Religious Responses to the Coronavirus

 Jayne Cheung and Rebecca Cleary consider religious responses to the Coronavirus.

Jayne Cheung

Catholic soup kitchen in Italy

The current pandemic the world is facing right now has caused governments worldwide to maximise their response strategies. For example, in the UK we are currently enduring lockdown and social distancing has been set in place to reduce the likelihood of catching this life threatening virus. However, for many people who usually on a weekly basis visit their place of worship and meet with their fellow believers to strengthen and sustain their faith would find it very difficult to maintain their spirituality without encouragement from their services and meetings with their brothers and sisters. So there have been many religious responses to Coronavirus.

Many religious authorities have closed their places of worship. For example in February, Saudi Arabia banned foreign arrivals and stopped visits to Mecca and Medina for umrah, which is a religious pilgrimage that Muslims take at any time of year. Riyadh (capital of Saudi Arabia) also briefly closed the Great Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina for disinfection. Many mosques have canceled Friday services, and calls to prayer in countries such as Kuwait and Malaysia have been altered to tell people to pray from home. Buddhist New Year celebrations, which often bring thousands of people together for public water fights and other events, have been canceled across South Asia.

Not only that but many religious groups have provided charity services, including donating medical equipment to undersupplied communities, and leaders have expressed concern for particularly vulnerable groups. Catholic charities in Italy ran soup kitchens for the poor, but with alterations as an effort to prevent the virus’s spread, and Jewish organisations in the state of California are collecting donations for low-income families, refugees, and isolated senior citizens.

Also as an alternative to their usual services different religions have resorted to technology and media. To slow the spread of the virus, religious authorities have used the media, email and radio to conduct daily prayers and worship. Services are being streamed on Instagram, prayers posted by video link and timeless texts shared on cellphones to bring spiritual support to the hundreds of thousands of believers who do not have a place of worship at this time. They have also engaged in discussions surrounding personal well-being and found new ways to communicate to their communities about the importance of listening to the safety guidelines promoted by governments and the World Health Organization (WHO). This is to ensure that all the believers listen to the instruction of the government as well.

Jehovah's Witnesses have stopped their custom of knocking on doors, preaching in person and setting up their stalls in busy places, Buddhist Groups are posting online mediation sessions to help with anxiety. St. James Episcopal Church in Newport Beach, California, urged parishioners to put their enforced down time to good use. These are all efforts to contain the virus and ensure everyone stays calm and collected during this unprecedented period.

In conclusion, religions all over the world recognise the dangers and impacts it would have if they were to continue with their usual worship and recognise the need to alter their ways to support the government in flattening the peak of virus. Whether it may be to resort to technology or stop services, they are all responding in a positive way and are all trying to help stop this pandemic.


Rebecca Cleary

How places of worship are maintaining religious practices during the global pandemic

Across the world, people are socially distancing and in quarantine to ‘flatten the curve’ of Covid-19 cases. Governments have ordered cafes, bars and restaurants to close to help this effort, but also affected have been churches and other places of worship.

In 2018, Eurostat’s Eurobarometer survey found that 53.6% of the UK population are Christian and 6.2% belong to other religions. This means that a large proportion of the UK will have to face big changes in their day to day lives, as worship will most likely be pivotal. For example, Muslims are expected to observe Salah; praying 5 times a day.

Fortunately for these people, places of worship up and down the country have been doing whatever possible to continue as normally as possible. The East London Mosque is live-streaming prayers and Churches are using YouTube and Facebook for services and prayers as well.

For example, over Easter, places of worship, including Portsmouth Cathedral, celebrated Easter with online services on YouTube and pre-recorded hymns to join in with, allowing worshippers to continue their annual festivities and feel connected with others even when in quarantine.

So, even in these times of uncertainty, it is clear that places of worship are coming together to provide their congregations with ways to continue their prayers and practice their faith from home.