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COVID-19: Exploring Faith Dimensions
WEEKLY HIGHLIGHT
#187
COVID-19 Pall of Uncertainty as 2022 Begins

End-of-year reflections on 2021 were interlaced with the COVID-19 narrative, as the omicron spike dashed hopes of a ready recovery. Uncertainties and a sense that changes forced by the pandemic are transformational (rather than temporary) are reflected in an Economist article: “The era of predictable unpredictability is not going away.... The pandemic is like a doorway. Once you pass through there is no going back.” (This comment was mocked on Twitter, but still rather apt). The uncertainties permeated commentaries on religious dimensions, from truncated holiday celebrations to preoccupations with financial repercussions.
 
Polarized views on approaches permeated much religious commentary, with continuing debates on vaccination and mask-wearing mandates. The impact of vaccine resistance and hesitancy was explored, including its complex religious roots. One commentary linked traditional medicine and high COVID-19 rates in Alpine Italy. Striking was controversy about angry comments labeled anti-Semitic from German Cardinal Gerhard Müller, former head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, suggesting that wealthy individuals, notably George Soros, “are using the coronavirus to ‘push through their agenda.’" Cardinal Müller “railed against COVID-19 restrictions and accused 'financial elites' of using the global crisis to 'bring people into line' and gain 'total control' over them." His critique also brought in Bill Gates and Klaus Schwab, head of the World Economic Forum. 
 
Pope Francis’ New Year message turned on COVID-19 uncertainties, calling for peace and goodness. He championed embracing a positive attitude, “one that always sees, in the Church as well as in society, not the evil which divides us, but the good that unites us.” However, the papal message also focused on a sad accompaniment of the pandemic: domestic violence, calling it “almost satanic.
 
Commentaries focused on rites linked to deaths, which have been impacted by COVID-19. The pain of disrupted practices cut across religious traditions: Muslim, Christian, and Parsi among them. More broadly, in painful and uncertain times many seek solace in religion, with an account of initiation of Cuban young men into an African religion inspired community.

Research on links between COVID-19 and religious beliefs and practices is emerging. An encouraging study focused on Orthodox Jewish communities highlighted positive benefits:

“Using longitudinal data from the COVID-19 Community Portrait Study, fixed-effects regression models are employed to predict how religious resources are affected by COVID-19 and how mental health is affected by both COVID-19 and religious resources. We find two competing effects upon participants’ religious resources. While group resources decreased as a result of the pandemic, psychosocial resources were strengthened. A Closeness-to-God Index predicted lower levels of depression and anxiety, less perceived stress, and less loneliness. Congregational prayer also predicted lower stress and less loneliness, but the magnitude of the effect was smaller. The findings provide empirical support for theoretical frameworks emphasizing the positive effects of religion on mental health and suggest psychosocial resources enable religious coping during particularly challenging times.”
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If you have news articles, guides, or other relevant resources you wish to share with us for review please email covid19.faithresponse@gmail.com. We are particularly interested in learning more about groups facing acute vulnerabilities (refugees, elderly, those impacted by the digital divide, in fragile states, etc.). Please send us any information you see.
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