Search Results (37)

This paper analyses the religious experience of young people in contexts of digitalisation. The secularisation thesis has not been imposed. Youth, who are more open to the porosity of social and cultural boundaries, live outside of dogma and the church, with the signs of transcendence as a fundamental part of their personal narrative. Religiosity, a contingent temporality, and youth socialised in the unknown lay the foundations for this reflection. Full article

The purpose of this study is to provide a context-based empirical investigation of the racialized effect of policing on the financial performance of Black entrepreneurs. Given the historical role of race in policing in the United States, we expect that the degree of the policing of the Black population in a state will be negatively associated with the financial performance of Black entrepreneurs in the state. The sample for this study is drawn from quarterly police stop data across 14 states from the Stanford Open Policing Project, which is matched with state-level data from the Merchant Maverick ranking of best states for Black entrepreneurs. The sample size is 164 observations over 2013–2015 pertaining to police search rates of Blacks. Findings from the moderated, multivariate regression analysis reveals that the adverse effect of the policing of Black Americans on Black entrepreneurs’ financial performance can be relieved by state-level religiosity and the legalization of marijuana (or cannabis; a mind-altering drug produced from the hemp plant). This research demonstrates the important role of religious and legal institutional mechanisms in countering the economically destructive effects of policing on Black entrepreneurship in the United States. Full article

This study examines the exercise of religious freedom within the Polish penitentiary system, focusing on the intersection of legal frameworks, religious pluralism, and secularization. While Poland’s Constitution and penal legislation guarantee inmates the right to practice their faith, the practical implementation of this right faces systemic challenges. This research draws on legal analysis, demographic data, and existing empirical studies to assess how pastoral care operates in prisons. The findings reveal that although the prison system is formally open to various denominations, access to non-Catholic chaplaincy is often limited and misaligned with the evolving religious composition of the inmate population, especially following increased immigration. The number of chaplains and volunteers remains low relative to the needs of inmates, and pastoral services vary widely across regions. Despite these issues, religious involvement is shown to support rehabilitation by fostering moral development and reducing recidivism. This study concludes that a more inclusive, pluralistic, and flexible approach to prison ministry—one that accounts for both declining religiosity and growing diversity—is essential. Chaplaincy must adapt not only as a provider of religious rites but also as a facilitator of ethical reflection, emotional support, and reintegration into a secular and pluralistic society. Full article

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly altered the experience of loss and mourning, potentially increasing distress among bereaved individuals. This study aimed to assess this experience and examine the role of spirituality and religiosity in this context. Using a mixed-methods, cross-sectional design, this research employed a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG), the WHO-5 Well-Being Index, the Burdened by Grief and Loss (BGL) scale, and an open-ended question regarding what participants found helpful in their grieving process. Of the 323 responses eligible for quantitative analysis, 225 participants responded to the open-ended question. Notably, 36.84% of the sample scored above 25 on the ICG, indicating significant grief-related distress. Quantitative findings revealed that individuals with spiritual engagement (religious or not) reported lower levels of grief and higher general well-being scores. Qualitative analysis of the open responses highlighted spirituality as the most prominent source of support in coping with grief during the pandemic. Given Brazil’s high mortality rate, a substantial number of people may be experiencing complications in their grieving processes. Healthcare professionals and spiritual/religious care providers should be equipped to offer appropriate support and foster interdisciplinary dialog to assist those bereaved effectively. Full article

The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting stay-at-home orders disrupted religious life across the United States, forcing congregations to rapidly adapt to unprecedented challenges. While existing research has explored the pandemic’s impact on individual religiosity, this article centers on how congregations were reshaped by the pandemic—sometimes temporarily, sometimes permanently. Drawing on nationally representative survey data from the Exploring the Pandemic Impact on Congregations project and the long-running Faith Communities Today initiative, this article analyzes trends in worship attendance, other forms of commitment to and engagement with congregations, congregational openness to change, and clergy well-being. The findings show that in-person worship attendance continues to decline, while online worship was adopted widely during the pandemic and remains common. Programming, volunteering, and financial giving have rebounded but still fall short of pre-pandemic levels or current needs. Many congregations embraced change early in the pandemic but have since reverted to old routines. Clergy are in relatively good health, yet growing numbers are reconsidering their futures in ministry. These shifts reveal the pandemic’s lasting impact on congregational life and raise critical questions for clergy, lay leaders, and researchers about institutional resilience, innovation, and leadership sustainability. The findings underscore the complex and evolving nature of post-pandemic ministry. Full article

Although spirituality and religiosity are related, they are not identical phenomena. Based on the results of previous research, we hypothesized that, of the two dimensions of spirituality—transcendence proper (TP) and spiritual openness (SO)—only the former would be a significant positive predictor of religiosity operationalized as centrality of religiosity (COR). This study included 343 participants aged 18 to 82 years (M = 32.18, SD = 10.84), who completed Scale of Spiritual Transcendence and Centrality of Religiosity Scale questionnaires. Structural equation modeling revealed that, when TP and SO were controlled for simultaneously, both predictors were significant. However, while the associations of TP with COR were strong and positive, SO turned out to be a significant but negative predictor of each aspect of COR. This suggests that spirituality can encompass elements that are negatively associated with traditional religiosity and supports the thesis that spirituality is a broader construct than religiosity. Full article

The rapid growth in interfaith peacebuilding has elevated the prominence of religion in theoretical and practical discourse, highlighting its importance in conflict dynamics. In dialogue-based encounters between distinct identity groups, religion often emerges as a key factor, regardless of participants’ specific affiliation or religiosity level. However, studies on religion-related tension typically adopt a polarized perspective, framing conflict in intergroup contexts while overlooking intra-group dynamics. This paper addresses this gap through a qualitative cross-case analysis of two studies, conducted in Israel during 2016–2019. Participants included 28 secular Jews and 28 secular Arabs (Christian and Muslim). Our findings reveal that non-religious individuals from both societies experienced similar challenges in navigating intra-group, religion-based encounters. Participants identified religion as defining boundaries of understanding, acceptance, legitimacy, and belonging within their societies. The study also highlights gaps in mutual recognition, whereby the participants expressed willingness to accept religion as integral to their religious counterparts’ identity, yet reported that this openness was not reciprocated. This gap created barriers to dialogue, weakening potential intra-group cohesion. This paper contributes to the literature on conflicts and peacebuilding, underscoring notable intra-group similarities between Jewish and Arab participants, and offers a novel framework for understanding religious dynamics across distinct social contexts. Full article

Religiosity and scientificity have long been intertwined in missionary anthropology. Since the 20th century, there has been a shift from religious missionary anthropology to scientific anthropology worldwide. Reviewing published materials and archives, this paper provides a case study of this transformation. It focuses on how the foreign missionary-founded West China Border Research Society transformed from a relatively closed and fixed local Christian academic research institution into a more open, international, and purely scientific research institution disciplined by Christian rationality. It sheds some new light into the Society’s roles and its transformation process. Contrary to the views of many scholars who assert that the Society “died” in 1937 and subsequently engaged in China’s state service and nation-building efforts, we contend that after 1937, the Society sought greater independence and a more scientific approach. Christianity dominated the Society in the early stages after its inception in 1922 in Chengdu, China, and its research results could not be objective or scientific. Although the Society later became more open and globalized, missionary anthropologists still mainly controlled it. After 1937, missionary anthropologists returned to religious rationality under the pressure of being connected to global academia. The Society eventually adopted “salvage anthropology” and tried to develop into a scientific research institution aimed at objective recording, while this somewhat rigid research approach also disciplined and suppressed the nationalist research orientation of Chinese colleagues and scholars. In response, Chinese researchers established other institutions and journals with stronger nationalism and undertook the “border construction work” that the Society could not accomplish. Full article

Muslims in Italy are an increasingly large and relevant part of the social fabric, although their social condition is still characterized by a “precarious” status. This is explained by a relationship with State institutions that is not yet fully defined in formal terms and by resistance to legitimizing their presence in the public space. In addition, international events have led to the spread of a securitarian political rhetoric and to the intensification of “control” devices on the organized forms and public manifestations of Muslim religiosity. One issue that has concerned political interlocutors has been the training of “imams”. This paper presents the Italian case of training “on” and “of” Islam, analyzing it as a contested field, albeit in a not open and hostile form, between the different social and institutional actors, that is Italian universities, Islamic organizations and transnational Islam and Islam “of the States”. It then analyzes the approach that has been developed and experimented by an Italian State university for the training of imams and murshidat, in collaboration with Italian Islamic organizations and some universities in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation countries, and it also discusses how it fits in as a possible innovative model among the various “assemblages” that have emerged in Europe in recent years. Full article

The aim of this study was to verify whether emotional intelligence and intrinsic religious orientation have a positive influence on a balanced time perspective (BTP) in the lives of Italian consecrated women. A positive, balanced time perspective, together with the ability to recognize one’s own emotions and those of others, is integral to people’s experience of religiosity in their lives. In this way, a balanced time perspective can open the experience of religiosity, contributing to a better world, along with all those who are engaged in a religious sentiment that is no longer limited to single segments of self-interest. In this study, we provided evidence that religious beliefs (not just participation in corporate religious life) can provide an alternative source of understanding emotions and perceiving time, for the religious people who live their consecrated life together. We tested whether this phenomenon was specific to the potential associations between various aspects of religious belief, emotional intelligence, and time perspective. This research was conducted on a sample of 283 Italian nuns, and it was verified that both emotional intelligence and intrinsic religiosity contribute significantly to a BTP. Furthermore, the fact that emotional intelligence is mediated by intrinsic religious orientation increases the benefits of emotional intelligence on the BTP of Italian nuns. Altogether, our results suggest that religiosity is linked to a balanced temporal profile and to a positive way of understanding emotions. More specifically, the pattern of relationships between religion, emotions, and time can influence and deepen both the individual and collective understanding of humanity among these religious women and create space for mutual engagement despite obvious differences. These results are in line with the requisites of Public Theology, as they allow us to specify selectively the developments on a more secure and empirical basis of how religiosity can affect the life of people, by exposing the submerged theological assumptions that characterize the internal beliefs of religiosity. Moreover, the research data indicate that the deep aspects of religiosity influence greatly the day-to-day living of religious women. This practical influence of religiosity confirms the urgency of opening up theological reflection in the public sphere of life. In fact, as long as the religiosity of the nuns is not reduced to private practice, theological reflection will also be opened to its public significance in the different fields of their apostolic mission. Full article

Many mental health care patients, regardless of their religious beliefs, prefer a similar outlook on life with their professional caregivers. Patients experience greater openness to discuss religion and spirituality (R/S), mutual understanding, less fear of disapproval and report a higher treatment alliance. The question is whether the core problem of a so-called ‘religiosity gap’ (RG) lies in (a) an objective difference in outlook on life, (b) a perceived difference in outlook on life or (c) in unmet R/S care needs. We explored this by matching data of 55 patients with their respective caregivers for a quantitative analysis. An actual (objective) RG, when patients were religious and caregivers not, was not associated with a lower treatment alliance but a difference in intrinsic religiosity, especially when caregivers scored higher than patients, was related to a lower treatment alliance. A subjective RG, perceived by patients, and a higher level of unmet R/S care needs were also significantly associated with a lower treatment alliance as rated by patients. These results emphasize that sensitivity, respect and openness regarding R/S and secular views are essential elements in treatment and might benefit the treatment relationship. Full article

Amidst increasing globalization and religious diversity, acknowledging and embracing openness towards religious and/or cultural others has become crucial for societal cohesion and international relations. Theological scholars, holding significant potential in mitigating inter-religious and intercultural prejudices, can play a pivotal role in addressing this challenge. However, it is acknowledged that theologians themselves may harbor such biases. This study, conducted within the framework of the Religious Openness Hypothesis, employed an online questionnaire among theology students, seen as future multipliers of religiosity, in Germany and Turkey (N = 513) using convenience sampling. The results reveal the consistent relation of religiosity to all forms of prejudice among German Christians, with a linked defense against secularism potentially leading to self-isolation and the protection of their own worldview against religious or cultural outgroups. In contrast, the (generally high) prejudice among Turkish Muslims appears to be rooted not primarily in religiosity or defense against secularism but in fundamentalism and, most likely, in other socio-cultural factors such as politics and education. For both subsamples, religiosity was positively linked with xenosophia, particularly when accounting for fundamentalism. The article concludes by proposing curriculum implications for universities and schools in both cultural contexts. Full article

Despite the potentially catastrophic nature of disasters, survivors can be highly resilient. Resilience, the capacity to successfully adapt to adversity, is both individual and collective. Policymakers and academics have recently emphasised the importance of community resilience, but with little consideration of local survivors’ perspectives, particularly young survivors within low- and middle-income countries. Therefore, this exploratory study aims to give voice to disaster-affected caregivers, teachers and female adolescent students by examining their conceptualisations of community coping and priorities for resilient recovery following the 2018 Central Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami. A total of 127 survivors of the devastating disaster, including 47 adolescents, answered open-ended survey questions related to post-disaster resilience. A content analysis identified key constituents of community resilience. The results indicate that survivors highly value community cohesion and participation, drawing on the community’s intra-personal strengths to overcome post-disaster stressors. Student conceptualisations of and recommendations for a resilient recovery often differ from the views of important adults in their lives, for example, regarding the role played by the built environment, “trauma healing” and religiosity in the recovery process. These findings have implications for the design of disaster resilience interventions. Full article

For believers, a decision to enter sacramental marriage is one of the most important steps in their lives. They prepare for it over the engagement period. This is a time of personal formation open to further improvement, in which religion plays an important role. Religiosity is the moral virtue by which man honours God. The bride and groom-to-be bring the experience of their own religiosity to the relationship, which allows for mutual enrichment and positive confrontation. The aim of this research is to show the influence of religiosity on the building of the engagement bond and its subsequent impact on the nuptial community. The paper is of a theoretical and empirical nature and belongs to the area of moral theology. This research includes the conclusions of empirical studies conducted in Poland. The method of source material analysis applied in this paper allows for a synthesis that shows the complexity of the phenomenon, with special attention paid to the aretology of the analysed issue. The synthesis offers concrete solutions for future brides and grooms, as well as those responsible for preparing for the sacrament of marriage. It reaffirms the need to form a mature religiosity during the engagement period. It encourages certain religious forms that serve to build a relationship with God and enable the bride and groom to better relate to each other. An important dimension of properly experienced religiosity is its formative character that enables one to make appropriate moral choices. Full article

After the communist regime seized power in Albania in 1944, the vilification, humiliation, persecution and execution of clergy of all faiths, including Muslim, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox, were conducted publicly. Religious estates were nationalized in 1946, and around the same time, religious institutions were closed or converted into warehouses, gymnasiums, workshops or cultural centers. In the communist constitution of 1976, Albania became the first constitutional atheist state in the world. In Article 37 of the Constitution was stated “the state does not recognize any religion”. Albanians were forced to deny their religion, change their belief system and adopt the new socialist way of life that praised secular gods such as the Communist Party and its leaders. The image of the party leader replaced religious icons. Young people were encouraged to follow worldly pursuits, including offering their life for communist deities. With the fall of communism, Albanian clerics and foreign missionaries encouraged the revival of religiosity in the country. Because in Albania, religious institutions and clergy did not exist for more than 3 decades, foreign actors played a major role in the return of religion to social life and among young people. Post-communist Albania represents a quintessential case study of importing religion into a formerly atheistic country that lacked qualified clergy, religious institutions and strong religious beliefs. In the permissive post-communist Albania, people, especially young people, attributed different meanings to religion and religiosity. Mere investigations and surveys of faith communities along traditional lines would fail to provide useful insights into the significant transformations that have impacted the religious field in Albania after the fall of the communist regime and the current challenges faced by new and “traditional” denominations. The post-communist religious context is dominated by two opposing currents: The first trend is marked by the legal organization of religious practice in the public space, which grants freedoms and equality to the “traditional” religions recognized by the state, but autonomous and independent from it. The other trend is shaped by the rituals and practices of believers from abroad who are pushing for the creation of new autonomous religious communities. This paper is not investigating religious “communitarianism” along traditional lines but rather examines salient religious identification and societal relationships and discusses their implications. This analysis rests on survey data and free-flowing and open-ended interviews conducted mainly with students of the Political Science Department of the University of Tirana and of the European University of Tirana, as well as research of different social networks. The article is divided into three parts, which present the following: literature insights, the historical background of Albania’s secularization and current religious trends and practices. Full article