Their son is sponsored through Compassion, a Christian children’s charity.

They told the organisation: “Thank you to God who helps us to see our son very soon.

“We are so happy to hear that our son is out of the cave and to welcome him home. It’s the love that God gives to our family. God is great love and there’s nothing He can’t do.”

The daring rescue mission ended an 18-day ordeal that claimed the life of an experienced volunteer diver and riveted people around the world.

The twelve boys and their football coach were trapped deep within the labyrinth.

Ewan McGregor, a British missionary living in Chang Rai where the hospital the boys are being taken to is located, told Premier the rescue is a miracle and people are feeling relived and excited.

“It really is a miracle and a result pf prayer and I’m just excited to hear the testimonies of the boys when they’re safe and well.

“In the beginning it looked hopeless after nine days without hearing anything and after that the whole story turned… from a sad story to a really great story.”

He said that Christians should pray for the boys’ lives now they’ve been rescued.

“My prayer is they can settle back into normal life. I think they’re going to be quite well known throughout the city and across Thailand. I pray that their testimonies and the things they say and do after this that God will use for the nation of…

The £7m move is part of a £30 m package to reduce violence and crime in prisons and stem the flow of illegal mobiles.

Speaking during Premier’s News Hour, Pastor Philip Noel from Jesus House highlighted how the “luxury” item would increase the likelihood for prisoners to be rehabilitated.

“From a human being point of view or from a Christian’s, yes, it is a luxury but we’re not actually sending them in there to die we’re actually sending them in there hoping that the time will change their attitude to life and their fellow human beings,” he said.

“So we really want to make sure that we can do that responsibly and people need to have a voice before they start to hear the wrong voices and can come out worse than when they went in.”

The technology is already in place at 20 prisons, but the Ministry of Justice wants to extend the scheme to another 20 over the next two years.

All calls – which will continue to be paid for by prisoners – will be recorded with active monitoring introduced if there is any suspicion the service is being abused for crime. Only phone numbers on an approved list will be called.

Currently, most prisoners queue for public phones on the landings, which can be a trigger for violence, the Ministry of Justice said.

Explaining the importance of prisoners speaking to their families, Pastor Noel said: “You’ve got to consider those who are left behind….

The 23th-27th January trip, which was expected, will be Francis’ third World Youth Day.

He attended the event in Brazil in 2013, months after his election, and in Poland in 2016 (pictured below).

A brief statement from the Vatican said the pope had accepted an invitation from the Panamanian government and Catholic bishops to visit.

There have been calls for Francis to stop in El Salvador en route to or from Panama to pray at the tomb of murdered Archbishop Oscar Romero, whom Francis plans to make a saint in October at the Vatican.

The statement on Monday made no mention of a Salvador leg of the January trip.

While in Panama, Francis is expected to consecrate a colonial-era basilica that recently was restored.

Panamanian organisers said they also were looking to set up papal visits to people who are sick or living on the margins, typical stops during Francis’ trips abroad.

President Juan Carlos Varela tweeted that he “shares the joy and excitement of the Panamanian people” and promised full government support for the pope’s visit.

Reporting by Associated Press.

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The amount of regular giving declined by £1.35 million – or 0.4 per cent – between 2015 and 2016, from £337.5 million to £336.15 million, leaders meeting in York have been told.

Addressing members of the Church’s governing body, General Synod, the chair of the Archbishop Council’s financial committee, John Spence, said the way younger people give to the church is changing.

During a meeting in York, he was quoted by The Times as saying: “The numbers of people in our ‘planned giving’ scheme have declined by 13 per cent since 2010 [but] individual commitments have grown by 27 per cent, allowing the overall sum to rise by ten per cent.

“But in 2016, for the first time, the total coming out of planned giving declined.

“Planned giving is not the way that young generations operate.”

General Synod member, Canon Jonathan Ford told Premier’s Inspirational Breakfast it was unrealistic to expect younger people to be able to give as much money to the Church as previous generations have.

He explained: “We actually had a millennial [younger person] taking part in that debate who told us about the fact that she doesn’t give very much because, actually, she isn’t earning because she’s doing all this other stuff.

“What she does do is a huge amount of voluntary work but, as soon as she does start earning, she does start giving.

“Millennials not giving [to the Church] is to do…