International Association of Religion Journalists

At our Warsaw conference, a public forum for experts on religion in Eastern Europe was sponsored by the Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA). This session, titled “From Solidarity forward: The tangled web of religion, history and politics in Eastern Europe,” took place at the University of Warsaw Faculty of Journalism, and was streamed online.

Religion is often at the heart of European news, related to issues including migration, politics, culture and public life. To explore these complex topics, the IARJ is holding a regional conference in Warsaw (Poland) on June 13-14 under the title “Journalism and Religion in Central and Eastern Europe.” One session is open to the public and will be streamed online.

Many researchers were startled by new reports that the Western trend toward secularism is also crossing the U.S., generation by generation. Dr. Jörg Stolz—professor of sociology of religion at the University of Lausanne and the current president of the International Society for the Sociology of Religion—reports on these findings and also raises questions for further study.

In Part 1 of a Global:Plus report on anti-Semitism, Rachel Kohn looks at a dangerous rise in this centuries-old hatred across Australia and New Zealand. She also looks at signs of hope and recommends further reading for journalists covering this trend.

In Part 2 of a Global:Plus report on anti-Semitism, Pedro Brieger looks at the rise in the Americas. He writes, “To combat anti-Semitism, we must both recognize its historical roots and the various contemporary political, social and religious factors that play a part in its revival. It is a challenge for all of us.”