General Articles

Secularization, immigration, conversions, and a young generation’s hunger for spiritual meaning are transforming the religious landscape of Norway and making a new place for Roman Catholicism in that country, reports Pierre Jova in the French Catholic weekly La Vie (December 10).

Growing interest in Christianity in the UK, with some (disputed) indications of growing church attendance and involvement, is being tied to far-right activism in the country, according to reports.

Orthodox Jewish women in Israel are increasingly taking up the roles of rabbis, with some help from a new ruling in Israel, writes Michal Raucher in the online magazine The Conversation (November 20).

Many faith-based charities that have long partnered with the government have experienced setbacks to the point where they will not be likely to return to their former missions and levels of activity, according to leaders of religious social services during a recent New York conference attended by

Muslim women have taken up a significant role in the protests and provocations over Palestinian rights, signaling significant changes in traditional Islamic gender roles, writes Salwa Alinat-Abed in the journal Contemporary Islam (online in October).

Silent retreats, where participants follow monastic practices based on “quiet and listening,” are finding a new popularity among Buddhists, Christians, Jains, and Jews, reports the Washington Post (September 20).

Catholics in Europe are experiencing their own version of the same culture wars and internal divisions as their counterparts in the U.S., writes Massimo Faggioli in Commonweal magazine (September 21).