We use the appointment of a Kenyan Roman Catholic archbishop as a natural experiment to analyze the impact of church authorities’ teaching on sexual behavior. Using a triple-difference approach, we find that following the archbishop’s counter-doctrinal assertion that condom use within a marriage can be acceptable to reduce HIV infections, Catholic married couples within the archdiocese who had ...

In the present study, the authors examine the extent to which effects of individual religious involvement on self-assessed health are influenced by the religious context (i.e., religious involvement at the country level). The authors test their expectations using individual level data (N = 127,257) on 28 countries from the European Social Surveys (2002-2008). Results of multilevel analyses show...

To cite: Quilliam S. J Fam Plann Reprod Health Care 2015;41:74–75. WHO ARE YOU? Catholics for Choice was founded in 1973 to serve as a voice for Catholics who believe that the Catholic tradition supports women’s and men’s moral and legal right to follow their consciences in matters of sexuality and reproductive health. We promote public policies that advance sexual and reproductive health ethic...

BACKGROUND Breast feeding initiation rates remain below 80% in some Western countries. Many individual-level determinants are known; however, less is known regarding cultural and societal determinants, such as religion, that could explain population-level variations. We examined the correlations of the proportions of Catholics and Protestants with the breast feeding initiation rates across and ...

Two studies investigated the role of group allegiances in contributing to the failure of institutions to appropriately respond to allegations of child sexual abuse. In Study 1, 601 participants read a news article detailing an allegation of child sexual abuse against a Catholic Priest. Catholics were more protective of the accused-and more skeptical of the accuser-than other participants, an ef...

Attribution theory has long enjoyed a prominent role in social psychological research, yet religious influences on attribution have not been well studied. We theorized and tested the hypothesis that Protestants would endorse internal attributions to a greater extent than would Catholics, because Protestantism focuses on the inward condition of the soul. In Study 1, Protestants made more interna...

In recent years, several controversies have beset official relations between Jews and Catholics. These include whether Catholics should pray for the conversion of Jews, whether the purpose of interreligious dialogue is to lead others to Christian faith, and whether Catholics should undertake non-coercive "missions" to Jews. An underlying theological topic in all these disputes is how the biblic...

Forthcoming, Harvard University Press Chapter 2 The Catholic Puzzle: Parishes and Civic Life By Mary Jo Bane The National Conference of Catholic Bishops issues a statement opposing stem cell research. Catholic parishes mobilized by the Industrial Area Foundations lobby for affordable housing. Lay Catholics occupy important leadership positions in local and national Right-to-Life committees. Cat...

BACKGROUND Durkheim's seminal historical study demonstrated that religious affiliation reduces suicide risk, but it is unclear whether this protective effect persists in modern, more secular societies. AIMS To examine suicide risk according to Christian religious affiliation and by inference to examine underlying mechanisms for suicide risk. If church attendance is important, risk should be l...