#116

As we approach the end of July and the third of our weekly briefings, we have seen further debate on the now familiar theme around COVID-19 and discrimination. An article published a few weeks ago in the British Medical Journal, and reported on this week by News Americas, details the effects on India’s Muslim population following the outbreak among Tablighi Jamaat. Significant numbers of Muslims have been targeted for extended quarantines and have been stopped from selling in markets. In one case, a Muslim market vendor committed suicide after experiencing a boycott. The article illustrates how this discrimination has been replicated towards other groups around the world: the Shia Hazaras tribe in Pakistan and the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in South Korea as examples. The author suggests that authorities can overemphasize contact tracing activities with some communities, which feeds into fear and discrimination, and that misinformation is a key trigger. On social media, terms such as #coronajihad and “Quran-e-virus” were trending in India at one point, while in Pakistan the term “Shia virus” was used in WhatsApp groups regarding the Hazara community.
 
Religion News Service included two international stories of interest this week, first about a Russian monk who has been fined for denying the existence of COVID-19 and, second, on Vatican official Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia’s call for solidarity and condemnation of politicians who have denied the virus, including the U.S. withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO). Denial is a potent aspect highlighted by both articles. The first demonstrates the dangers of influential religious leaders furthering misinformation and denial and the limited measures that can be taken (the monk has been defrocked and fined, but still maintains a following), while the second demonstrates how religious leaders can speak out against denial among politicians on an international stage.

Two stories picked up on the roles of women religious this week. Togolese Catholic sister Marie-Stella Kouak was profiled by the Guardian, while another report focused on the deaths of sisters in convents in the United States. COVID-19 has been devastating in some convents where, as in the Felician Sisters convent in Livonia, Michigan, up to 20% of the convent’s residents have been killed by the virus. Meanwhile in Togo, Kouak runs an NGO, Vivre dans l’Espérance (To Live in Hope), that supports people living with HIV and AIDS. She adapted her program in early March to deliver assistance directly to homes and to rural communities. She reports that she has not been able to take a break. (A similar unrelenting pace of work is reported by many religious actors as they respond to the COVID-19 crisis). Another concern is the disruption of services for people living with HIV, with antiretroviral drugs running low due to border closures. She says, “I feel like all our good work is being erased and we are taking a 10-year leap backwards.”