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Religion in 2012 revealed new patterns of pluralism but also new signs of conflict over the role of religion in public. In this Religioscope special report, we look beyond the religious news headlines of 2012 to examine how trends developing in the last year might play out in the years ahead.
American Catholics have widely accepted the changes in the Roman Catholic Mass to reflect a closer translation of the Latin that was introduced last year, even if these revisions may signal greater centralization in the church, according to a new survey by Catholic University of America researcher Anthony Pogarelc.
In a new book, sociologists Jenny Trinitapoli and Alexander Weinreb seek to challenge the widespread view that religious beliefs and communities have unwittingly assisted in the spread of the disease through their resistance to preventative sex education.
Richard Cimino is the founder and editor of Religion Watch, a newsletter monitoring trends in contemporary religion. Since January 2008, Religion Watch is published by Religioscope Institute. Website: www.religionwatch.com.
Catholics have threatened to stop the screening of a forthcoming Hindi movie directed by Priyadarshan, Kamaal Dhamaal Malamaal, if certain scenes making a “disrespectful portrayal” of the community and its priests are not deleted, an official said. (Update: the scenes considered “blasphemous” will be eliminated before the release in cinemas.)
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The effort to reform the Catholic Church along liberal lines may result less in changing the church than in generating new movements and churches completely outside of official Catholicism.
Richard Cimino is the founder and editor of Religion Watch, a newsletter monitoring trends in contemporary religion. Since January 2008, Religion Watch is published by Religioscope Institute. Website: www.religionwatch.com.
Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity are facing significant restrictions in China but they are also finding new ways to circumvent such obstacles and even compete with each other, according to new research. Some of these new developments dovetail with the rapid economic expansion of Chinese cities.
Richard Cimino is the founder and editor of Religion Watch, a newsletter monitoring trends in contemporary religion. Since January 2008, Religion Watch is published by Religioscope Institute. Website: www.religionwatch.com.
The subject of testing prayer through scientific methods has become more contested in recent years because of the sharp variation in results of such experiments. Even scientists supporting prayer research are at odds about results over intercessory prayer.
Anticipation of the conservative liturgical changes brought by the Vatican in the last year has also likely spawned a revival of traditional-looking churches in the U.S. to “replace the ubiquitous Modernist structures of the previous half-century,” according to Michael DeSanctis, a liturgical design consultant and professor.
American prisons are just as or more religious than the society outside their walls, especially in the high rate of inmates switching faiths and proselytizing members of other religions, according to a study by the Pew Forum.
The Pew Forum survey on religion in U.S. prisons can be downloaded at: http://www.pewforum.org/Social-Welfare/prison-chaplains-exec.aspx?print=tru.
A recent large gathering of atheists in Washington, D.C. served as another sign that atheism is finding a new level of support from young Americans as well as growing influence in popular culture.
Richard Cimino is the founder and editor of Religion Watch, a newsletter monitoring trends in contemporary religion. Since January 2008, Religion Watch is published by Religioscope Institute. Website: www.religionwatch.com.
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