The rapid global spread of the coronavirus in the last months has caused massive effects and reactions in all spheres of life including in the field of science where researchers of different disciplines are challenged to contribute from their specific disciplinary angel to solutions of the problems directly or indirectly associated with the pandemic. Since the true extend of the COVID crises has become clear, countless scientific essays, articles, and books have taken up virtually any aspect of the subject. With the present issue, the International Journal of Latin American Religions participates in this discussion-albeit with some delay due to its semiannual publication schedule (June and December)-and the expressive number of thirteen thematically relevant articles indicates both the pandemic's severeness and intellectual potential for scholars of religion whose majority lives and works in a region which is among the hardest hit by the corona crisis. The immediacy and impact of the current pandemic, however, must not distract us from recognizing that we are facing a particular expression of a constituent pattern of world history. Surveys indicate a steep rise of natural hazards during the twentieth century followed by an even more expressive increase at the beginning of the twentyfirst century (Gaillard and Texier 2010: 81). While it is an exaggeration to confirm that "on average, a disaster occurs somewhere in the world each day," it is fair to say that due to global media coverage, we are aware of the frequency of threatening occurrences such as "a flood, hurricane, or earthquake, a nuclear, industrial, or transportation accident, a shooting spree, or peacetime terrorist attack" (Noris et al. 2002: 207).

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Despite its tradition as a dominantly Christian country, Brazil is the host of the largest community of Japanese-descended people outside of Japan. This is the result of a long-lasting immigration process that started in 1908 and led to the establishment of a series of Japanese religions in the country. Although some of these groups are still restricted to the Japanese ethnic milieu, others have transcended their former ethnic boundaries and are quite successful in terms of recruiting new practitioners from a wider Brazilian audience. In order to identify the reasons for the failure or relative success of the various groups, the article starts with an overview of the historical development of Japanese religions in Brazil and summarizes the relevant results of the latest data provided by the institutions and the national census. The second part, which systematizes the strategies of transplantation of Japanese New Religions to Brazil, gives special attention to the construction of a transnational ancestor cult and the related emphasis on worldly benefits. The third part analyses in more detail the reinterpretation of ancestor worship and related rituals within Seichō-no-Ie. Finally, the fourth section refers the data to the academic discussion about the interrelated phenomena of globalization and glocalization.

Preocupado com a falta de conhecimento sobre as especificidades e o perfil meta-teórico da Ciência da Religião por parte de um número considerável de acadêmicos brasileiros que atuam nesta área, o presente texto apresenta os elementos epistemológicos e metodológicos constitutivos para esta disciplina autônoma. Em prol da identificação de princípios identitários da Ciência da Religião, o artigo chama atenção para aspectos intelectuais e estruturais fundamentais para qualquer empreendimento científico. Em seguida será retomado o conceito da “tradição da segunda ordem” que, por sua vez, instiga um lançamento sistemático de fundamentos da Ciência da Religião consensuais desde a fase formativa da disciplina.

EMBORA a mídia venha freqüentemente afirmando que o Budismo é uma das religiões mais crescentes no Brasil, as pesquisas, inclusive os dois últimos censos nacionais, revelam o contrário. O artigo confronta a imagem pública exagerada com a realidade empírica e discute de maneira sistemática os problemas e desafios principais com os quais o Budismo brasileiro contemporâneo é confrontado.
CONTRARY to the positive image maintaned by the mass media there is no evidence for the claim that Buddhism is one of the most dramaticaly growing religions in Brazil. From the empirical point of view, rather the opposite is true. The article confronts the public image with the results of academic research including the last two national census, and dicusses the main problems and challenges the contemporary Brazilian Buddhism is confronted with