With limited fresh news this week specifically focused on faith and COVID-19, we took the opportunity to include in this week’s highlights some resources that did not make it into recent emails.

The Faith to Action Initiative’s COVID-19 response repository provides a list of faith-based organizations supporting families and children who are struggling with the consequences of the pandemic around the world. It also includes a list of links to resources specifically focusing on vulnerable minors and orphans, developed both by secular and religious organizations.    

A qualitative study published in the academic journal Religion and Health highlighted how some members of the Sikh minority in the United Kingdom, who during lockdowns could not go to the gurdwara, their place of worship, felt the need to engage with their faith in other ways. The study showed how “religious beliefs and practices, including seva (selfless service), connecting with shabad (God’s word) and hukam (God’s will) [...] arguably reduced the risk of negative coping in the Sikh community.” For example, Sikh community members took part in food distributions from the guru’s house to the most vulnerable members of their communities, who experienced this as a way to spiritually connect to the guru without being able to visit him. 

In New York, children under 18 are required to be vaccinated against serious diseases to access both public and private schools. This requirement had been challenged by parents advocating for the right to exemption on religious basis, which is available to children in other states and to other categories (e.g. adults who work in education). However, a recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that this is not a case of anti-religious bias, and that the requirement’s only aim is to promote vaccinations and protect public health.