Every seventh year, the practice of shmita (“year of release”), which seeks to let the land rest after being worked for six years, raises practical issues and dilemmas for municipal authorities in Israel, even though a majority of Israeli citizens do not care about this issue, reports Pascal Manker in the French weekly La Vie […]
Women in Mosques Platform, a Turkish group set up in 2017, is campaigning for Muslim women’s equal access to mosques in a country that has traditionally encouraged women to worship at home. On the website of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (September 10), Sevilay Nur Saraçlar writes that, while there are spaces for […]
The persistent blind spot regarding the role of religion in Afghanistan is continuing after the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country for much of the political, media, and academic worlds, according to one analysis. On his blog NYC Religion (August 16), Tony Carnes argues that the media and political leaders both neglect the diversity […]
Known for its strong physical engagement and social interaction in worship—from holy hugs to high-fives—and its more traditional choir stands and fellowship halls, the Black church has had to make significant adaptations to the reality of Covid-19. Writing in the Washington Post (August 25), Mark Moore, Jr., a pastor and marketing consultant, notes that “[i]n […]
With women starting to be called to important positions at the Vatican, Sr. Alessandra Smerilli, an economist and Salesian nun, was appointed interim secretary of the Roman Curia’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development in August, making her the highest-ranking woman ever at the curia. She has also become one of the three leaders of […]
Pope Francis’ recent motu proprio letter, Traditions custodes, which puts new restrictions on the celebration of the Latin Mass, will weaken the role of traditionalists in the church, though there is some debating just how large and influential the Latin Mass community really is.
Although it is unlikely that the January 6 riots on the U.S. Capitol will be explained to everyone’s satisfaction, even after late July’s public hearings on the issue, the role of religion in the revolt is becoming clearer, at least as far as who the actors were and the dynamics driving them. In the Washington Post (July 6), Michelle Boorstein reports that many religious observers see the Capitol attacks as an example of the religious ferment that presaged movements such as Mormonism and Pentecostalism.
Facebook is making a concerted effort to reach out to religious groups following the pandemic, reports Elizabeth Culliford for Reuters (July 22). A major component of the outreach is a new prayer feature that allows users to request and receive prayer.
The pandemic has forced American Orthodox parishes to adopt amazingly quick innovations but has also led to fierce arguments over the restrictions in some parishes, writes Alexei Krindatch in a newly-released report on the pandemic’s impact on these parishes that extends and updates observations shared in a previous report last year (see RW, Vol. 35, No. 10).
There has long been a division between Asian American Buddhists and mainly white converts to the religion, and while there have been recent efforts to reconcile the two groups, recent political developments are reasserting ethnic Buddhist identity among young members, according to a report by NBC News (July 9).
