#184
Governance, Policies, and Religious Authority

Relationships between government-imposed public health regulations and religious organizations and rules has been especially visible throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, with new forms (positive and less so) emerging in different countries and communities. 
 
Lockdowns, including prohibitions on physical gatherings of faith communities, continue to apply in some places, sparking debates and legal disputes about authority to do so. In Johannesburg, South Africa, the high court recently ruled that bans on religious gatherings are reasonable measures to curb the spread of COVID-19. However, South African ministers and the Muslim Lawyers Association challenged the outright ban of religious gatherings. Their argument was that ministers in South Africa depend on in-person gatherings for financial support, leaving some ministers without food due to the ban. The government’s discrimination towards religious gatherings was also abundantly clear, they argued, as gyms, casinos, and museums were allowed to remain open while faith-based gathering was totally banned. 
 
In Nicaragua, mistrust between the government and the Catholic Church predates the COVID-19 pandemic but is taking new forms. The divide was clear in 2018 when the church became a place of refuge for protestors during a civil uprising. Those divides have deepened this year as Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega published a presidential decree that eliminated the position of dean of the diplomatic corps, previously held by an archbishop.
 
A thoughtful article examines Sri Lanka’s community-level prevention model established by the Health Promotion Bureau as it functioned during the COVID-19 pandemic. It highlights the need for governmental entities and religious leaders to work together in order to curb the spread of the virus. This model, co-established by WHO and UNICEF, mobilized members of the clergy to help prevent and respond to COVID-19. The model focused on major themes such as building trust, empowering behavioral traits applicable to minimizing risks from COVID-19, leadership and coordination, message dissemination, addressing stigma and discrimination, supporting testing procedures, contact tracing activities and vaccination, building community resilience, spiritual and psychosocial support, and welfare provision. The article explained that “in general, all religions are in favour of helping to improve conditions of the sick,” and that religion and governmental policies should not be mutually exclusive. 
 
The benefits of community-based prevention methods in combating disconnects between government and religious organizations are highlighted in a report by Baptist News Global. It notes that 35% of Americans reported trusting religious and faith institutions over corporations, government, and traditional and social media. 
 
In Kerala, India, the Hindustan Times reported that around 5,000 teachers are not vaccinated, citing religious beliefs as the main reason. The Kerala government is considering stepping in over concerns of safety for the children. Health activists and teacher organizations have also sided with the government on the necessity of teachers being fully vaccinated and say that religious leaders do not support this position. 
 
Cardinal Elias Odhiambo Komenya, like many other religious leaders, supports the vaccine uptake, especially for elderly communities in Kenya. Meshack Ndirangu, Kenya country director of Amref Health Africa, said religious leaders play large roles in public behaviors and beliefs. 

With the threat of the omicron variant, believed to be the most contagious variant of COVID-19 thus far, community-based prevention methods that look at COVID-19 risk and hindrance holistically could become more crucial in the coming months.