The Vatican and the Catholic world in general is taking a more critical attitude toward Islam, reflecting new concerns about Muslim immigration and fundamentalism, reports Commonweal magazine (Jan. 16). The change in tone was evident in a recent article of the Vatican-approved Jesuit newspaper La Civilta Cattolica, which stressed Islam’s “warlike face” and its obsession with conquering Europe. […]

From nearing extinction in the 1980s, Lutheranism is now growing rapidly in numbers and influence in Russia, representing a “serious spiritual and intellectual challenge to Russian Orthodoxy,” writes sociologists Sergei Filatov and Aleksandra Stepina. In the journal Religion, State & Society (December), the writers note that Lutheranism has had a long and (unlike Catholicism) generally unconflicted history […]

Britain’s Anglican cathedrals are in a state of decline due to a lack of tourists, rising maintenance costs and internal leadership problems, according to reports. Although of immense cultural and historical importance, many cathedrals lack funding and are facing mounting debts, reports The Observer newspaper (Jan. 11). While Anglican cathedrals are virtually required to remain open all […]

U.S. national parks are the site of new church-state conflicts, particularly as the government attempts to redress legal actions that are considered to violate religious freedom. The New York Times (Jan. 18) reports that church-state separation groups are charging that there is a trend of the Bush administration and its Republican appointees in the National Park Service […]

Rather than uniting American Muslims, September 11 and the subsequent pressure on the Muslim community has only resulted in greater divisions. The journal Society (January/February) cites the English-language Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahran Weekly which investigated the current state of the U.S. Muslim community. Although some estimates put the number of American Muslims as high as eight million, they are divided […]

The growth of “cowboy” ministries across the U.S. that emphasize informality and Western themes are drawing a segment of the traditionally unchurched, reports the Boston Globe (Jan. 25). “Today, nondenominational cowboy churches are springing up across the country, built on the notion that the romanticism associated with that lifestyle can draw churchgoers of towns and cities in […]

Those seeking to Internet users with religious messages are using a soft-sell approach that downplays powerful religious symbols and rhetoric, reports the New York Times (Jan. 31). As Americans increasingly surf the net for religious purposes [see the new Pew study in the Current Research section], evangelists seeking converts through this medium are realizing that overtly Christian […]

While the trend of depicting spiritual and religious themes on American television has been unfolding for several years, this season’s shows reveal a more sophisticated if ambiguous approach to faith, reports TV Guide (Jan. 24). Such older popular shows as Touched by An Angel, Highway to Heaven, and 7th Heaven tended toward the sentimental or “featured God’s […]

Same-sex union ceremonies are increasingly common in congregations and tend to be viewed by participants and officiants as close to traditional marriages, reports the New York Times (Jan. 30). The newspaper reports that although 37 states have passed laws banning same-sex marriages and many churches prohibit same-sex ceremonies, observant gay couples are sidestepping legal and denominational barriers […]