New practices and products dealing with death are emerging in Japan, as older traditions of families maintaining cemeteries are disappearing due to population loss, lack of family ties, and a subsequent disintegration of the temple system for the deceased. In an article published in Anthropology Today (June), Anne Allison and Hannah Gould write that as […]
■ An article published in late May on the LinkedIn social network, as reported by journalist Loup Besmond de Senneville in La Croix International (June 30), proposes that the Roman Catholic Church could contribute to the development of an integral security paradigm for governing cybersecurity. The article, written by four Catholic computer experts (two of […]
During and after the pandemic and with continuing disaffiliation from religious institutions, many people have found spirituality at their workplaces, as a growing number of corporations are making room for the religious needs of their employees. Under “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) policies at many leading companies, new faith groups based around spiritual practices, interfaith […]
While discussing politics, race, and religion may increasingly be seen as off-limits in a polarized society, religion publishers are not shying away from these culture-war issues. In Publishers Weekly (May 22), Cathy Lynn Grossman reports that upcoming titles “take on the trauma of racism past and present, the force of Christian nationalism, and the tensions […]
Members of mainline Protestant and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints congregations show the highest levels of civic engagement and volunteering in the U.S., a new study finds. The American Enterprise Institute study, conducted by Scott Winship and Thomas O’Rourke, used the Social Capital Index developed by the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. […]
Although most Muslims living in Latin America have roots in Muslim-majority countries, the phenomenon of some local communities embracing Islam has drawn attention from various sectors, including Islamic organizations eager to develop missionary activities. A new study (in French) by Swiss researcher Baptiste Brodard and published by Religioscope (May) offers a realistic assessment based on […]
The coronation of King Charles III in early May was the subject of intense speculation as to whether the ceremony and subsequent monarchy would depart from or uphold tradition in an increasingly secular and multifaith Britain. Commentators and analysts were divided on the degree to which the monarchy would change with the first coronation since […]
The Book of Common Prayer, the devotional and liturgical book of Anglicanism, “is enjoying a revival in the Church of England,” writes Daniel French in The Spectator magazine (May 2). French, a vicar in the Church of England, writes that “Over the past two years, more and more churchgoers have asked me about a return […]
Due to their diversity, the war in Ukraine and the Patriarch’s statements on the war have impacted Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) communities in France in different ways depending partly on the demographics of a given congregation, writes Catherine Tyson in the Bulletin de l’Observatoire International du Religieux (May). Tyson, a Fulbright Grant Awardee, has conducted […]
While the Muslim world initially reacted with indifference to the Russia-Ukraine war, the conflict has gradually given rise to opposing positions among Muslims and their religious leaders, with Shiites often supportive of Russia, Sunnis calling for an end to the conflict, and jihadists rejoicing in a war of opposing “miscreants,” writes Pierre-Jean Luizard (French National […]
