Speaking of Leeds, as we did below, the Roman Catholic and Anglican bishops of England and Wales met yesterday and today there. Here’s their statement from today:

Statement from Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor.

"This historic meeting, forty years on from the visit of Archbishop Michael Ramsey to Pope Paul VI ­ the meeting from which the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission dialogue flowed ­ marks a further development in the warm relations that exist between the Anglican and Catholic Bishops in England and Wales. Many of us already meet together regularly at regional and local meetings, and are involved in a wide range of shared projects.

"We recognise the importance of working together to present a shared Christian witness to our society, and acknowledge the importance of working with other Christian denominations, and with those of other faiths to take forward the common good in society.

"This meeting is a significant sign of our mutual commitment to dialogue and joint witness based on our common faith. It underlines our responsibility to work together as partners in mission and service to the people of our country. The mission given to us by Christ obliges and compels us to engage more deeply and widely in this partnership in mission, grounded in dialogue and shared prayer.

"Our Christian faith is rooted in our common baptism. However, our communion remains imperfect.

"Our enthusiasm for dialogue means that we must be honest in addressing issues on which we disagree. This is possible when we hold to the Gospel. We trust in the Holy Spirit to inspire our pilgrimage to unity and common mission."

Ruth Gledhill on today’s discussion:

Seventy Church of Engand and Roman Catholic bishops were urged today to intervene to help thousands of Christian students at British universities from having the organisations representing them banned.

Among those asked to take action to save Christian Union societies were the Archbishops of Canterbury and Westminster.

The rise of secularism in the UK is among the issues being debated today and tomorrow at the first ever joint meeting of the Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops of England and Wales in Leeds.

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Dr Peter May, member of the Church of England General Synod and head of the Universities and Christian Colleges Fellowship, said in a letter sent individually to each bishop: "We would respectfully invite you and your colleagues to consider, for a few moments within your crowded agenda, the very difficult position thousands of Christian students are facing in higher education establishments right now.

"The negative and abusive use of equal opportunities policies and anti-discriminatory policies by student unions and student guilds are placing great strain on Christian unions."

Dr May continues: "If CUs uphold orthodox Christian teaching, they can find themselves banned from using campus buildings for their activities or promoting them, their SU [Students’ Union] bank accounts frozen, and removed from the official list of SU societies on campus."

The three cases cited include Birmingham University Christian Union, banned from the official list of societies after it refused to amend its constitution to allow non-Christians to become executive committee members; Exeter University Christian Union, ordered to change its name to Evangelical Christian Union and suspended until it complies, and Edinburgh University, where the Christian Union has also been banned and was refused permission for a Bible-based course on relationships to be run on campus.

The Exeter Christian Union has served notice on the university and the Guild of Students that it is taking legal action against under the 1998 Human Rights Act. The European Convention on Human Rights protects "freedom of religion, expression and association."

Bishops from both the churches are leading the fight back against secularisation.