It follows the death of a 52 year-old – who can’t be identified – who was allowed to die in December. His family and experts agreed that he shouldn’t have been kept alive for so long.

However, Dr Peter Saunders from the Christian Medical Fellowship told Premier News Hour it’s never humane to end someone else’s life.

Speaking during Premier’s News Hour, he explained: “We first need to search out what the truth is and the way that this case is being presented is a hugely compassionate approach to people who are desperate and suffering… but it is actually crossing a Rubicon to actively end life by deliberate withholding of food and fluid from someone who is not imminently dying.

“So I think from a Christian perspective, actively ending life is always morally wrong. I think also we’ve got to say, ‘what’s the value of a human life and what’s it based on?’

“As human being, we are all people who are precious because we’re made in the image of God and the fact that someone is profoundly brain-damaged or disabled doesn’t mean that you stop loving them and caring for them and treating their symptoms and giving them food and pain relief and everything that’s required.”

The Court of Protection has ruled on cases for 25 years but the process can take months or even years, and it costs health authorities about £50,000 in legal fees to appeal.

It is estimated 24,000 people in…

The research, carried out to mark World Friendship Day on Monday, also revealed that one in five do not even know how to write a letter.

Odette Brooks, founder of Leaps and Bounds Educational Services told Premier she’s not surprised by the results, but it’s still saddening.

“I think we live in an age where speed is king so we want communication to have a sense of brevity,” she said.

“Young people now, they’re fully engaged in text messaging as their main form of written communication. The problem with that is the quality is compromised.”

World Vision uses letter writing as a way for families to build lasting friendships with the children they sponsor.

Lauren Vail, children’s communications officer at World Vision UK said it has many benefits.

“The education which sponsored children get is often poor,” she said.

“Letter writing helps these children develop their literacy and communication skills. Knowing that what you say is important to someone far away has a powerful impact on a child’s confidence.”

Brooks told Premier that writing letters should not be viewed as a thing of the past.

“Letter-writing does have its relevance today,” she added.

“It’s not some sort of archaic thing from the past. That’s why World Vision pen pal initiative is brilliant, because young people see letter writing is a brilliant way of keeping in touch with each other and expressing our ideas…

Francis’ move followed mounting pressure from Australian priests and even the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull.

Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson was convicted in May of failing to report to police the repeated abuse of two altar boys by a paedophile priest in the Hunter Valley region north of Sydney during the 1970s.

He became the highest-ranking Catholic cleric ever convicted in a criminal court of covering up abuse.

Wilson had declined to resign pending an appeal of his case.

Mr Turnbull added his voice to those calling for his sacking in an appeal to Francis on July 19.

The Vatican said that Francis has accepted Wilson’s resignation.

It is the second major announcement of a sex abuse-related resignation in as many days, after Francis’ dramatic sanctioning this weekend of a US cardinal, suggesting he is keen to clean up before he heads to Dublin next month for a Catholic family rally.

Wilson, who denied the accusations, had immediately stepped aside after he was convicted but refused to resign pending an appeal. Francis has appointed a temporary administrator to run the diocese in the meantime.

In a statement issued by the archdiocese, Wilson said he had submitted his resignation to Francis of his own will on July 20 – a day after Mr Turnbull’s call – and said he hoped his decision would help abuse victims and the rest of the Catholic community heal.

He said: “I had…

Mr Erdogan told journalists on Sunday that the relationship between the two countries would be damaged if Washington persisted in what he described as “psychological warfare”.

His comments follow President Donald Trump announcing last week that he would impose “large sanctions “against Turkey over its treatment of Andrew Bruson.

The US Vice President Mike Pence also took to Twitter to promise the pastor will always have the support of the American administration to ensure he is returned home, On Sunday he tweeted transferring Mr Brunson to home arrest was “just not good enough”.

Brunson, a 50 year old evangelical pastor from Black Mountain, North Carolina, was arrested in December 2016 and later charged with links to a failed plot to overthrow the Turkish government in July 2016.

Israel reported Turkey had made a u-turn over a deal brokered by Mr Trump, in which the Jewish state would return a Turkish national accused of smuggling money to the militant group Hamas in exchange for Mr Brunson’s freedom.

The United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a great Christian, family man and wonderful human being. He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2018

However, Mr…

Church leaders confirmed the death of Bishop Epiphanius but the circumstances around his death remain uncertain.

The Coptic Archbishop of London, Archbishop Angaelos said: “Mourning the tragic death of our brother and friend Bishop Epiphanius, Abbot of St Makarious Monastery.

“A kind and gentle man, and a faithful shepherd and theologian of the Coptic Orthodox Church.”

The religious figure’s body was discovery in the monastery near Wadi el-Natroun in Beheira Governorate on Sunday.

The media Twitter page of the UK Coptic Orthodox Church said: “Reports emerging of the brutal murder today of Coptic Bishop Epiphanius, Abbot of Saint Macarius Monastery, Egypt.”

Bishop Epiphanius’ head was smashed and there were injuries to his back, according to unnamed security officials who spoke with the Associated Press news agency.

Egypt’s Christian minority, which constitutes ten per cent of the Muslim-majority country, has been targeted in a series of attacks by Islamic militants since winter 2016.

Twenty-nine people were killed when a suicide bomber targeted St Peter and St Paul’s Church in Cairo on 22nd December 2016.

Stay up to date with the latest news stories from a Christian perspective. Sign up to our daily newsletter and receive more stories like this straight to your inbox every morning.