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Paper short abstract:

The paper will discuss recent adoption of digital technologies by different types of religious communities in Slovenia. Three case studies will be presented: traditionally dominant Roman Catholic Church, long-established minority Islamic Community, and less established newer minority Hare Krishna.

Paper long abstract:

The paper will present the initial findings of the Slovenian part of the Recovira project, which aims to comprehend the complex changes in religion since the pandemic, with a particular focus on the adoption of digital methods of communication. Three case studies have been constructed to examine different types of religious communities in Slovenia. The first case study looks at the traditionally dominant Roman Catholic Church, the second examines the long-established minority Islamic Community, and the third looks at the less established newer minority of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Hare Krishna). Using a combination of netnography, field observations, and interviews with different categories of members of the selected communities, the project systematically examines how believers are adopting new modes of digital communication, the relationship between official guidelines (national and international) of each researched community, and how they are adopted by regular members in their everyday religious life. The initial results show that for the leaderships of religious institutions, digital media has become a bridge to their communities during the pandemic, but after Covid, it is predominantly understood as a threat to lead the believers away from genuine religious and community life. However, some digital practices remain in use, and this paper will examine what they are and how to understand their consequences on religious life.