ORIGINAL PAPER Religion and Organ Donation: The Views of UK Faith Leaders Gurch Randhawa • Anna Brocklehurst • Ruth Pateman • Suzannah Kinsella • Vivienne Parry Published online: 9 July 2010 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010 Abstract This article reports the findings from the one-to-one interviews with the main UK faith and belief leaders which were commissioned by the Organ Donation Taskforce as part of its evidence gathering. Interviews were arranged with the main faith and belief organisations within the UK. Interviews covered a range of issues related to organ donation. Although some faith groups had some reservations regarding organ donation, interviews with these leaders demonstrated that none of these faith groups have reached a consensus against organ donation. The interviewees stated that the majority opinion in their faith or belief group is to permit organ donation, with some actively supporting it. Interviewees were keen to stress that there is a broad spectrum of opinion on organ transplantation within each faith and belief group and that consequently it is difficult to speak on behalf of an entire group. One complication mentioned by interviewees is that as organ transplantation is a relatively new medical procedure, there is no explicit reference to it in many original religious texts. Consequently, positions on the receipt and donation of organs are based on interpretation. It was felt that a much greater level of engagement is needed, as organ donation is currently not a priority for many faith and belief groups. Keywords Faith Á Religion Á Organ donation G. Randhawa (&) Institute for Health Research, University of Bedfordshire, Putteridge Bury Campus, Hitchin Road, Luton LU2 8LE, UK e-mail: gurch.randhawa@beds.ac.uk A. Brocklehurst Á R. Pateman Á S. Kinsella Central Office for Information (COI), London, UK G. Randhawa Á V. Parry Organ Donation Taskforce, London, UK 123 J Relig Health (2012) 51:743–751 DOI 10.1007/s10943-010-9374-3