Europeans outnumbered other cardinals recently elected by Pope Benedict XVI, making it look “more and more likely that his successor will be a European, if not an Italian,” reports the British Catholic magazine The Tablet (Oct. 30). In late November, Benedict gave the red hat to 11 new European cardinals, as well as four Africans, […]
Current Research: November/December 2010
01: Megachurches have a significant impact on the growth and decline rates of other congregations, both inside and outside of their vicinity, according to a recent study by Jason Wollschleger of the University of Washington and Jeremy Porter of Brooklyn College. In a paper presented at the meeting of the SSSR in Baltimore in late […]
On/File: January/February 2010
01: There are not many conscientious objectors in Turkey (although the numbers are said to be rising), but 33-year-old Enver Aydemir is one such dissenter who refused to serve due to his Islamic beliefs. Already arrested and detained a first time in 2007, Aydemir was rearrested in late December and is considered to be the […]
Findings & Footnotes: January/February 2010
01: Operating in multi-faith contexts abroad poses new challenges to military chaplains, writes Dennis R. Hoover (Institute for Global Engagement) in the introduction to an issue of the Review of Faith and International Affairs (Winter 2009) devoted to “The Past and Future of Military Chaplaincy.” Besides their traditional roles, should chaplains contribute to the training […]
Improved prospects for Syriac Christian minority in Turkey?
A recent visit to eastern Turkey by the dynamic Turkish foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, has given some hope of progress for the Syriac Christian minority in eastern Turkey. Davutoglu, a former university professor, who had presented a paper at the annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion in Houston in the […]
Middle East: Not the best place for atheists—but the Internet helps
Atheists are usually very discrete in the Middle East, reports the Café Thawra blog (Jan. 13), published by Joseph Daher and Paola Salwan. There are rare cases of open expressions of atheism, such as the Syrian philosopher Sadik Jalal al Azm, who claims to be “the only atheist intellectual in the Arab world” and dares […]
Growing numbers of Latino-Americans attracted by the Orthodox Church
Although there are still few Orthodox clergy able to develop a ministry in Spanish or Portuguese, Archbishop Jonah, metropolitan of the Orthodox Church of America (OCA), said in an interview with Miguel Palacio in Pravoslavie.ru (Dec. 21) that there are more and more people from Latin America, especially of local Indian descent, feeling called to […]
Liberation theology persisting, but shifting to Protestant hands?
Liberation theology has remained active enough in Brazilian Catholicism for Pope Benedict XVI to recently reissue harsh criticisms against the theological movement at a recent meeting with Brazil’s bishops at the Vatican. The Tablet magazine (Dec. 12) reports that Benedict reiterated the criticisms he had made of liberation theology 30 years ago that its Marxist […]
Current Research: January/February 2010
01: A new study by the Pew Research Center Forum on Religion and Public Life finds that 64 nations have high or very high restrictions on religion. The most overall cases—and highest level—of religious restrictions are in the Middle East and North Africa, while the Americas have the lowest rate. The survey looked at both […]
Second-generation couples feel Unification Church changes
Second-generation members are feeling the winds of change in the Unification Church, even as the movement faces an uncertain future as its founder enters his tenth decade and the church’s business ventures face economic turmoil. The Washington Post (Jan. 3) reports that the children of the original members of the Unification Church have tended to […]
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