#171
Wide Diversity of Religious Responses to the Pandemic

The continuing sharp focus on COVID-19 vaccination (especially, this past week, on mandates and criteria for exemptions) is interspersed with broader reflections on changes and challenges linked to the pandemic experience. For example, a Catholic News Service review explored wide-ranging Church responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in different parts of the world, including food, protective gear, treatment, and vaccines. On August 24, this project hosted a dialogue on poverty and COVID-19 in advance of the annual G20 Interfaith Forum and G20 Summit. The World Council of Churches (WCC), Muslim World League, WHO, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies also participated in a “global dialogue” event on August 30 centered on multinational cooperation in relation to the pandemic. A New York Times article described the diverse and quite individual approaches of religious communities to returning to “normal” services while keeping health and financial concerns in mind. An underlying and continuing issue is that the pandemic brings closer to the surface a range of issues and quite polarized debates around the meaning and reach of religious freedom.
 
Vaccine mandate and exemption debates, along with polarized views on vaccination and mask requirements, have echoed strongly. Pope Francis weighed in categorically in favor of vaccines: “Getting the vaccines authorized by the authorities is an act of love.” A Maine Episcopalian diocese was featured in headlines when it required that clergy wear masks. Latter-day Saints (LDS) leaders are “struggling to get Mormons vaccinated against the coronavirus,” despite strong leadership messages in this hierarchical church. And continuing analysis and reflection on pockets of religiously linked opposition to the COVID-19 vaccines (especially among white evangelicals) made it into reporting on the politically focused FiveThirtyEight. 

A wide range of religious leaders and other actors have themselves been infected with COVID-19, leading to many tragic deaths in many different countries. In the context of the ferocious debates around vaccine hesitation, particular focus is going to clerics who have opposed vaccinations who have become ill. This illustrates the importance of personal examples, positive and negative, as part of the communication dimensions of the COVID-19 emergencies.