The Russian invasion of Ukraine has further divided the Orthodox Christian world, putting pressure on Orthodox churches in the Baltic States to take a clear stance against the war and distance themselves from the Moscow Patriarchate, writes Sebastian Rimestad (Leipzig University) in Religion & Gesellschaft in Ost und West (June). In the small Orthodox Church […]
China has been increasingly using religion as a diplomatic tool to further its foreign policy goals, especially in relation to its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), writes Juyan Zhang (University of Texas at San Antonio) in The Review of Faith and International Affairs (21:2). Sometimes called the New Silk Road, the BRI was launched in […]
Growing Muslim activism in the U.S., Canada and other countries on such issues as sex education and gender is finding new support and cooperation from conservative Christians, reports Sarah Haider in her blog Hold That Thought (June 15). Recently, conservative Christians have expressed admiration for Muslim parents protesting progressive classroom curricula and teachings on gender […]
There is an ideological shift taking place among the alt-right, or “dissident right,” away from paganism toward the adoption of “already existing religious and specifically Christian symbols,” writes Tamara Berens in the Jewish magazine Mosaic (June). She writes that while this shift may be more politically effective in a majority Christian society, the move “to […]
Russia’s Protestant churches are adapting to the country’s Orthodox, nationalist, and collectivist culture in their style of worship, architecture, and reconstruction of an indigenous Russian past for themselves, write Eugene Zaitsev and Dmitrii Fokin in the Journal of Church and State (online in May). The authors do not specifically mention Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and […]
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 […]
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 […]
