1. Pope Francis inaugurated – Jorge Mario Bergoglio, a South American Cardinal with a heart for the poor was elected Pope in March. He was named TIMES magazine Person of the Year.

2. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse – In January, Julia Gillard laid down the terms of reference for the Inquiry and by early December, the Royal Commission said it has received 8,500 phone calls, 3,000 emails and 170,000 visits to their website.

3. Gay marriage: Kevin Rudd on QandA – Gay marriage continues to be one of the defining issues of the Australian political landscape, and this moment on QandA one of the defining moments in 2013 in terms of how the debate has been framed. Kevin Rudd, who this year changed his position on gay marriage hit back hard at Pastor Matt Prater.

4. Pakistan church bombing – A suicide bombing inside All Saints Church Peshawar sees 127 killed and many more injured in Pakistan’s worst attack on Christians.

5. Central African Republic: the worst crisis you’ve never heard of – The sectarian violence taking place is shocking, and the world needs to do more about it.

6. Nelson Mandela dies – The Christian influences in Madiba’s life and struggle were in the atmosphere as people celebrated the freedom fighter’s life.

7. C.S. Lewis: 50 years since death – John F. Kennedy and C.S. Lewis died on the same day, 50 years ago. Bible Society Australia orgaised a series of events to commemorate the man and his legacy.

8. Egypt: sectarian violence and UN report – On August 14 this year, 43 churches in Egypt were completely destroyed, while 207 Christian properties were attacked across Egypt after security forces dispersed protect camps supporting deposed President Mohamed Morsi. A UN report said Egypt failed to protect Copts from revenge attacks.

9. The Bible came to TV – Big budget US TV series The Bible came to Channel 9 and experienced relatively good ratings. It’s now being turned into a movie based on the life of Jesus, called Son of God.

10. Exodus ministries shuts down – ‘Ex-gay’ ministry Exodus International closes and apologises to the LGTB community for “harm done” through their ministry.