Online Opportunities in Secularizing Societies? Clergy and the COVID-19 Pandemic in Ireland
Online Opportunities in Secularizing Societies? Clergy and the COVID-19 Pandemic in Ireland
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DOI：
10.3390/rel12060437
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发表时间：
2021-06-01
期刊：
影响因子：
0.8
通讯作者：
Ganiel, Gladys
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Ganiel, Gladys
本文探讨了爱尔兰的基督教神职人员如何在 COVID-19 大流行期间采用在线事工，以此作为教会保留某些重要性的机会，即使在世俗化社会中也是如此。它基于对全岛 439 名宗教领袖的调查和 32 次深入的后续采访。本研究的结果根据三个领域的学术成果进行分析：（1）爱尔兰的世俗化，以诺里斯和英格尔哈特的进化现代化理论为基础； （2）跨国研究发现，疫情期间人们对灵性或宗教的兴趣有所增加（以英国为主要比较点）； （3）大流行前有关数字宗教的更广泛的学术研究。文章最后指出，神职人员将在线事工视为机会很重要：如果他们将在线事工视为宗教复兴的潜在场所，他们就更有可能对其进行投资。有一些证据表明，他们可能会得到非专业志愿者的协助。然而，鉴于世俗化已经开始，接受在线和面对面宗教的混合是否会对爱尔兰的宗教格局产生深远影响还有待观察。
This article explores how Christian clergy in Ireland have framed their adoption of online ministries during the COVID-19 pandemic as opportunities for the churches to retain some significance, even in secularizing societies. It is based on an island-wide survey of 439 faith leaders and 32 in-depth, follow-up interviews. The results of this study are analysed in light of scholarship in three areas: (1) secularization in Ireland, informed by Norris and Inglehart's evolutionary modernization theory; (2) cross-national research that has found increasing interest in spirituality or religion during the pandemic (with the UK as the main point of comparison); and (3) wider pre-pandemic scholarship on digital religion. The article concludes by arguing that the clergy's framing of online ministries as opportunities is important: if they regard online ministries as potential sites of religious revitalization, they are more likely to invest in them. There is some evidence that they may be assisted in this by lay volunteers. However, given the secularization already underway, it remains to be seen whether an embrace of blended online and in-person religion will have far-reaching impacts on Ireland's religious landscape.