South America

(ANALYSIS) A 22-year-old student has been charged with allegedly offending religious sentiments after making derogatory remarks about Islam and the Prophet Muhammad. Whatever the merits of the case, the incident raises an important question: Should the right to free speech include the right to criticize religion — one’s own or someone else’s?

When thinking about the number of people attending their church each week, the experience of the average pastor is vastly different from that of the average churchgoer. The most recent Faith Communities Today study revealed seven in 10 U.S. congregations have 100 or fewer weekly service attendees. The average U.S. congregation sees 65 people gather each week.

(ANALYSIS) There’s a new TikTok trend for Christian influencers: Gluing a small, rectangular box with a scroll inside, marked with a cross, that observers can nail to their door frames. Available to buy on TikTok shop, the boxes — called “Grace Marks” — come in gray-marbled white as well as a “terrazzo” confetti-flecked version.

(ANALYSIS) So far, Pope Leo XIV has not addressed ongoing debates about restrictions on use of the Tridentine Mass, often called the “traditional Latin Mass.” Bishops around the world have been pulled into these battles after the 2021 release of the Pope Francis apostolic letter “Traditionis Custodes (Guardians of Tradition).”

The Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan has long experienced significant constraints on its religious practices. From not being allowed to call their places of worship “mosques” or use Islamic terms such as “Azan” (call to prayer) to not being able to vote because Ahmadis must either renounce their faith or agree to be placed on a separate electoral list categorizing them as “non-Muslim.”

Berlin faces growing intolerance of immigrants and their religions, especially Muslim Arabs from countries like Turkey and Syria. right-wing extremist political parties like the Alternative for Germany echo Nazi talking points and pine for a homogenous, white and Christian society. History, however, shows that such a time never existed.

(REVIEW) “The Ritual” is a movie you’ve seen many times before. But the story is clearly powerful enough that it is worth retelling. Hopefully, filmmakers will start figuring out how to tell these stories in new and different ways. In the meantime, we have movies like “The Ritual” and can always rewatch a classic such as “The Exorcist” again.

(ANALYSIS) Houses of worship need social enterprise now more than ever. Churches, synagogues and other houses of worship are facing a dire situation. Up to 100,000 U.S. houses of worship may close over the next decade.  The percentage of Americans belonging to a faith institution has plummeted from 70% to 47% over one generation with no sign of abating.

(ANALYSIS) Much of the Christian world, especially the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, have been roiled by reports that an Egyptian court has mandated that St. Catherine's Monastery be taken over by the government. This issue is especially explosive because St. Catherine's is arguably Christianity's most important monastery — but the situation also appears to be complex.

Police say there are eight victims ages 52 to 88 who were hospitalized with burns, and another four who suffered minor injuries. The victims were part of Run for Their Lives, a weekly vigil and march for Israeli captives who remain held by Hamas.

(ANALYSIS) I’ve written about this before, but it’s worth repeating here: Whenever I tweet a graph that contains a couple of the largest religious groups (evangelicals, Catholics, nonreligious), the first question that comes in the comments is inevitably, “Where are the Latter-day Saints?”

About 27% of Christian ministry leaders told MinistryWatch they believe the Trump administration’s policies will have a negative impact on the organization they lead or the work they do. This is an increase from 19% who gave the same answer in our January survey.

How will Leo’s formative three decades in the United States before life in Peru and Rome shape his church of 1.4 billion souls? Yes, the cardinals must be thinking an American could solve the Holy See’s $98 million annual deficit, severely underfunded pensions, and declining donations. They may also hope his solid administrative experience might tame the curia, the Vatican’s notoriously Italianate “deep state.”

“Buddhism: A Journey through History” presents a rich tapestry of thematic stories that span topics such as the law, philosophy, war and governance. These narratives will surprise and engage readers with their depth, detail and rigorous scholarship. The writing is both clear and accessible, making this book suitable for a broad audience and history junkies alike.

Your view of the health of American Christian congregations and of their clergy may very much depends on the angle taken: Up from the orchestra or looking down from the balcony. One thing seems evident: In a country in which Christian affiliation has declined (though there are signs it has stabilized) many Catholic and Protestant clergy face significant challenges.

(ANALYSIS) Across America, a growing number of people of all ages are communing with the Holy Spirit via their smartphones and laptops. Once the stuff of pews and pulpits, faith now flows through fiber optics. It’s convenient, sure. No parking, no crowds, no early wake-ups. But is it really church? The answer appears to be no — a resounding no.

(OPINION) Reading all about the decline of religion, I always find myself pondering the mystery of faith itself. Where does faith come from? Why do some people have it and others don’t? Why do some abandon it and others hold fast despite ill winds?

When you think about Jewish contributions to the world of entertainment, your mind probably immediately goes to comedies, sci-fi and musicals. But there’s another genre rich with Jewish history: Westerns. In the new book “Chai Noon: Jews and the Cinematic Wild West,” scholar Jonathan Friedmann examines Jewish figures and themes in Western film, dating back to Hollywood’s first feature-length film. “The Squaw Man,” released in 1914.

(ANALYSIS) The Black church in America is an entirely different culture than the average White evangelical or mainline tradition. Anyone who has attended a worship service in a Black church tradition knows that to be true. But beyond a difference in worship styles, there are many ways that the Black church should be considered its own category.

There may be more than one reason Generation X is dubbed the Forgotten Generation. According to a Giving USA survey, they are being surpassed by their younger counterparts — millennials — when it comes to charitable giving. However, baby boomers surpass everyone.

China is operating a vast network of “colonial” boarding schools across Tibet that forcibly removes children—including those as young as four—from their families, a new report released Wednesday claims. The report, published by the U.S.-based Tibet Action Institute, says the system is designed not for education access but for political assimilation, cutting children off from their language, culture and religion.

The bottom line: At some point, parents in traditional forms of faith are going to have to teach their children — the younger the better — that their their home is different from those in which many of their friends are being raised. That can be tough sledding, but these hard topics Will. Not. Go. Away.

(REVIEW) It’s been said, “You may not care about politics, but politics cares about you.” The same is true of religion. If you want to better understand your neighbors — and the cultural and political forces shaping America — “The American Religious Landscape” is the primer you’ve been looking for. Despite all the data, it’s also a book that does not disappoint.

Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Christianity flowed from Europe and North America to Africa, often carried by missionaries. But in the 21st century, the pattern has reversed. African-led churches are now sending their own missionaries abroad, and many are planting churches in many former colonial capitals.

(ANALYSIS) There are two reasons, translations and texts, both of which have cropped up in the news of religion this year. The venerable King James Version (KJV) appeared without changes over centuries. Today, experts continually reconsider the best available evidence to improve our English Bibles.

What motivated the smashing on April 23 of the main gate to Damascus’s historic Jewish cemetery and the digging of a pit disturbing the tomb of renowned mystic Rabbi Hayyim ben Joesph Vital? The desecration can be understood as part of the history of Jewish and Muslim leaders battling on the metaphysical astral plain in parallel to the normative Israeli-Arab military conflict.

(ANALYSIS) In the year of our Lord 1967, the Anglican Church of Canada had 1,218,666 members and 272,400 worshippers on a typical Sunday. In a recent report, the church found 294,382 members on parish rolls and 58,871 people attending Sunday worship services. It has been decades since Anglicanism was a dominant form of Christianity in Canada.

A Christian university in Arizona is no longer on the hook for a $37.7 million federal fine, believed to be the largest-ever financial penalty imposed on a school. Grand Canyon University (GCU), said that on May 16, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) rescinded the massive penalty proposed for the Phoenix-based school in 2023.