International | Praying across the divide
Old religious quarrels return as covid-19 lockdowns ease
The pandemic has exacerbated tension between church and state, and between religious figures, in many places
Editor’s note: Some of our covid-19 coverage is free for readers of The Economist Today, our daily newsletter. For more stories and our pandemic tracker, see our hub
FROM DEAGU in South Korea to Qom in Iran, Mulhouse in France and Sacramento in California, places of collective worship have often been accelerators of coronavirus contagion. Months later, with lockdowns starting to ease in the rich world, some religious groups have been loudly demanding a return to normality, and complaining that their needs have been forgotten.
More from International
Taiwan’s new president faces an upsurge in Chinese coercion
But China’s bullying of Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines risks an explosion
The world’s rules-based order is cracking
Human-rights lawyers are trying to save laws meant to tame violent rulers
Beware, global jihadists are back on the march
They are using the war in Gaza to radicalise a new generation