops after suspicious bets were placed on the appointment of the next Archbishop of Canterbury.

Priests at holy site are shocked by supplier’s demand for arrears and interest of £1.5m