In closing, let us start at the beginning—this Special Issue of Religions is a continuation of the first one, which was edited in 2024 by Dr. Anja Zalta with the assistance of then junior researcher and now a contributor to this issue, Dr. Igor Jurekovič. The first Special Issue had a similar title and was international in scope as well as far-reaching thematically and conceptually, so we decided to edit a second one.
In this second edition of the Special Issue “Religious Changes and Challenges in the Wake of Increasing Global Migration” of Religions, we tried involve the whole research programme group Problems of identity and autonomy in times of globalisation (P6-0194, funded by ARIS, Research and Innovation Agency of Slovenia) at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, and many heeded our call. The call for the Special Issue was also open and widely shared; the end result was compact (many papers from colleagues with similar research backgrounds and theoretical creeds) and cosmopolitan (intermixed with papers research from all over the world from those with different methodological and theoretical backgrounds).
Thematically, the conclusion of this Special issue marks a milestone in our collective effort to map the shifting landscapes of religious changes and challenges in an era defined by global migration. When we first conceptualised this Special Issue, we recognised that the intersection of movement and faith required an expansive, multidisciplinary lens—one that could synthesise sociological, theological, political, and historical perspectives. The contributions gathered here have more than met that demand, offering a profound look at the “double pluralism” of our contemporary world. Demographics have shifted in the 21st century. Driven by environmental crises such as droughts and earthquakes, as well as the sociopolitical challenges due to armed conflict and eroding human rights, migration has fundamentally altered the global religious map. As the sociologist Peter Berger argued, the defining characteristic of modernity is not the decline in religion but the rise in its plurality. This Special Issue was conceived upon his observation of a “double pluralism”—the simultaneous coexistence of diverse religious traditions alongside a persistent tension between religious and secular discourses.
The first contribution is Dr. Primož Krašovec’s (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia) theoretical investigation of a migration from religious practice to cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology and neuroscience in Buddhism. Buddhist soteriology presents the discovery of a paradox at the heart of the “human condition”. To reach awakening, one has to relinquish the central tenets of what makes us human, meaning that the process of awakening is necessarily also simultaneously a process of self-overcoming that shatters everything ordinarily understood as human and leaves it behind. Buddhism exposes the limits of human intelligence and why it is so ill-fitted to becoming awakened, especially when compared to machine intelligence. Unburdened by the organic substrate and the resulting desire and attachment, AI might be a solution to an ancient Buddhist paradox of how the human can be overcome by human means.
This Special Issue then provides two more empirical and policy oriented analyses by Dr. Ana Ješe Perković and Dr. Tjaša Učakar (both University of Ljubljana, Slovenia). Both utilised Peter Berger‘s theory of religious pluralism to analyse the intersection of migration, identity, and policy within the European context. Perković focused on the micro-level, exploring how descendants of Bosnian migrants in secular Slovenia navigate their religious identities amidst the “double pluralism” of competing belief systems and secularisation. Conversely, Učakar examined the macro level, critiquing EU migration policies from 1989 to 2024. She argues that despite humanitarian framing, these policies maintain exclusionary logics that implicitly marginalise non-Christian identities. Together, the studies highlight the tension between institutional secularism and the lived reality of religious diversity in contemporary Europe.
Next contribution is provided by Dr. Damjan Mandelc (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia), who studied religion, migration, and the far right in Europe. He examined how populist radical right parties strategically instrumentalise Christianity for their anti-immigration agendas. These parties have recast Christianity as a cornerstone of national and European identity, positioning it in opposition to Islam and non-European migration. The author argued that such instrumentalisation serves to not only construct a religiously defined national identity but also legitimise exclusionary policies. By analysing selected political speeches, party manifestos, and media discourse, Mandelc explored how far-right actors frame Islam as incompatible with European values, reinforcing the division between “Christian Europe“ and “foreign non-Christian migrants”.
Dr. Rok Smrdelj (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia) provided another critical and engaged contribution. He examined how anti-gender (meaning those critical of liberal views on gender and sexuality) actors represent themselves as legitimate participants in debates on equality politics. Drawing on Mouffe’s distinction between agonism and antagonism, he argued that anti-gender actors foster conflict and exclusion through “moral panic” and the “politics of fear”. He contended that such efforts to simulate agonism are particularly evident in Slovenia, where anti-gender organisations operate as covert allies of the Roman Catholic Church.
Reconnecting to the Buddhist theme in a more serene tone are the studies of Dr. Yi Miao, Dr. Metteyya Beliatte, Dr. Yaoping Liu, and Dr. Pharatt Run’s (all Rajamangala University of Technology Krungthep, Thailand) and of Dr. Xing Zung (Peking University, China), who examined the Ruan and Liang Buddhas as a unique episode in transregional Buddhist connections and beyond. These two studies explored the transregional evolution of Buddhism, specifically focusing on how local traditions from Guangdong, China, have adapted across Southeast and South Asia. Miao et al. examined the “recontextualisation” of Nanyang Buddhism through the Guangzhou Guangxiao Si, highlighting how Mahāyāna practices have been strategically adapted to meet the spiritual and social needs of the modern Chinese diaspora. Complementing this, Zhang tracked the veneration of the Ruan and Liang Buddhas—local figures from Sihui—as they migrated from Chinese folk legend to established cults in Malaysia and India. Together, the studies illustrate Buddhism’s inherent fluidity and its role in sustaining communal identity across borders.
In a more critical and engaged tone, Dr. Živa Kos and Dr. Veronika Tašner (both University of Ljubljana, Slovenia) examined the complex interplay between plurality and neutrality in Slovenian education in the context of increasing religious and cultural diversity associated with global migration. Drawing on a pilot study conducted with five primary school counsellors working in high-diversity school environments, they explored the tensions between the normative principles of plurality and neutrality and their practical implementation in everyday school life. The aim was to highlight the challenges that schools and school staff encounter when addressing religious and cultural diversity.
The following paper was provided by another international contributor, Dr. Melih Çoban (Marmara University, Turkey), with an investigation of Tengrism as a challenge to Islam in contemporary Turkey. He applied the critical discourse analysis technique, and the discourses of the Tengrist social media accounts were categorised and analysed under three main discursive themes. Considering the findings in these discursive themes in accordance with the political developments in Turkey, the author concluded that the Tengrist movement in Turkey is an outcome of political and cultural responses by certain segments of Turkish society that yet lacks the necessary grounds to become a new religious movement while possessing potential in this sense.
Dr. Igor Jurekovič (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia), a co-editor of the first edition of the Religions Special Issue “Religious Changes and Challenges in the Wake of Increasing Global Migration“, continued his involvement with a contribution on migrating melodies and migrating spirituality to the second edition. What makes his research innovative and unique is that, while the theological and social features of Charismatic Christianity have been widely examined, the role of worship music remains a relatively understudied aspect. Situated within the framework of international migration and based on research in Slovenia, the author explored contemporary Christian music, particularly contemporary worship music, as a transnational vehicle of Charismatic and Evangelical Christianity.
The last paper in this Special Issue is a voluminous contribution by Dr. Jasna Podreka (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia) and Dr. Marija Zidar (independent researcher), numbering more than 50 pages or thrice the average contribution length. They qualitatively examined the systemic dynamics of the abuse of consecrated women in the Loyola Community and analysed the allegations against the influential sacral artist and theologian Marko Ivan Rupnik within broader scholarly debates on abuse in Catholic ecclesial contexts.
Collecting all of the above papers was a journey, starting in early 2025 and concluding in March 2026. The ancient wisdom multi sunt vocati, pauci vero electi was true once more: some of the contributions were not included due to negative peer reviews. The editors nonetheless remember them kindly with a honourable mention here.
The field of religion studies is currently grappling with the profound demographic shifts in the 21st century, driven by environmental crises (droughts and earthquakes), armed conflicts, and eroding human rights: these factors have fundamentally altered the global religious map, shifting the academic focus from the secularisation thesis toward Peter Berger’s concept of “double pluralism”. This Special Issue recognises the simultaneous coexistence of diverse religious traditions and the persistent tension between religious and secular discourses in modern society. This Special Issue also adds to the existing research in the following areas:
- Technological intersections, by exploring the “migration”: of religious practices into cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence and neuroscience.
- Transregional adaptations, by increased focus on how local religious traditions (such as Nanyang Buddhism) are recontextualised and adapted to meet the needs of diaspora communities across Southeast and South Asia.
- Political instrumentalisation, by examining how the strategic use of religious identity by populist radical right parties to frame national identity and justify exclusionary anti-immigration policies.
Additionally, this Special Issue addresses several critical gaps where academic observation has previously been limited or fragmented:
- Understudied cultural elements. It addresses the lack of research on contemporary Christian music (CCM) as a transnational vehicle for migrating spirituality, specifically within Charismatic and Evangelical Christianity.
- Practical implementation in education. Although “plurality” and “neutrality” are normative principles, this Special Issue provides empirical data on the actual tensions and challenges faced by primary school staff when implementing these concepts in high-diversity environments.
- Emerging religious movements. The rise in movements such as Tengrism in Turkey is examined as a political and cultural response to existing religious structures, a phenomenon that has lacked discursive analysis.
- Sensitive ecclesial contexts: This Special Issue provides deep qualitative research into the systemic dynamics of abuse within specific Catholic communities, contributing to broader scholarly debates on power and abuse in religious contexts.
Building on the findings in this Special Issue, the following areas are highlighted for further exploration:
- Secular-religious dialogue: moving beyond academic observation to foster a robust dialogue between secular and religious actors to improve religious education and public policy.
- Comparative recontextualisation: conducting further comparative studies to analyse how religious traditions adapt across different regions and the role of religious institutions in cultural diplomacy.
- AI and spirituality: continuing investigation into how machine intelligence might offer solutions to ancient spiritual paradoxes and how these are redefined by technology.
- Management of religious precariousness: examining how policymakers can better support and manage the social complexities resulting from an increasingly precarious religious pluralism.
As we close this volume, we hope that these analyses provide a foundation for future scholars and policymakers to better support and manage the complexities of our shared, pluralistic reality. We thank the authors for their insightful contributions and for helping us understand how religion is being reimagined on a global scale. The situation resulting from religious pluralism demands more than just academic observation: it requires a robust dialogue between secular and religious actors to foster a more nuanced approach to religious education and policy.
Author Contributions
Conceptualization, P.K. and A.Z. Writing—original draft preparation, P.K. and A.Z. Writing—review and editing, P.K. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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