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Two Cambridge-led studies suggest that the psychological distress caused by lockdowns (UK) and experience of infection (US) was reduced among those of faith compared to non-religious people. People of religious faith may have experienced lower levels of unhappiness and stress than secular people during the UK's Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, according to a new University of Cambridge study released as a working paper.

Even a small dietary change by a minority of UK Catholics had significant environmental benefits, say researchers, who argue that a papal decree reinstating meatless Fridays across the global church would save millions of tonnes of carbon a year. If the Pope was to reinstate the obligation for meatless Fridays to all Catholics globally, it could be a major source of low-cost emissions reductions Shaun Larcom In 2011, the Catholic bishops of England and Wales called on congregations to return to foregoing meat on Fridays.

In Tibetan populations, parental decisions to make a son a Buddhist monk were guided by reproductive and economic considerations - not just by religious tradition - according to a new study led by UCL researchers. Published today in Proceedings of the Royal Society B , anthropologists at UCL, in collaboration with researchers from Lanzhou University, China, explored lifelong religious celibacy in Tibetan monks in Western China.

Expectations are rising that the 2021 Northern Ireland census may act as a trigger for a referendum on Irish unification, but 'new' census questions on religious background and national identity are likely to shape the debate about Northern Ireland's constitutional future, a new study reveals. While 'sectarian head-counting' has featured in Northern Irish politics since partition in 1921, the 1998 Good Friday Agreement (GFA) introduced a mechanism for a 'border poll' on Irish unification.

Many people misunderstand the relationship between religion, scripture and violence, a new book argues. Some people worry that scriptures such as the Qur'an and the Bible fan the flames of violence in the world today, while others insist that they are inherently peaceful. According to an international team of researchers, the reality may be more complicated than either set of people think.

Mother Teresa's life and the history of Albania - especially its people's relationship with Roman Catholicism - are intertwined, with the humanitarian icon epitomising her nation's cultural and spiritual DNA, the new study Mother Teresa: The Saint and Her Nation reveals. Its author, Dr Gëzim Alpion , from the University of Birmingham, claims that personal tragedies and Albanian origins helped shape Mother Teresa into the most influential religious personality of our times.

A visit by the Pope can renew sufficient religious observance among Italian women to withhold sex from their partners for more than a year afterwards, a new University of Sussex study shows. Papal visits to Italian provinces lead to a subsequent decrease in abortions of up to 20% with its impact felt for up to 14 months after, new research by economists Dr Vikram Pathania and Dr Egidio Farina has revealed.

Drivers using a pioneering app to gather information on modern slavery in hand car washes made more than 900 reports of potential cases over a five-month period, according to research published today. The Safe Car Wash app, which allows drivers to respond to a check list of key factors that may suggest modern slavery or labour exploitation in hand car washes, has been downloaded 8,225 times since its launch by the Church of England and the Catholic Church in England and Wales last year.

Artificial intelligence can help us to better understand the causes of religious violence and to potentially control it, according to a new Oxford University collaboration. The study is one of the first to be published that uses psychologically realistic AI - as opposed to machine learning. The research published in The Journal for Artificial Societies and Social Stimulation , combines computer modelling and cognitive psychology to create an AI system able to mimic human religiosity.

The academic advantages associated with a faith school education are short lived, and are mainly explained by home background, new research from UCL shows. UCL Institute of Education (IOE) researchers analysed data on more than 10,000 people born in England and Wales in a single week in 1970, who are taking part in the 1970 British Cohort Study.

New DNA analysis reveals that, before their mysterious disappearance, the Norse colonies of Greenland had a "near monopoly" on Europe's walrus ivory supply. An overreliance on this trade may have contributed to Norse Greenland's collapse when the medieval market declined. The very thing which gave the society its initial resilience, may have also contained the seeds of its vulnerability James Barrett The Icelandic Sagas tell of Erik the Red: exiled for murder in the late 10th century he fled to southwest Greenland, establishing its first Norse settlement.

New research measuring the importance of religion in 109 countries spanning the entire 20th century has reignited an age-old debate around the link between secularisation and economic growth. The study, published in Science Advances, has shown that a decline in religion influences a country's future economic prosperity.

The King James Bible, first published in 1611, has been found to have been translated by a Frenchman - according to three sources newly discovered by a University of Birmingham researcher. Although the King James Bible went on to become the most popular translation throughout the English-speaking world, the circumstances surrounding its production have always been mysterious.

Storytelling promoted co-operation in hunter-gatherers prior to the advent of organised religion, a new UCL study reveals. The research shows that hunter-gatherer storytellers were essential in promoting co-operative and egalitarian values before comparable mechanisms evolved in larger agricultural societies, such as moralising high-gods.

New Oxford University research has revealed that bones long venerated as relics of the saint, do in fact date from the right historical period. One of the most revered Christian saints, St Nicholas' remains are held in the Basilica di San Nicola, Bari, Southern Puglia, since 1087, where they are buried in a crypt beneath a marble altar, with others preserved in the Chiesa di San Nicolo al Lido in Venice.

Twenty years on from the first major report on Islamophobia, a new report involving University of Birmingham research recommends that all parts of society call out prejudice and discrimination experienced by and suffered by Muslims. The report, produced by the Runnymede Trust with contributions from the University of Birmingham and a number of other UK universities, finds that Muslims face huge disadvantages in the jobs market, despite more Muslims going to university than ever - including more Muslim women graduates than men.

Although one in 8 couples experience fertility issues and many of them turn to Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) to help them have a child, usage varies significantly across Europe. A new Oxford study has shed light on some of the reasons behind this - pinpointing moral and social acceptance of the treatment and religion as key.

Although one in 8 couples experience fertility issues and many of them turn to Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) to help them have a child, usage varies significantly across Europe. A new Oxford study has shed light on some of the reasons behind this - pinpointing moral and social acceptance of the treatment and religion as key.

The earliest Latin Commentary on the Gospels, lost for over 1500 years, has been rediscovered and made available in English for the first time. The work, which was written by a bishop in North Italy, Fortunatianus of Aquileia, dates back to the middle of the fourth century. Despite references to it in other ancient works, no copy was known to survive until a researcher from the University of Salzburg identified the commentary in an anonymous manuscript copied around the year 800 and held in Cologne Cathedral Library.

Reformation Rebels: The surprising histories of Benedictine monks in exile (31 August 2017) Sixteenth and seventeenth century Benedictine monks refused abstinence, died in duels, went off to war and spread illegal Catholic doctrine, a new study has revealed. The Monks in Motion project, led by Dr James Kelly of the Department of Theology and Religion , has brought together records of English and Welsh Benedictine monks exiled in Europe in a first-of-its-kind searchable database and uncovered some of their remarkable histories.