Ross Douthat: Decline and Schism in Religion

I don’t think I’ve linked to it in this space yet, but regular readers have probably already seen my long piece in the May issue of the Atlantic on Pope Francis’s biography and agenda and what his pontificate might mean for the future of Catholicism. The essay was written a little while before its actual appearance, as long-form magazine pieces tend to be, and there have been all sorts of recent developments around the church and the pontiff that deserve to be discussed afresh. I’m hoping to wade more fully into those issues next month, but first, before it slips too far into the past, I want to talk about the “s” word, schism — which features in my Atlantic essay, though perhaps not quite so prominently as the title suggests — in the context of the Pew religious data that made waves two weeks ago.

Read the rest here.

See also this related article.