Religious communities may have come late to the environmental movement, but they are starting to make a major impact. The landmark encyclical from Pope Francis calling on the world to engage in a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet is one example of a growing religious environmentalism. Amid a global financial downturn, religious groups, with their commitments to both caring for the Earth and human development, are uniquely positioned to help seek ways to develop public policies that balance economic needs with the protection of the planet. But do they have the will, and are people ready to listen?

China finds itself in the midst of a religious revival that is reshaping the global religious landscape in profound ways in the Third Millennium of the Christian era. From confounding expectations that sometime this century Islam may become the world’s largest religion to challenging Western theories of economic growth leading to the obsolescence of faith, China is in the midst of a great awakening that is transforming what once appeared to be the most secular nation on Earth to the leading edge of Christian expansion in the 21st century.