While allowing for “prudent adherence” to the messages, the Vatican has recently taken steps to tighten control over the alleged Marian apparitions in Medjugorje (Bosnia and Herzegovina), writes Mikael Corre in La Croix International (September 20). On September 19, the Holy See issued a decree that does not formally recognize the supernatural nature of the […]
In recent years, a new generation of young left-wing Christians has emerged in France, challenging the notion that Christian leftists were disappearing in the face of right-wing Catholics, writes Pascale Tournier in the Catholic weekly La Vie (September 26). This group, primarily consisting of individuals aged 25–40, is beginning to organize and assert itself in […]
Australia’s legalization of same-sex marriage in 2017 has opened the door to a series of federal, state, and territory-level religious discrimination bills (or proposed bills) that focus on anti-discrimination rather than protection of the autonomy of religious institutions, curtailing the capacity of such organizations to govern their affairs, writes Ian Tregenza in the Journal of […]
Al-Shabaab, an affiliate of al-Qaeda based in Somalia, is finding new support among the young as well as forming new alliances, such as with the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, reports Tam Hussein in the online magazine UnHerd (September 16). The ineffectiveness of the Somali government in defeating the terrorist group was on display in July […]
While the practice of deprogramming or “faith breaking,” where members of minority religions are confined and submitted to heavy psychological indoctrination and various forms of violence, has been reported to be a common practice in China, these techniques are now being conducted in cooperation with an official religious group, Dong Deming reports in the newsletter […]
More non-affiliated Americans have been seeking spiritual directors even as they lose faith in other aspects of institutional religion, reports Deirdre Pelphrey in World Religion News (August 12). Spiritual directors have seen increased interest in their ministries, especially from “younger people who no longer attend church but still want to nurture a sense of the […]
Vacation Bible schools, which function as day camps that churches provide for members and the community, are adapting to changing dynamics of family life and religious participation, particularly a decline in volunteering for vacation Bible school ministries, according to a report from National Public Radio (August 4). Jason DeRose reports that rather than recruiting volunteers […]
Ukraine’s new law prohibiting the Russian Orthodox Church’s (ROC) activity in the country, as well as that of other religious organizations linked with Russia, is a sign of the increasing securitization of relations between state and religion in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion, writes Dmytro Vovk (Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University, Ukraine) in the Nachrichtendienst Östliche […]
The Neo-Zoroastrian religiosity of converts has often been described as different from traditional Zoroastrian practices, but changes are also being observed among those who are Zoroastrian by birth. In a new issue of Entangled Religions (August) on “Religious Conversion in a Religiously Plural World,” Benedikt Römer (Bundeswehr University, Munich) reports that aspects of coalescence can […]
Controversy and hostility toward new religious movements (NRMs), particularly the Unification Church, are being fanned by the media in Japan, which has focused attention on second-generation members who have left and protested against these groups, according to Adam Lyons of the University of Montreal. In a paper presented at the early-August meeting of the Association […]
