Pope Benedict XVI will deliver the Thought For The Day on BBC Radio 4 on Christmas Eve morning.
His Christmas message to the British people follows a visit
to the UK in September - the first official state visit to the country
by a pontiff.
It is an unprecedented move, as Pope Benedict is not thought
to have presented material specifically written for a radio or TV
audience before.
The Pope recorded Thought For The Day in Rome on Wednesday.
Gwyneth Williams, the controller of Radio 4, said: "I'm
delighted Pope Benedict is sharing his Christmas message with the Radio 4
audience."
"It's significant that the Pope has chosen Thought For The
Day to give his first personally scripted broadcast - and what better
time to do so than on the eve of the biggest celebration on the
Christian calendar."
'Overkill'
Thought For The Day is broadcast within the Today programme at 0745 from Monday to Saturday.
It offers approximately three minutes of personal reflection
from faith leaders and believers of a variety of religious
denominations.
BBC Director-General Mark Thompson, a Jesuit-educated Roman
Catholic, is understood to have approached Vatican officials about a
contribution from the Pope ahead of his state visit.
The decision however has been criticised by the UK's National Secular Society.
"The BBC is giving the Pope an unquestioned slot to continue
whitewashing his Church's disgraceful record on covering up child abuse
by its priests," NSS president Terry Sanderson said in a statement.
"Why isn't the Pope being subjected the same rigorous questioning that other heads of state would get?
"After the overkill from the BBC during the Pope's visit,
this indicates the corporation's obsession with religion, whereas the
nation is largely indifferent to it," he added.
SIC: BBC/INT'L