Few events in recent years have demonstrated as strongly the lasting impact of religion in a supposedly secularized world as the passing away of Pope John Paul II. Every news channel and print media devoted extensive coverage to the event as well as to the election of Benedict XVI. The events affecting the Roman Catholic […]

The popular wisdom surrounding the election of Pope Benedict XVI is that it is too early to speculate much about his papacy. Even the former Cardinal Ratzinger’s recent record as the gatekeeper of church doctrine may not mean as much in his broader and more pastoral role as the universal shepherd of the world’s Catholics.  […]

While 60 percent of the Japanese population are Internet users, there is at this point relatively little use of the Internet for counseling by Japanese religious bodies. This observation was made by Takanori Tamura  (Kanto Gakuin University) and Hajime Kaneko (Kansai University) at a session on religion and information and communication technologies (ICT) organized during […]

Many Muslims are making “the unorthodox decision to become vegetarians and [have] inflamed debates about Islamic dietary laws among scholars and religious leaders,” reports the quarterly magazine What Is Enlightenment? (March-May). While Islamic law and tradition allows and even encourages meat eating, animals have to be killed under strict conditions. The spread of factory farming across the […]

A growing popular religious interest and a renewed concern to avoid religious restrictions and prejudice are helping to reshape evangelical churches in France, reports Christianity Today (March). Popular and intellectual interest in religious issues in France is expressed in increased Bible sales, coverage of spirituality in the media, and greater receptivity toward evangelistic efforts, writes Agnieszka Tennant. […]

At least in the German-speaking part of Europe, an increasing number of Christian funerals incorporate Buddhist elements, according to Brigitte Loehr (University of Tuebingen). She presented a paper on that topic at the 19th World Congress of the International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR) in Tokyo, which RW attended in late March. Loehr relates this […]

The increasing popularity of vampires in popular culture has created a small but growing subculture of devotees, some of whom have adopted religious elements and practices to suit their lifestyles, writes James Beverley in the Canadian evangelical magazine Faith Today (March/April). Beverly writes that such TV shows as Buffy The Vampire Slayer, novels, such as those by […]

A new breed of megachurches growing in U.S. exurban areas are taking on greater social service functions in the absence of infrastructures in these towns, reports the New York Times Magazine (March 27). The megachurches growing in the exurbs, the new communities established beyond traditional suburbs during the mid to late 1990s, share a number of common […]