#203
Taking Stock of COVID-19 Impact: Returning to “Normal”?

The major annual spring gatherings around the IMF/World Bank were dominated by the war in Ukraine, but the global impact of the COVID-19 emergencies engaged at least some religious communities, among them African Catholic bishops who called on world leaders at this critical moment to work for more equitable and sustainable economic models. Jubilee USA’s statement on the meetings’ outcomes decried that “Another casualty of the Ukraine war is that world leaders can't fully focus on pandemic response, inflation, climate change and rising poverty rates… In more than 100 countries that are not on track to vaccinate 70% of their population, the pandemic is far from over. The meetings failed to make progress on access to vaccines, tests and treatments in the poorest countries.”

Saudi Arabia’s opening to the global hajj (pilgrimage) marks an important turning point in the COVID-19 emergencies. According to Religion News Service, “For two years, as COVID-19 raged around the world, the Saudi government, custodian of the holy sites in Mecca, closed the country to outsiders, barring those who come to make the Umrah pilgrimage during Ramadan and the more than 2.5 million pilgrims who in a normal year make the required visit to Mecca, or hajj. Besides the spiritual deprivation, the closure severely dented the country’s gross domestic product and pinched traders… who depended on the pilgrims. But the worst might be over: The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has announced that the limits on this year’s hajj, which begins in July, have been relaxed to a million pilgrims — more than the 50,000 allowed in 2021 and the 1,000 in 2020, at the height of the pandemic.” Another marker, this one fraught with controversies in wide-flung places, is the dropping of face mask requirements, including for religious sites.

A fascinating study highlights how leaders from one tradition–the Jains–linked WHO guidelines to core beliefs. It links agreement between the muhpattī (“face cloth”) and the public face mask and the dig-vrata (a Jain vow of restraint) and social distancing. Published in Religions, “This paper shows how some also viewed several unintentional consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic (such as not being able to go shopping during the lockdown) as being in line with Jain practices (here the practice of aparigraha or non-possessiveness).”

More evidence is emerging about how religious factors fit within broader pandemic-related trends. A survey of Americans by the U.S. think tank Becket Fund noted the following: “When it comes to which activities are considered essential in a pandemic, respondents were most likely to include activities at houses of worship. Fifty-two percent of Americans said that worship at a house of worship should be considered essential, and 62 percent said that funerals at houses of worship should be considered essential. Of all activities listed, these were the only two that a majority of respondents said should be considered essential activities. Still, other religious activities at houses of worship were considered essential by more respondents than other, nonreligious activities. More than 40 percent of Americans considered weddings, community service, and other religious ceremonies at houses of worship as essential. Meanwhile, fewer than 40 percent considered graduations, protests, celebrations, exercise, sporting events, or concerts/performances at venues other than houses of worship as essential. Concerts/performances were considered essential by the lowest number of respondents—only 23 percent.”

A study of religious leaders in Nigeria looked to both positive and negative responses and found that “while all the participants agreed to have roles in the campaign against COVID-19, interpretations of these roles and the corresponding actions differed between those who promote public-health measures and those who undermine these measures.”

The growing concern for COVID-19-linked negative mental health issues includes a focus on faith responses, actual and potential. One study highlighted how faith-based organizations and faith-based mental health interventions “might assist those suffering from depression and anxiety disorders due to the COVID-19 pandemic…. Faith-based counseling, mindfulness therapy, therapeutic prayer, mediation, sacred texts, rituals, and forgiveness are some examples of such approaches. The potential for faith-based organizations and faith-based mental health interventions to serve as health-care catalysts and enhance mental health by helping those suffering from depression and anxiety associated with COVID-19 appears high.”

A new edited book published by Routledge, Racialized Health, COVID-19, and Religious Responses: Black Atlantic Contexts and Perspectives, “explores black religious responses to black health concerns amidst persistent race-based health disparities and healthcare inequities.” It highlights how race factors strongly in black health outcomes and dynamics.