Journal of Religion & Health最新文献

{"title":"Religious Literacy as a Clinical Competency in Clinical Pastoral Education in the USA: Reframing Hospital Chaplaincy Formation for Pluralistic Healthcare.","authors":"Jose Freddy Miranda","doi":"10.1007/s10943-026-02793-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-026-02793-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) has long shaped hospital chaplaincy through supervised clinical practice, pastoral reflection, self-awareness, and formation in the use of self. These strengths remain essential, but religious diversity in the USA increasingly requires chaplains to navigate beliefs, rituals, family systems, and moral frameworks that can affect medical decision-making. Using a theoretical and conceptual synthesis of interdisciplinary literature from chaplaincy studies, religion and health, palliative care, and religious literacy scholarship, this article examines the USA healthcare context and argues that religious literacy should be treated as a formal clinical competency within CPE rather than as an informal supplement to pastoral presence. Religious literacy is framed not as memorization of facts about world religions but as the capacity to recognize traditions as internally diverse, historically changing, culturally embedded, and clinically consequential. The synthesis identifies five competency domains: tradition-sensitive knowledge, critical self-awareness, patient-centered inquiry, consultation, and interprofessional communication. Integrating these domains into didactics, verbatims, supervision, community consultation, and assessment may strengthen ethical, accurate, and patient-centered spiritual care in pluralistic healthcare environments.</p>","PeriodicalId":48054,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148956561","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Algorithmic Moral Burden: Pope Leo XIV, Conscience, and Professional Agency in AI-Supported Philippine Healthcare.","authors":"Jomar S Tianio, Omar R Manlapas","doi":"10.1007/s10943-026-02780-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-026-02780-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Artificial intelligence influences clinical judgment, risk assessment, documentation, and referral, raising questions about professionals who remain answerable for decisions shaped by systems they cannot evaluate or contest. This study develops the conscientious algorithmic practice framework for AI-supported healthcare in the Philippines through integrative analysis, concept-driven thematic synthesis, and theological and psychological theory integration. Pope Leo XIV's account of technological power, human freedom, responsibility, and the dignity of work is brought into dialogue with the theology of conscience and vocation and moral injury theory. The article introduces algorithmic moral burden as a sociotechnical and ethical condition requiring the conjunction of meaningful AI influence, continuing professional answerability, and constrained evaluative authority. Clinical uncertainty, an isolated error, workload, or disagreement with an algorithm does not independently establish the construct. Conscientious algorithmic agency is proposed as the institutionally supported capacity for calibrated reliance and reasoned contestation, including informed acceptance, clarification, contextual modification, consultation, escalation, formal review, and justified override. The framework distinguishes conscience-supportive, conscience-strained, and morally injurious algorithmic practice as provisional, overlapping configurations rather than diagnostic categories or causal stages. Moral distress, reduced institutional trust, vocational disruption, spiritual struggle, and moral injury are treated as possible consequences rather than defining components. The conscientious clinic provides the normative vision of an institution that matches professional answerability with role-appropriate literacy, authority, psychological safety, accessible review, distributed accountability, and opportunities for acknowledgment and repair. The framework offers an empirically examinable basis for profession-specific and context-sensitive research without presuming that AI causes moral injury among Filipino health professionals.</p>","PeriodicalId":48054,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148957075","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Concealed Identities and Absent Fathers: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of the Lived Experiences of Two Daughters of Catholic Priests in Peru.","authors":"Ana Mercedes Caro","doi":"10.1007/s10943-026-02778-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-026-02778-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The abuse perpetrated by clergy in the Catholic Church has prompted investigations, journalistic reports, and institutional debate. Yet another group remains largely unexamined: children born of priests' secret sexual relationships, who grow up hidden in the shadows. This study explores how two Peruvian women make sense of growing up with a Catholic priest as their father. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), three core themes were identified: (1) longing for paternal presence within conditions of secrecy and distance, (2) living with a concealed identity, and (3) making sense of father absence within the Institutional Church. Drawing on literature on father absence, concealable stigma, and Bronfenbrenner's bioecological theory of development, these themes are interpreted within familial, institutional, and religious contexts. Findings highlight the emotional and mental health implications of secrecy and absence, as well as their relevance for identity development and psychological well-being. This study offers an initial exploration of the lived reality of children of Catholic priests and provides insights for those supporting them, contributing to broader discussions of family, religion, and mental health.</p>","PeriodicalId":48054,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148931547","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Veritas amid Post-truth: Catholic Ethics and the Moral Conditions of Philippine Public Health.","authors":"Jaybee S Cabañeros","doi":"10.1007/s10943-026-02779-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10943-026-02779-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Post-truth presents a challenge to public health not only through misinformation, but also through the erosion of truth as a norm of public reasoning, communication, and institutional accountability. In the Philippine context, this problem intersects with religious culture, where Catholic beliefs, practices, institutions, and digital communities can shape how health claims are interpreted and whom communities regard as trustworthy. This philosophical article employs conceptual and normative analysis to examine the relationship among post-truth, public-health trust, Philippine Catholic religious culture, and Catholic ethical responsibility. It develops a Truth-Oriented Relational Trust Framework, which understands public-health trust as relational and warranted rather than as unquestioning compliance. The framework conceptualizes religious culture as a moral-epistemic mediator that may either reinforce or interrupt post-truth pressures depending on how religious authority, evidence, conscience, and institutional responsibility are exercised. Catholic ethical principles of truthfulness formed conscience, human dignity, solidarity, and the common good are integrated with relational ethics of care to identify conditions of trustworthy health communication. The article applies this framework to family-centered communication, folk healing, religious coping, digital ministries, public-health partnerships, and artificial intelligence in healthcare. It argues that Catholic engagement in public health is ethically credible when it remains responsive to evidence, acknowledges limits of competence, protects vulnerable persons, permits correction, and sustains institutional accountability. Although developed from a Catholic and Philippine context, the framework also offers publicly accessible ethical norms for interfaith and pluralistic healthcare collaboration.</p>","PeriodicalId":48054,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148931508","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Relationship Between Self-stigma, Loneliness, and Religious Coping in Primary Caregivers of Individuals with Mental Disorders in Türkiye.","authors":"Mehmet Sıddık Veral, Emre Ciydem","doi":"10.1007/s10943-026-02783-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-026-02783-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study examined the relationships between  loneliness, religious coping, and self-stigma among primary caregivers of individuals with mental disorders in Türkiye. The study population consisted of primary caregivers of individuals with mental disorders who presented to the psychiatric ward and outpatient clinic of a university hospital in Istanbul Province between January 1 and July 30, 2025. The sample included 302 primary caregivers who met the inclusion criteria. Data were collected via a descriptive information form, the Self-Stigma Inventory for Family Members, the UCLA Loneliness Scale-Short Form, and the Religious Coping Scale. Descriptive statistics, independent samples t tests, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson's correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression analysis were employed in the data analysis. The participants' mean scores for self-stigma, loneliness, positive religious coping, and negative religious coping were 32.87 ± 8.85, 10.09  ±  2.44, 20.95 ± 3.93, and 4.26 ± 1.73, respectively. Self-stigma was positively correlated with loneliness and negative religious coping and negatively correlated with positive religious coping. In addition, several sociodemographic characteristics were found to influence self-stigma. These findings indicate that loneliness, as well as positive and negative religious coping, plays important roles in the self-stigma levels of primary caregivers of individuals with mental disorders, alongside sociodemographic factors. In practice, mental health professionals can reduce self-stigma by developing psychosocial and culturally sensitive interventions that focus on decreasing loneliness and strengthening positive religious coping strategies among primary caregivers.</p>","PeriodicalId":48054,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148921281","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Patient Beyond the Dataset: Levinas, Magnifica Humanitas, and the Principle of Non-totalization in AI Healthcare in the Philippines.","authors":"Jaybee S Cabañeros","doi":"10.1007/s10943-026-02785-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-026-02785-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in diagnosis, prognosis, triage, and clinical decision-making has intensified concern that patients may be reduced to data profiles, risk scores, and probabilistic classifications. Current ethical approaches emphasize accuracy, privacy, bias, explainability, and human oversight but do not fully address the authority granted to algorithmic representations. This conceptual article develops the principle of non-totalization through a constructive dialogue between Emmanuel Levinas and Pope Leo XIV's Magnifica Humanitas. Drawing on Levinas's accounts of totality, the face, vulnerability, responsibility, and the third, together with the encyclical's theological anthropology of dignity, communion, vulnerable embodiment, accountability, participation, and data justice, the article argues that even an accurate and explainable AI representation becomes ethically problematic when treated as a morally exhaustive account of the patient. Non-totalization therefore requires representational humility, meaningful patient voice, contestability and remedy, attributable human responsibility, and data justice. Three illustrative scenarios involving palliative care prediction, rural triage, and a mental-health chatbot show how statistically useful outputs can foreclose attention to patients' goals, circumstances, relationships, and spiritual or existential concerns. In the Philippine context, loob and kapwa serve as contextual interlocutors that illuminate relational interiority and shared personhood without being equated with Levinasian alterity or treated as universal descriptions of Filipino patients. The framework further attends to unequal access, multilingual communication, digital literacy, workforce limitations, religious plurality, and unequal control over health data. The article concludes that AI may inform clinical judgment without acquiring morally exhaustive authority over the person to whom healthcare remains answerable.</p>","PeriodicalId":48054,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148913831","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Integration of Religious Humor into Therapeutic Practices: Perspectives from the Philosophy of Erich Fromm and Seinto Oniisan.","authors":"Carl Jayson D Hernandez","doi":"10.1007/s10943-026-02773-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-026-02773-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Topics such as religious humor and humor in general have seen a resurgence in philosophical and clinical discourses, yet their latent therapeutic potential warrants a more systematic reconsideration. This philosophical paper advances a proposal to integrate religious humor into therapeutic practices, drawing primarily from the humanistic psychoanalytic framework of Erich Fromm and the philosophical representations in Seinto Oniisan (Saint Young Men). Consequently, the proposal preliminarily formulates a Frommian-inspired religious humor therapy that utilizes Saint Young Men as one of its textual materials, demonstrating the intersections of religion, philosophy, and psychology. With these in mind, the paper proceeds as follows: the first part provides the preliminaries: an introduction to the paper's focus, its methodology, and an overview of the discussions. The second part presents the relevant philosophical concepts of Erich Fromm, which deepen the understanding of humor and his particular view of humanistic religions. The third part begins with a summary of Saint Young Men, then elaborates on its philosophical representation. Afterward, the discussion examines the potential effects of watching the anime when it is effectively integrated into humor therapy, with a specific focus on meaning-making, religious knowledge, and the viewer's mental health. Lastly, the limitations of this study are highlighted, pointing to directions for future research.</p>","PeriodicalId":48054,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148889107","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Religious Perceptions About COVID-19 Among Predominantly Young Online Respondents from Selected Latin American Countries.","authors":"Christian R Mejia, Luciana D Garlisi-Torales, Víctor Serna-Alarcón, Jamil Cedillo-Balcázar, Leonel Vega-Perez, Camilo Vega-Useche","doi":"10.1007/s10943-026-02751-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-026-02751-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study aimed to determine the factors associated with religious perceptions about COVID-19 among predominantly young online respondents from selected Latin American countries. We conducted an analytical cross-sectional study using data from a multicountry survey conducted during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America. Participants were adults aged 18 years or older recruited through an online, non-probability convenience sampling strategy. Religious perceptions about COVID-19 were assessed with a six-item Likert-type scale exploring beliefs about divine influence on the pandemic, illness, and healing. High religious perception scores were defined as scores in the upper tertile of the summed scale, indicating stronger endorsement of religious interpretations of COVID-19, illness, and healing. This outcome did not directly measure negative attitudes toward medical treatment, treatment refusal, treatment adherence, adherence to preventive measures, or healthcare-seeking behavior. A total of 2317 respondents were analyzed. A conventional response rate could not be calculated because the survey was disseminated through open online academic and student networks, and the numbers of individuals reached and those who declined participation were unavailable. The statement with the highest agreement was \"When I have a health problem, I pray for God's will to be done\" (13% strongly agreed and 24% agreed). In multivariable analysis, a higher prevalence of high religious perception scores was associated with Christian affiliation (aPR = 1.73, 95% CI 1.15-2.62) and Evangelical affiliation (aPR = 1.98, 95% CI 1.31-3.00). A lower prevalence was observed among agnostic respondents, atheist respondents, and respondents from Peru, Mexico, Colombia, and Panama. These findings suggest that religious interpretations of illness were endorsed by a substantial proportion of this online convenience sample during the pandemic. The findings should be interpreted as exploratory and hypothesis-generating and may inform future research on culturally sensitive communication and care strategies in Latin American settings.</p>","PeriodicalId":48054,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148889136","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Professional Anxiety Among Religious Service Providers in Türkiye: Development and Psychometric Evaluation of a Measurement Scale.","authors":"M Nur Pakdemirli","doi":"10.1007/s10943-026-02775-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-026-02775-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study presents the development and psychometric validation of a Professional Anxiety Scale for Religious Service Providers (PAS-RSP) designed to measure the anxiety levels of this professional group. The need for a rigorously constructed, field-specific measurement instrument arises from the documented inadequacy of existing general professional anxiety scales in capturing the unique cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions of anxiety experienced in religious service contexts. The study addresses this gap by developing and validating a 31-item, seven-factor Likert-type instrument with strong psychometric properties. In Türkiye, a total of 231 religious service providers, comprising imams, muezzins, preachers, and Qur'an course instructors, completed the scale. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics (Version 22). Reliability was assessed using Cronbach's Alpha (α = .948), and construct validity was examined through Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), supported by a Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) value of .906 and a statistically significant Bartlett's Test of Sphericity (p < .001). The EFA yielded seven interpretable factors, namely professional social anxiety, professional management anxiety, personal life anxiety, professional success anxiety, religious fictional anxiety, profession's effect on family, and family's impact on profession. Together, these factors accounted for 70.7% of the total variance, substantially exceeding the 50% threshold commonly accepted in the social science literature. All subscales demonstrated acceptable to high internal consistency (α = .656 to .914). Findings indicate that professional anxiety among religious service providers is multidimensional in nature, encompassing professional, personal, familial, and religious dimensions. The scale is a valid, reliable, and contextually sensitive instrument applicable to diverse religious service and faith contexts. These findings carry significant implications for organizational management, personnel development, and the promotion of well-being among religious service workers. However, it should be noted that the scale has substantial methodological limitations. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and test-retest reliability were not conducted for the scale. The absence of CFA means that the factor structure reported in this study remains exploratory and has not yet been independently confirmed. The absence of test-retest reliability assessment limits the extent to which the temporal stability and generalizability of the scale can be established. These limitations should therefore be considered by researchers and practitioners who intend to use or further develop the present scale.</p>","PeriodicalId":48054,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148876171","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Role of Spiritual Well-Being in the Relationship Between Frailty and Hopelessness Among Older Adults in Türkiye.","authors":"Rabia Ümüş Öztürk, Sevda Korkut, Gamze Saatçi","doi":"10.1007/s10943-026-02771-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-026-02771-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Spiritual well-being may play a protective role in the relationship between frailty and hopelessness in older adults. This study aims to examine the relationship between frailty and hopelessness among older adults and to assess the role of spiritual well-being in this relationship. This cross-sectional study was conducted with 328 older adults. The study data were collected using an Introductory Characteristics Questionnaire and the Three-Factor Spiritual Well-Being, Beck Hopelessness, and Edmonton Frail scales. Based on the Edmonton Frail Scale classification, 39.3% of the participants were not frail, 24.7% were apparently vulnerable, 20.7% were mildly frail, 11.0% were moderately frail, and 4.3% were severely frail. The spiritual well-being variable acted as a mediator in the relationship between the hopelessness and frailty variables. Frailty was positively and significantly correlated with age, hopelessness, and multimorbidity, whereas it was negatively and significantly correlated with spiritual well-being, transcendence, harmony with nature, and anomie. In addition, transcendence was significantly and negatively associated with frailty after adjusting for age and multimorbidity; however, this association was attenuated and became non-significant after the inclusion of anomie and hopelessness in the final model. These findings suggest that spiritual well-being, particularly transcendence, may play a protective role against frailty in older adults, although its independent contribution diminishes when other dimensions of spiritual well-being and hopelessness are considered.</p>","PeriodicalId":48054,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Religion & Health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148867298","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}