Latest news with #ReligiousLandscapeStudy
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Papal conclave has started. Here's how it works
The process to vote in a new pope is underway. Pope Francis died April 21 of this year, leaving the position of pope, the sovereign of Vatican City and leader of the Catholic Church, vacant. As such, a papal conclave was scheduled to begin May 7, 2025, for 133 elector cardinals from around the world to convene inside the Apostolic Palace and vote for who among them should be the new pope. The process usually lasts multiple days and is very secretive. Cardinals are not supposed to give any information as to who they believe the new pope should be, and they vote inside the Sistine Chapel, secluded from the outside world. According to the latest Religious Landscape Study from Pew Research Center, 63% of adults in Rhode Island identify as Christians as of 2024 — the most popular religion in the state. Of the 63% of Rhode Island adults in the study who identify as Christians, 39% of them are Catholic. That's higher than the nationwide total of 19% of adults. Here's what you need to know about the papal conclave and how you can keep up with live updates of this historic conclave. Cardinals attend a mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff, prior to the start of the conclave, at St Peter's Basilica in The Vatican, on May 7, 2025. What time does the conclave start The papal conclave has already begun, according to USA Today reporting. A first round of voting is set to take place today. Up to four rounds of voting can take place each subsequent day. There is no set time limit for the conclave, but recent conclaves have lasted only a few days. Since 1846, cardinals have taken two to five days to make decisions on the past 12 popes. When will the cardinals elect a new pope Multiple rounds of voting are almost always needed before a candidate emerges with the two-thirds majority required to become pope. The cardinals likely will need to reconvene Thursday morning, when a Mass would be celebrated in the Pauline Chapel before they return to the Sistine Chapel for midmorning prayer and that day's rounds of voting. Up to four rounds of voting are permitted each day. At the conclusion of Thursday's voting, there will an evening prayer before they return to Santa Marta. If the votes failed to result in someone receiving a two-thirds majority, they will return for more voting Friday − and as many days as is required to elect a pontiff. After a cardinal receives the required number of votes and agrees to take on the monumental task, white smoke will signal his selection. How does conclave voting work? Here are the specifics of the voting process, according to the Vatican: Each cardinal writes the name of their chosen candidate on a ballot, folds it, holds it aloft and carries it to the altar in order of rank. The cardinal places the ballot on a plate covering a chalice and says, in Italian: 'I call as my witness Christ the Lord, who will be my judge, that my vote is given to the one whom I believe should be elected according to God." The cardinal then uses the plate to drop the vote into the chalice, bows to the altar and returns to his seat. Cardinals who are unable to walk give their folded ballot to a "scrutineer," who follows the same procedure without reciting the oath again. Any cardinals who are too ill to be in the chapel are given ballots and a sealed box with a slit where the folded ballots can be inserted. Once the votes are cast, the "infirmarii" bring the box back to the chapel, where it is opened in front of the electors. The votes are counted and added to those already in the main chalice. How does a real conclave compare to the popular movie 'The Conclave' Former archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley, said that the movie is not a good representation of what really happens. O'Malley participated in the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis. 'My experience of being in at least one conclave was not that it was some sort of scene of political backroom plotting of how to get your candidate elected,' O'Malley wrote in his blog. He said that each cardinal votes for the person that they believe is God's will for the Church. 'It was an experience of a very intense retreat where there was much prayer and silence and listening to conferences on spiritual themes.' Is there a way to watch the papal conclave Yes, you can watch to see the Vatican chimney and possibly white smoke in the next few days via the USA Today livestream. The voting part of the conclave, where cardinals cast their ballots, is not allowed to be recorded, as it is a secret process. The church has started using jamming devices to prevent such indiscretions. You can also check for live updates here. Has there ever been an American pope There has never been a pope from the United States. More than 200 of the 266 popes were natives of Italy, although it's been 47 years since an Italian served as pontiff. Francis was the first from Latin America. Numerous cardinals from Italy and other nations are considered contenders. Melina Khan contributed to this report. This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Papal conclave 2025 is underway. Here's how the process works
Axios
04-04-2025
- General
- Axios
Religious affiliation is shifting in Arizona
As Lent continues and Easter approaches, fewer Arizonans are observing the Christian traditions compared to decades ago, according to new data from the Pew Research Center. The big picture: "This is a broad-based social change," Alan Cooperman, the director of religion research at the nonpartisan think tank, told Axios. "We've had rising shares of people who don't identify with any religion — so-called nones — and declining shares who identify as Christian, in all parts of the country, in all parts of the population, by ethnicity and race, among both men and women, and among people at all levels of the educational spectrum." By the numbers: 58% of Arizona adults identify as Christian, according to Pew's Religious Landscape Study that surveyed more than 35,000 Americans about religious and social beliefs from 2023 to 2024. That's down from 67% in 2014 and 71% in 2007. Meanwhile, the state's religiously unaffiliated population increased from 22% (2007) to 31% (2023-2024) and those practicing a non-Christian religion rose from 4% to 10%. The intrigue: While many people are moving away from organized religion, some are embracing spirituality.
Axios
26-03-2025
- General
- Axios
Religious affiliation is shifting in Indiana
As Lent continues and Easter approaches, fewer Hoosiers are observing the Christian traditions compared to decades ago, according to new data from the Pew Research Center. The big picture:"This is a broad-based social change," Alan Cooperman, the director of religion research at the nonpartisan think tank, told Axios. "We've had rising shares of people who don't identify with any religion — so-called nones — and declining shares who identify as Christian, in all parts of the country, in all parts of the population, by ethnicity and race, among both men and women, and among people at all levels of the educational spectrum." By the numbers: 65% of Hoosiers identify as Christian, according to Pew's Religious Landscape Study that surveyed more than 35,000 Americans about religious and social beliefs. That's a steady drop from 2014 (72%) and 2007 (82%). The state's religiously unaffiliated — atheists, agnostics and those identifying as "nothing in particular" — has risen from 16% in 2007 to 31% last year. Roughly one-third of Christians statewide say they identify as Evangelical Protestant (32%), followed by Catholic (14%) and Mainline Protestant (11%). "Nothing in particular" leads the way among Indiana's religiously unaffiliated at 21%, followed by atheist at 5% and agnostic at 4%. State of pray: Researchers note that the trend away from religion is driven in large part by Gen Z and younger millennials. Yes, but: While many people are moving away from organized religion, some are embracing spirituality. About 1 in 3 adults consider themselves "very" spiritual — a number that's increased since Pew last polled on this topic in 2023. What they're saying: The line between religious and spiritual is one that Indy resident Derrick Jackson has been walking for the past few years. A Texas native, Jackson told Axios he was raised in a deeply religious household as part of a fairly strict Black Baptist family. And while he still considers himself a Christian and a spiritual person, he no longer attends any religious services. "I just realized I never had the chance to really think about my relationship with religion. I was told what to believe in, and there was no room to even consider believing in something else because it was part of everything we did," he said. "A lot of those values just don't feel like me anymore." Between the lines: A significant portion of U.S. adults (35%) have switched religions since childhood, according to the study. What we're hearing: "It's not surprising," Penny Edgell, professor in the sociology department at the University of Minnesota, tells Axios. "I think if you're more progressive, you might look at religion and say that the mainstream religious institutions don't reflect my values," particularly when it comes to topics like LGBTQ+ inclusion, she says. Case in point: Fewer self-described liberals say they're Christian (37% — down from 62% in 2007) than are religiously unaffiliated (51%), according to the Pew data.
Axios
21-03-2025
- General
- Axios
Houston is getting less religious, Pew finds
Houston, and Texas overall, is becoming less Christian. Why it matters: A growing number of people in the state — and nationwide — don't identify with any religion. The shift is largely driven by Gen Z and younger Millennials, according to the Pew Research Center. The big picture: Fewer than half of 18- to 29-year-olds nationwide identify as Christian (45%), and nearly the same portion have no religious affiliation (44%), according to Pew's Religious Landscape Study, which surveyed more than 35,000 Americans. Meanwhile, 78% of those 65 and older identify as Christian. State of prayer: More Houston residents identify as non-Christian or religiously unaffiliated now than in 2014. 67% of Houston residents identify as Christian, down from 73% in 2014. 7% identify as another religion — the same from a decade ago. 3% are Muslim, when a decade ago, only 1% were. 25% are religiously unaffiliated, up from 20% in 2014.
New York Times
12-03-2025
- General
- New York Times
The Share of Religious Americans Will Continue to Decline
My generation, millennials, has been blamed for ruining so much: cloth napkins, traditional marriage, American cheese. But in the long run, we might be credited with destroying American religion. We are not a particularly faithful generation, and there's evidence our offspring may be even less so. Last month, a new edition of Pew Research's Religious Landscape Study came out. It's a huge survey — the organization polled more than 35,000 Americans — and the last one was released in 2014. Coverage of the survey focused on the fact that the fall in popularity of American Christianity has recently plateaued, after years of continuous decline. (Non-Christian faiths, which are a very small proportion of the American population, have gone up a bit since the survey started in 2007, but their relative size makes it tough to draw conclusions about them). According to Pew, since 2007, the share of Americans who describe themselves as Christian has dropped to 63 percent from 78 percent. But between 2020 and 2024, that figure hovered between 60 and 64 percent pretty consistently. The share of Americans who describe themselves as 'nones' — a category that includes people who have no religion in particular, or who are atheist or agnostic — has leveled off at just below 30 percent, up from 16 percent in 2007. But when you look at the numbers by generation, this plateau is temporary. As the Silent Generation, Boomers and Gen X become a smaller and smaller share of the population, there will simply not be enough religious young Americans to replace them. 'The reality is that 20 percent of boomers are nonreligious and it's at least 42 percent of Gen Z,' about the same as millennials, said Ryan Burge, a political scientist and the author of 'The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going.' Burge said of the Pew data: 'For every six Christians who left the faith — one joined. It's the exact opposite for the nones — six joiners for every leaver.' He added, 'You can't get away from those trend lines.' It is very unlikely that children raised without religion will later become religious, as 'none' is becoming just as sticky a religious identity as any other. According to Pew, only 40 percent of American parents of minor children are giving their kids any kind of religious education. Only 26 percent go to religious services once a week. We will eventually become a country that is 40-to-45 percent 'nones,' Burge said, though it will likely take a few more decades to get there. The move away from organized religion among younger people isn't just with their feet — it goes much deeper than church attendance. A new book, 'Why Religion Went Obsolete: The Demise of Traditional Faith in America,' by Christian Smith argues that millennials created a 'new zeitgeist' where religion is much less important to their overall worldview than it was to previous generations. Smith, who is the director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society at the University of Notre Dame, told me, 'I think culturally religion is in bigger trouble than a little plateau might suggest.' For his book, Smith did over 200 interviews with 18- to 54-year-olds, and he also ran a 2023 survey he calls the 'Millennial Zeitgeist Survey.' One question he asked in that survey was about religion's relevance to daily life. 'The bottom line is that two-thirds of the millennial generation view religion as either obsolete or not a matter they have an opinion about, which is arguably an indirect expression of obsolescence,' Smith wrote. Smith described organized religion to me as having become a 'polluted' idea in the American mainstream, because of the publicity around sex abuse scandals and financial malfeasance in many different faiths in the '80s and '90s as millennials came of age. 'The scandals violated most of the virtues believed to make religion good,' Smith wrote. 'They demonstrated that religion did not make people moral, did not help its own leaders cope with life's challenges and temptations, did not promote social peace and harmony and did not model virtuous behavior for others.' Those scandals helped destroy religion's credibility — and led to millennials no longer believing that religion could be a 'glue' that held America together, Smith's research showed. And this appears in every facet of life for Americans in their 30s and 40s. Their friend groups are less likely to center religion, and they are more likely to believe that you can be a moral person without believing in God. 'The idea of obsolescence captures this sense that the old— the thing that's gone obsolete— can still be around and people can still use it. I mean, there's still people that type on electric typewriters,' Smith told me. Part of why we're seeing a particularly virulent strain of Christian nationalists' fight for power in American society right now is because, deep down, they know that they're losing the long game. But the irony that Smith points out is that the more religious Christians tightly embrace electoral politics, the more they will continue to repel many of those they seek to attract. Though there has been a lot of press about young men flocking to strict Christian denominations, their overall numbers are not significant to the big picture of American life that Pew paints. As of now, only 38 percent of 18-to-24-year-olds say that they believe in God or a 'universal spirit' with 'absolute certainty,' and only 27 percent 'pray daily' lower numbers than for any other age group. As Smith puts it, 'the movement to save Christian America for God ended up pushing many Americans away from Christianity, God and the church.' I don't think that dynamic is changing soon. 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