In this review and preview of annual religious trends, it seemed that much of the drama of religion in 2023 came toward the end of the year, meaning that we may have to wait to see if these events will unfold as significant trends in 2024. Yet, developments such as the divisions over the Vatican’s declaration on blessing same-sex marriages and the real schism in United Methodism have been a long time coming and are unlikely to fade away in the coming years. As with previous reviews, we cite both the issues of RW where these topics have been covered and other publications relevant to our analysis at the end of each item.
1) The Vatican statement, Fiducia Supplicans, approving blessings on same-sex relationships (see this issue) was only the latest sign of discord in world Catholicism in recent years. With the possibility that the next papal conclave might take place in the not-too-distant future, tensions have been rising within the Roman Catholic Church, with harsh and open criticism against Pope Francis from conservative circles. The pope’s selection of new cardinals who are likely to follow his line (RW July) and his attempt to set the church on a path of irreversible reforms have made the divisions especially evident in 2023. According to Vatican expert Jean-Marie Guénois, author of a recent book in French on the pope, Francis sees his pontificate as having been made providentially possible by the unexpected retirement of Pope Benedict XVI and is convinced that he needs to fulfill a mission. “He believes that God is asking him to go all the way in applying the Vatican II Council and to cut short any attempt to turn back the clock.” (RW, January, July; La Nef, December)
2) The war in Ukraine continues to impact developments across Orthodox churches. It has intensified divisions among Orthodox Christians in the Baltic States and has motivated priests in Moldova to defect from the Moldovan Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate and join the Bessarabian Orthodox Church under the Romanian Patriarchate. The war has also paved the way for a fast switch of the date of Christmas from January 7 to December 25 in Ukraine—although the change has not been observed by one of the two Orthodox churches in the country (see this issue). With little prospect of a quick solution to either the war in Ukraine or the rift between the patriarchates of Constantinople and Moscow, it is likely that there will be new episodes of Orthodox divisions in 2024, including moves in Ukraine toward a possible banning of religious organizations associated with Russia, primarily targeting the branch of the Orthodox Church that used to be aligned with the Moscow Patriarchate until the Russian invasion of the country. (RW, July, November)
3) The split in the United Methodist Church largely over LGBTQ issues took place over several years, but 2023 saw the largest number of congregations departing and more than expected. About a quarter of U.S. congregations in the United Methodist Church have received permission to leave the denomination during the five-year window for such authorized departures that closed in December. Last year alone, 5,641 congregations received permission from their regional conferences to leave the denomination, according to an unofficial tally by United Methodist News. In total, 7,658 have received permission since 2019. Most have gone to the newly formed conservative Global Methodist Church. The first denomination-wide legislative gathering in eight years, scheduled for 2024, will likely introduce further liberal policies on marriage and ordination and there will likely be more agitation among congregations to leave. There will also be calls to either decentralize the international church, which has kept the denomination more conservative than other mainline bodies, or provide churches abroad with exit options similar to those offered to U.S. congregations. (RW, August)
4) The October 7 attack against Israel by the militant Islamic movement Hamas has led to wide-ranging debates about the extent of anti-Semitism in Western society. Reports of anti-Semitic incidents have increased, along with acts of anti-Islamic discrimination. More substantive survey research findings are sure to arrive in 2024, but it is likely that the war has increased solidarity and identification with Israel among Jews in the West where there was previously considerable indifference and even alienation. It was not unexpected that the Hamas attacks would serve as a rallying cry for the world’s jihadist groups, but more unexpected was the new friendliness of far-right groups to Islamic militant groups and the Palestinian cause, as well as reports of interest in and even conversions (or “reversions”) to Islam among young, often female, users of social media, especially TikTok. (RW, November)
5) Last but not least in significant religious developments is last year’s democratization of artificial intelligence (AI) in the form of the public release of ChatGPT. AI was already in use by religious organizations, especially in highly ritualized faiths such as Hinduism and Buddhism. But the release of ChatGPT caused a wave of both concern and enthusiasm, as religious practitioners quickly tested the new technology’s ability to write sermons and prayers and answer deep questions of the faith. Just the appearance and spread of the technology alone raised new questions about the nature of the sacred and of divine purpose for both believers and skeptics. A new element of anti-technological belief and sentiment unfolded among both conservative and liberal religionists who fear that future reliance on AI will be either idolatrous, anti-humanistic, or even demonic. But not to be outdone are hi-tech enthusiasts who see AI as providing one more building block to a trans- or post-humanist future and who are already creating quasi- and actual religions to harness this destabilizing force. (RW, March, June, November)
