A distinctive form of Buddhism is taking shape in India as a new wave of dalit or untouchables are embracing the religion, often en masse. The Buddhist magazine Tricycle (Spring) notes that since 1957, untouchables have been converting to Buddhism, representing a symbolic break from the caste system as much as devotion to their new religion. Many […]

Crypto-Christians in Kosovo have now started to practice their faith openly again after centuries of living double lives, reports Albert Ramaj, director of the Swiss-based Albanian Institute (http://www.albanisches-institut.ch) in the March issue of Glaube in der 2. Welt. Similar to what happened to crypto-Jews in Portugal and Spain (who pretended to convert to Christianity at the […]

Many observers view Ireland as becoming increasingly secular, but the large influx of Polish immigrants may slow or even reverse that process, according to sociologist Christie Davies. Writing in Chronicles magazine (March), Davies notes that both Britain and Ireland have experienced a large wave of Polish immigration in the last few years. In Ireland, the number of […]

Everybody agrees that Roman Catholicism has lost followers in France over the past decades, but how many? According to a survey published in the magazine Le Monde des Religions (January-February), only 51 percent of the French identify themselves as Catholics, with 8 percent of them going to church at least once a week and 9 percent more […]

The Catholic Church in the U.S. is facing another scandal soon after the priest sex abuse crisis as a growing number of clergy embezzlement cases are surfacing. Time magazine (February 26) reports that 85 percent of the 78 U.S. Catholic dioceses responding to a recent survey (from a total of 174 dioceses queried) reported embezzlement cases, with […]

In the last year both the religious and secular media have been widely reporting on the “new atheism,” which is expressed in three recent best-sellers: Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion, Sam Harris’ Letter to a Christian Nation, and Daniel Dennett’s Breaking the Spell. In his syndicated column in the Long Island Catholic (Feb. 28), neoconservative writer George Weigel argues that […]

Islamic TV channels have multiplied in the Middle East in recent years and have been quite successful in terms of drawing a wide audience, but still are experiencing financial difficulties, the Saudi-owned daily Asharq Al Awsat reports in its English edition (January 31). Advertising firms do not regard such channels as appropriate for their products. This leaves […]