Codex Amiatinus was made in a monastery in Wearmouth-Jarrow in Northumbria, in the early 8th Century.

Measuring a foot thick, the “extraordinary object” was described by the British Library’s chief executive Roly Keating as “one of the great acts of creative book production of the entire millennium”.

It is the earliest complete surviving manuscript of a Bible in Latin.

Announcing the Library’s 2018 highlights, Keating said: “It was gifted to the Pope in the year 716 and has been in Italy ever since.”

The Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana in Florence has “agreed to lend it back to the UK for the first time in 1,302 years”.

The abbot who took the Bible to Rome died en route, but the book still made it to Italy.

“It has never been back to Britain since it set off 1,302 years ago.

“It is one of the greatest treasures of Anglo Saxon England and the earliest complete surviving manuscript of the Bible in Latin, ” Keating said.

Most Rev Justin Welby urged the leader to remove the content from his official Twitter page and clarify his position on racism.

Writing on Facebook, he said: “I join the urgent call for President Donald Trump to remove his Britain First retweets and make clear his opposition to racism and hatred.”

Mr Trump retweeted three posts published by the deputy leader of Britain First, Jayda Fransen, to his 43.6 million followers on Twitter.

The videos claim to show Muslims committing crimes, although none have yet been verified and at least one has been identified as fake.

Archbishop Justin added: “It is deeply disturbing that the President of the United States has chosen to amplify the voice of far-right extremists.

“Britain First seeks to divide communities and intimidate minorities, especially our Muslim friends and neighbours.”

Mr Trump’s actions have also been condemned by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, the Communities Secretary Sajid Javid and Brendan Cox, the widower of MP Jo Cox who was murdered by an extremist who shouted “Britain first”.

Archbishop Justin went on to say: “God calls us as Christians to love our neighbour and seek the flourishing of all in our communities, societies and nations.”

Jayda Fransen, 31, was convicted in November 2016 of religious aggravated harassment after verbally abusing at Muslim woman wearing a hijab.

Francis has so far refrained from speaking out about Asia’s worst humanitarian crisis in decades, out of deference to his Burmese hosts who consider the Rohingya “Bengalis” and do not recognize them as an ethnic group.

The Vatican has defended Francis’ silence, saying the pope wants to “build bridges” with the predominantly Buddhist nation.

Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said Francis took the advice given to him by the local Catholic Church seriously, which urged him to toe a cautious line and not even refer to the “Rohingya” by name during his trip.

“You can criticise what’s said, what’s not said, but the pope is not going to lose moral authority on this question here,” Mr Burke told reporters on Wednesday.

But human rights groups and Rohingya themselves have expressed disappointment that Francis, a tireless and fearless advocate for refugees and the world’s most marginal, has refrained from condemning what the UN has said is a textbook case of “ethnic cleansing.”

Rohingya have faced persecution and discrimination in Burma for decades and are denied citizenship, even though many families have lived there for generations.

The situation grew worse in August when the army began what it called clearance operations in northern Rakhine state following attacks on security positions by Rohingya militants.

More than 620,000 Rohingya have since poured into refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh, where they have…

Lord Bourne has taken to Twitter to explain that millions of people will be appalled by the conduct of the US president.

On Wednesday Trump shared videos purporting to show Muslims carrying out violence and inciting violence to his 43.6 million followers.

He was later condemned by Prime Minister Theresa May, to which he responded that she should “focus on the destructive radical Islamic terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom”.

Following the sharing of the videos Downing Street confirmed that the invitation for President Trump to visit the UK still stood. It said further details would be announced in due course.

In response, Lord Bourne said: “Millions of fellow Britons of all races and religions and none appalled by conduct of @realDonaldTrump.

“Understandable that they feel unable to welcome him here under these circumstances nor could I.”

Millions of fellow Britons of all races and religions and none appalled by conduct of @realDonaldTrump – understandable that they feel unable to welcome him here under these circumstances nor could I.

— Lord Nick Bourne (@lordnickbourne) November 30, 2017

His feelings were echoed by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan who called on Theresa May to cancel her offer.

He said: “It’s increasingly clear that any official visit from President Trump to Britain would not be welcomed.”

Of the 152 councils across England approached by the Sun newspaper, only 73 provided details of cross-religious fostering involving Christians and Muslims.

Reacting to the figures, Christian foster carer from Worcester Timothy Crow said local authorities usually strive to match youngsters with culturally and religiously similar families.

Mr Crow, who had fostered more than 40 youngsters with his wife during a 25-year period, told Premier: “Something hits the headlines about a Muslim child in a Christian family or a Christian child in a Muslim family…

“Sometimes it’s actually just a necessary provision for a few weeks while they’re sorting out something longer-term.”

The Sun speculated that figures for cross-religious fostering in England could be “far higher” than the figures suggest, given 79 authorities refused to take part in the survey.

The tabloid’s investigation comes after controversy surrounding the placement of a “Christian” girl with Muslim foster family in Tower Hamlets.

The east London borough’s mayor later defended the local authority’s foster placement selection process, saying it looked “very carefully at the appropriate matching” and chose fosterers who could look after the child at a “very traumatic time”.

In releasing its findings, the Sun did not specify its definition of “Christian”.

According to recent statistics by the British Social…

The National Court in Madrid said Inocente Orlando Montano Morales, 76, arrived in Madrid on Wednesday from the US and was placed in prison. He is to be brought before the court on Thursday.

Montano faces charges of terrorist murder in the attack on the Jesuit priests – five of whom were Spaniards – and two female employees.

US court documents said Montano was part of a group of military officers accused of conspiring to kill the priests, who were helping organise peace talks during El Salvador’s 1980-1992 civil war.

The extradition was welcomed by lawyers for a legal advocacy organisation, The Guernica Group, and the Spanish Association for Human Rights, who in 2008 filed a criminal complaint before the National Court on behalf of the victims.

“Montano’s arrival to Spain brings hope not only to the families and the Jesuit community but to all victims of El Salvador who have been waiting for justice since the end of the war,” said Almudena Bernabeu, a lawyer with The Guernica Group.

Montano served as El Salvador’s vice minister for public security in the 1980s during the central American country’s civil war.

He had been held most recently in a South Carolina facility by US federal authorities.

The final legal hurdle for the extradition was crossed earlier this month when the US Supreme Court denied his request for a stay of extradition.

Montano denied involvement in the killings but a federal magistrate judge in North Carolina ruled in 2016 that evidence…