Contrary to headlines announcing the loss of Catholic Ireland and an accompanying loss of Catholic education in the country, Catholic schools continue to retain the loyalty of Irish parents, even though these schools are facing new secular pressures from the government. The Irish quarterly Studies (108:429) notes that the Catholic Church has been the main […]
The first Jewish military chaplain in the German armed forces might start his work by the end of this year, reports the German Catholic newspaper Die Tagespost (April 10). This is actually a return to what had existed in earlier times in Germany, since 30 Jewish military chaplains used to serve in the German forces […]
The decision to increase the number and duties of women preachers in Turkey has enlarged the influence and visibility of Islam, especially as it relates to family issues, writes Chiara Maritato in the current issue of the journal Anthropology of the Middle East (Winter). Turkey’s Diyanet, a state-based apparatus under the control of the prime […]
Although President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his party of nationalism and re-Islamicization remain in place in Turkey after the recent municipal elections, the race revealed the emergence of leaders who are more pragmatic in their approach to both religion and secularism, writes Mustafa Akyol in The Navigator (April 3), the blog of the Center for […]
Halalopathy is a new therapy suggested by Palestinian scientist Jawad Alzeer as a way to give Muslims the extra religious assurances they need about their medical treatments. A researcher at the Institute for Organic Chemistry at the University of Zurich and the lead auditor for a Swiss halal certification body, Alzeer has started publishing articles […]
Faced with space constraints in urban environments such as Singapore, religious groups are responding in flexible ways, writes Orlando Woods (Singapore Management University) in the journal Social Compass (March). Singapore represents an ideal case study for such observations. All religious groups are treated equally by an authoritarian government that has adopted a secular approach for […]
The current issue of the open-access Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet (Vol. 14) is devoted to the impact of online religion on faith communities. There is much conjecture about how online involvement affects religious belonging and community but not much actual research about this relationship in all its variety of settings and contexts. […]
