#173
Religious Gatherings with Old and New Challenges
Gatherings of religious and faith-inspired groups, whether for prayer or service or policy discussions, continue to draw attention to tensions that have been present throughout the pandemic.
In an eerie echo of stories from the early days of the pandemic, it was reported recently that 180 COVID-19 infections had been traced by a CDC investigation to
religious gatherings - specifically a United States church camp for teenagers and an affiliated men’s conference that did not require attendees to be vaccinated. Five of those cases required hospitalization. There continue to be reports of other instances of
religious resistance to the vaccine, including by one mother superior in an Italian convent, who was denounced for it by her brother. The brother, a retired physician, wrote a letter addressed to Bishop Claudio Cipolla of Padova, saying “you have a hive of antivaxxers...my sister receives anti-vaccine messages and immediately forwards them.” Back in the United States, anti-mandate measures related to COVID-19 regulations are being
challenged in court. One case focused on the civil rights of students with disabilities and students’ safety at school, advocating for the freedom to follow public health measures (such as wearing a mask) rather than the freedom to be exempted from them. An article in the
Atlantic contrasts this with the legal challenges brought against COVID-19 mandates in the earlier stages of the pandemic, which sometimes revolved around issues of religious liberty.
Other religious groups are committed to taking health precautions even in difficult circumstances. Many
faith-based disaster relief groups have adjusted their protocols (e.g. splitting volunteers into smaller groups and requiring proof of vaccination and masks) so they can continue serving communities affected by natural disasters while mitigating the risk of spreading COVID-19.
Jewish communities have also taken extra precautions in recent weeks as they prepare for another season of high holidays that have been upended by the spread of the delta variant. Some congregations are turning back to virtual options, while others are requiring proof of vaccination and masks. Chabad centers across the country will be “hosting safe, in-person High Holiday services, many of them outdoors, all in keeping with guidelines from local authorities,” said Rabbi Motti Seligson, Chabad's media relations director. Some ultra-Orthodox leaders have also released public service announcements recorded in a mixture of Yiddish and English encouraging their communities to get vaccinated. This is especially encouraging since, of the very small percentage of Jewish communities that have resisted getting the vaccine, rates of vaccine hesitancy are highest among the ultra-Orthodox.
In global news, an interesting story about
“Hell Covid-19 Vaccine” josspaper offerings in Malaysia was featured as the one-hundredth blog post of
CoronAsur, a research blog hosted by the Religion and Globalisation Cluster at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore. The
G20 Interfaith Forum also met in Bologna, Italy, this week to discuss recommendations to the G20 leaders from a faith perspective, with a focus on COVID-19 emergencies and global healing.
