The research group Barna has just issued its list of the most “post-Christian” cities in America, with those in the Northeast region and particularly New England reaching the top. The top eight cities on the list are all in this region, reports Relevant magazine (June 7). The Springfield-Holyoke area of Massachusetts, the Portland-Auburn region of […]
When one remembers Graham Greene’s portrayal of Mexico’s religious landscape, one might think of grayish and sad, old musty churches. In that view, faith is seen as moving mountains among those suffering poverty and despair. However, the last 30 years have completely challenged that image. The country is now living through a huge transformation, a […]
High religiosity is not a prerequisite for the successful use of religious arguments, and even very secularized Western societies can sometimes find religious arguments convincing, writes Petr Kratochvíl (Institute of International Relations, Prague) in The Review of Faith and International Affairs (Spring). Especially in populist discourses, religious arguments can become tools of identity construction. The […]
Middle Eastern Christians migrating to the West are facing the challenge of moving from being a minority in predominantly Muslim societies to a minority in post-Christian countries, leading to feelings of isolation and separateness from their host populations, according to a study by Fiona McCallum published in the Journal of Church and State (Spring). In […]
While the Orthodox Church of Ukraine has emerged on the world stage as the legitimate and canonical church supported by the Patriarchate of Constantinople, at home the new church faces old rivalries as well as the perception that it is receiving inappropriate support from the government, writes Katherine Younger in IWMpost (Spring/Summer), the publication of […]
Cairo’s Al-Azhar University, considered the guardian of Islamic orthodoxy, has retained its independence in the face of the authoritarian government of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, but the venerable institution is facing new competition from neighboring countries and newly established schools of Islamic learning across the Muslim world, writes James Dorsey in Religioscope (June 17), […]
Judging by the fast pace at which technology is overtaking certain work tasks, clergy seem not to necessarily be exempt from the threat of automation, with several aspects of their work already being performed by artificial intelligence, writes William Young in the religion and science journal Zygon (June). Certain professions, such as medicine, law, journalism, […]
“Old-school Catholic practices and traditions” are being increasingly used in American megachurches, reports America magazine (May 13). The article focuses on New Life Church in Colorado Springs, a prominent non-denominational megachurch that has recently embraced traditional liturgies as well as social justice work without evangelization. The church now recites the Nicene Creed and has communion […]
Even though Catholicism has a long history in the American Southwest and Latinos there are an influential demographic force in the church, Catholic colleges are just being established in the region, according to America magazine (May 13). Jonathan Malesic reports that while the few Catholic colleges that were established in the region in the past […]
The Pacific Northwest continues to be the bastion of religious non-affiliation it has been since the early 2000s, only more so, having a significant impact on religious communities, writes Mark Silk in his blog for Religion News Service, Spiritual Politics (May 31). Silk cites recent research conducted by the University of Victoria’s Centre for Studies […]
