THE Catholic Church has called on BBC Scotland to appoint its own religious affairs editor as part of a wide-ranging shake-up of religious programming across the network.

The BBC has pledged to increase the portrayal of all faiths in mainstream shows and create a new global religious affairs team, headed by a religion editor in BBC News.

The Catholic Church in Scotland said this should be mirrored by a similar post in Scotland.

However, the Humanist Society Scotland said there should be less religious programming north of the border, to reflect the increasing number of people turning their back on religion in Scotland.

A Catholic Church spokesman said: “The appointment of a Religious Affairs editor in BBC News is particularly welcome, hopefully this network appointment will be mirrored by a similar post in the BBC’s Scottish newsroom in Glasgow.

“While active participation in religion has fallen, interest in faith and belief remains high and broadcasters should respond to this.

“Similarly, only a very small minority of the population are members of a political party, but that doesn’t mean there is no interest across society in politics or that it shouldn’t be covered.”

Gordon MacRae, chief executive of Humanist Society Scotland, said: "Scotland is now a nation where more people chose to have a humanist wedding than of any of the faith bodies in Scotland.

“It is a Scotland where non-religious people are making great contributions to the moral debates on same sex relationships, international relations, freedom of thought, medical ethics and many more.

"But instead of grasping the thistle and taking the lead to explore these exciting shifts in who we are and what we believe, the BBC appear to have concluded that they need more faith leaders, from more faiths speaking to less and less people.”

Mona Siddiqui, chair of the BBC’s Scottish Religious Advisory Committee (SRAC), said BBC Scotland is already ahead of the curve in ensuring religious and non-religious views are well represented and balanced.

“The SRAC is the only committee of its kind in the UK,” she said.

“There used to be Central RAC but that was disbanded many years ago.

“We don’t have any input or influence in the editorial makeup of BBC programmes, but we do ask people why they made certain decisions and sometimes we can talk about forthcoming programmes, where we can suggest the right person to approach or the right way to do something.

“So in terms of having a structured committee to talk about all things religion at the BBC, I think Scotland stands out and I think the support that we get from BBC Scotland is good news.

“We are in early conversations about doing something more expansive, and getting more people into the BBC to talk about religious matters and production of religious programming.

“Humanists also have an input whenever we have an open public conversation.

“I don’t see the distinction between religion, humanism and secularism — it’s about good programming that reflects what people believe, why they believe in it and how society interacts as a whole.”

Commentators have speculated that the reforms could see an increase in religious storylines in popular soaps such as Eastenders, but it is unclear whether this will be extended to Scottish productions like River City.

Ms Siddiqui added: “When you get ethnic minority storylines in any soap you get a mixed response from the communities, who may not recognise their experience.

“The BBC has got to strike a balance between how it entertains and how it educates.”