Peter Ball, the former Bishop of Lewes and Gloucester who boasted of links to royalty, has asked to join the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton, in Bristol, a spokesman for the Church confirmed.

His identical twin brother, the former bishop of Truro Michael Ball, also sent an email – seen by Press Association – to friends telling them of the idea.

Peter Ball, now 85, was jailed for 32 months in October 2015 for offences dating back to the 1970s against 18 young men at his home in East Sussex.

The email sent on Wednesday morning said the pair would not be sending Christmas cards after recent events had “totally wearied and reduced” them.

In it, Michael Ball said: “Peter and Michael will not be sending Christmas Cards this year.

“The events of the last years and rightly or wrongly the battering by the Church have totally wearied and reduced us.

“We will proabably [sic] be joining the Roman Catholic Church soon.

“We love The Church of England but would like to end our days in a church where we can live and worship in anonymity and without constant fear.

“We send our love and are enormously grateful fo [sic] the kindness and continued support of so many.

“We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a joyful New Year.”

The message was mistakenly sent to a BBC journalist and subsequently shown to Peter Saunders, the child abuse campaigner who founded support charity NAPAC.

Speaking to Press Association on Wednesday…

Sources close to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) say there has been no major improvement in the condition of His Holiness Abune Antonios and he is being subjected to daily humiliation.

He was illegally removed from his office in January 2006 after repeatedly resisting interference by the Eritrean government in church matters.

It is alleged His Holiness Abune Antonios’ movements are currently restricted by officials to two rooms within the servants quarters of a villa belonging to two junior bishops.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJqSUymsNoo]

Elizabeth Chyrum, Director of Human Rights Concern-Eritrea (HRC-E) said: “It is an insult that the legitimate patriarch of the Orthodox Church is confined to the servants’ quarters in the same compound where two junior bishops live in a villa.

“This was clearly and deliberately done to subject him to daily humiliation.”

There was speculation in July this year that the Orthodox leader might be imminently released and reinstated after he made a public appearance in church.

Hopes were dashed after His Holiness Abune Antonios was stopped from asking a question during the service and promptly whisked away from the building afterwards.

Meryn Thomas, Chief Executive at CSW – a charity which advocates for persecuted Christians – said: “We reiterate our call for the patriarch’s unconditional release and reinstatement and for representatives of sisterly Oriental Orthodox churches to visit him, not only to ensure his…

In a letter addressed to Theresa May, the politicians said that exiting the bloc without an agreement would be “highly irresponsible”.

Christian and MP for Stafford, Jeremy LeFroy who was one of the signatories to the letter, played down talk of a bitter clash with Brexiteers in the party.

Speaking during News Hour, he said: “I wouldn’t say we’re at logger-heads. What I’m doing is just representing what businesses in my constituency and businesses nationally are saying.

“The idea that we can just walk away and have no deal for most businesses that I’ve spoken to that makes absolutely no sense to them whatsoever.”

Mr LeFroy insisted that the letter is “very much supporting the Prime Minister who is negotiating extremely hard on behalf of the UK and saying ‘we mustn’t walk away from negotiations’.”

He added: There have been some calls if we don’t reach a certain point by a certain date just to walk away but we believe that it’s essential for the good of the country and for our long-term relationships with our European neighbours to keep on talking.

“We hope that there will be an agreement on moving on to stage two of the talks very soon and I know that the Prime Minister is doing everything possible to ensure that that happens.”

Christian Tory Remainers Stephen Crabb, work and pensions secretary; attorney general Dominic Grieve and Gary Streeter, MP for South West Devon also signed the letter.

Full letter from 20…

The History Channel survey found 20 per cent didn’t know Jesus birth was remembered on Christmas Day and one in 20 thought Jesus was born over Easter.

Around one in 10 were unable to name Bethlehem as Jesus’ place of birth while another 10 per cent were unaware he was born in a stable, despite the prevalence of nativity plays and Christian teaching in schools.

A spokesman for the History Channel, which commissioned the research to mark the launch of its new show Robert Powell on The Real Jesus of Nazareth, told the Independent: “For many of us, Christmas is a festivity we all look forward to celebrating with our loved ones.

“But over time, it seems people are becoming more and more unaware about the real reason we mark the day and the story of Jesus.”

Despite the confusion over why we celebrate Christmas, the researchers found more than seven in 10 believed they had a good knowledge of the story of Jesus.

The study of 2,000 adults revealed one in 20 couldn’t name Mary and Joseph as Jesus’ parents while 16 per cent didn’t know Jesus’ occupation was a carpenter and thought he was jobless.

The research, carried out via OnePoll.com, also revealed only three in ten learned their knowledge of Jesus and his story from The Bible itself.

Most people’s knowledge of Jesus came from what they were taught in school and one in ten picked up their knowledge by watching TV shows.