Institute for Religion, Culture and Societal Futures

YouTube video by Institute Religion, Culture and Societal Futures Some Theses on the Secular Sacred - IRCSF Event with Mervyn Horgan

These rituals remind us that the sacred persists, connecting us through shared meaning and presence.
If you missed it, watch the full talk here, on the IRCSF youtube channel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZITB...

Elina, an undergrad student at the IRCSF, writes about last week's IRCSF event: Dr. Horgan discussed how the sacred is not confined to religious institutions: it persists (in altered forms) in secular realms, moral imaginaries, public rituals, and everyday encounters.

Check out the CSSR - Canadian Society for the Study of Religion's upcoming webinar. Register here for the free event: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

YouTube video by Institute Religion, Culture and Societal Futures Some Theses on the Secular Sacred - IRCSF Event with Mervyn Horgan

Missed Mervyn Horgan's talk yesterday "Some Theses on the Secular Sacred" at the IRCSF? Check out the recording here of the event, for free viewing anytime on our YouTube channel (@IRCSF): www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZITB...

Christians are no longer the majority in Canada: surveys | Broadview Magazine Research shows the faith’s share of the population fell below half over the past few years

Check out this Broadview Magazine article titled "Christians are no longer the majority in Canada: surveys" by Julie McGonegal, featuring our very own Director Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme: broadview.org/canada-chris...

Still time to register for this free hybrid event!

This graph includes some key figures from Canada on the matter, from the Pew report.

Over 1/3 of the Canadian pop. has no religious affiliation. This Pew Research Center report looks into the spiritual beliefs and practices, as well as attitudes towards religion, among the religiously unaffiliated across the world, including here in Canada.
www.pewresearch.org/religion/202...

Our Director Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme is attending the NSRN and EUREL conferences this week in Bratislava, Slovakia, which are focused on these dynamics, and much more.

Eastern Europe is home to some of the most secular countries in the world, such as Estonia (81% of its pop is religiously unaffiliated according to EVS 2017) and Czechia (77%), as well as some very Christian ones (Poland and Ukraine for example).

We're back from the summer break with Fall 2025 events! First up is a talk on Sept. 24 @ 2:30pm EDT with Mervyn Horgan on current uses of Durkheim's concept of the sacred in sociology. Register for the free hybrid event here: uwaterloo.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

YouTube video by Institute Religion, Culture and Societal Futures Religious Populism - IRCSF Maple Spirit Pulse series

We've recorded and posted three videos in our Maple Spirit Pulse series. Have a look if you're interested in "Religious Populism," "Religious Schools," and/or "Canadian Ismailis and the Aga Khan." www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFNz...

We're back from the summer break with Fall 2025 events! First up is a talk on Sept. 24 @ 2:30pm EDT with Mervyn Horgan on current uses of Durkheim's concept of the sacred in sociology. Register for the free hybrid event here: uwaterloo.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

So You Want to Be a Muslim | Films | CBC Gem Five North American individuals experience life in new and often unexpected ways when they choose to become Muslim.

In the new CBC Gem documentary "So You Want To Be a Muslim," director Hoda Elatawi opens a window onto a number of Canadians' personal journeys into Islam. A fascinating watch for anyone interested in lived Islam in the country.
gem.cbc.ca/so-you-want-...

Interested in knowing more about Canada's 129 publicly-funded Catholic hospitals and long-term care homes? Check out Amelie Barras' and Andrea Paras' new article "Canadian Catholic Health Care at the Nexus of Multiple Legal Regimes": resolve.cambridge.org/core/journal...

YouTube video by Institute Religion, Culture and Societal Futures Canadian Ismailis and the Aga Khan – IRCSF Maple Spirit Pulse series

We've got a new Maple Spirit Pulse video on Canadian Ismailis and the Aga Khan, with Dr. Alyshea Cummins, for your summer viewing: youtu.be/yHwqNYtNMIY

New 2025 ISSP Canada data on religion are now available. Below are rates of religious nones and monthly attenders in 2023 and 2025 between the comparable ISSP Canada general population surveys.

This article shows that, in Iran, many women are leading calls for secularism, where they reject enforced religion shaped by political oppression, hijab laws, and censorship. Iran women’s resistance reflects how gender, power, and identity intersect under regimes that mandate religious conformity.

Junbo, a student working with us here at the IRCSF this summer, found the McCaffree, K., Saide, A., & Basmechi, F. (2025) "Sex Differences in #Secularity in #Iran" article in
@s-n-journal.bsky.social particularly interesting: link.gale.com/apps/doc/A83...

Congrats to IRCSF research fellow Miray Philips from the University of Toronto for being selected as a Young Scholar in American Religion by the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture!

Hajer is a student working with us here at the IRCSF this summer.

Hajer gives a review of McLean et al’s 2024 “Taking Alberta Back: Faith, Fuel, and Freedom on the Canadian Far Right” from the journal Religions. Find Hajer’s review in the photo below, and the full McLean et al. 2024 journal article at: www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15...

YouTube video by Institute Religion, Culture and Societal Futures Religious Schools - IRCSF Maple Spirit Pulse series

Looking for something to watch on the Canada Day long weekend? Check out our new Maple Spirit Pulse video on #religious schools, with Carol Ann MacGregor from St. Jerome's University: youtu.be/6krXX0wK3eA

The second column of % is rates of respondents who visited or were visited by an alternative/traditional/folk health care practitioner at least once in the past year. Apologies for it not being clear in the table itself.

Alternative and traditional medicine is often interwoven with spiritualities. Below are rates of support and use of alternative/folk/traditional medicine in countries around the globe, from the 2021 International Social Survey Programme.

Attitudes towards State secularism (also known as laïcité) measures, by country, from 2023 Nonreligion in a Complex Future survey data. In this graph, rates of agreement with the statement ”I think the government should only fund secular schools and not faith-based schools.”

Great work being done by one of our student fellows Jacob Legault-Leclair on religious socialization and transmission! Check out Jacob's new article in the journal Studies in Religion: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

In this graph, rates of agreement with the statement “I find it acceptable that religious images and symbols be displayed in public buildings such as schools, municipal council chambers, or legislative assemblies.”

Attitudes towards State secularism (also known as laïcité) measures, by country, from 2023 @nonreligioncf.bsky.social survey data.

Rates of the religiously unaffiliated were very similar between Canadian 15-24 & 25-34 year-olds in 1985...they still are in 2022 as well, even though much higher now than in 1985, and the highest of any age group in 2022 at around 50%.