The palpable desire to put the COVID-19 crisis behind us is evident in many settings, religious as well as others. But the reality of the pandemic’s ongoing threats and challenges should not be minimized. Among other continuing topics are challenges to vaccination mandates, as well as the rights and responsibilities, respectively, of governments and religious communities in addressing public health issues. In that context, a challenging op-ed in the New York Times titled “Extreme Religious Liberty Is Undermining Public Health” focused not on COVID-19, but argued strenuously for the careful balancing of interests in plural societies that the COVID-19 experience has highlighted.

And there is much stocktaking to do, to learn from the pandemic and avoid simply muddling “back to normal.” An opinion piece in the Jerusalem Post co-authored by Rabbi David Rosen, Inon Schenker, and Avraham Steinberg argues that, “From Jerusalem, the city of major significance for the Abrahamic religions, we echo...the WHO quest for inclusive community partnerships and the interest of Regional stakeholders in our work. We request that in the deliberations this week, WHO European region member states agree on concrete actions in developing, strengthening and nurturing a faith and public health bridge as an essential building block in the region’s plan of action for the coming years.”

An article in Frontiers reporting on the COVID-19 experience in Ituri in the Democratic Republic of the Congo clearly highlights some persistent issues related to engaging faith communities:

“Methods: A qualitative participatory research design, using a workshop methodology was deployed to seek opinions of an invited group of faith leaders in the DRC provinces of Ituri and Nord-Kivu. A topic guide was developed from data gathered in prior qualitative interviews of faith leaders and members. Topics were addressed at a small workshop discussion. Emerging themes were identified.

“Findings: Local faith leaders described how misinterpretation and misinformation about COVID-19 and public health measures led to public confusion. Leaders described a lack of capacity to do what was being asked by government authorities with COVID-19 measures. Leaders' knowledge of faith communities' concerns was not sought. Leaders regretted having no training to formulate health messages. Faith leaders wanted to co-create public health messages with health officials for more effective health messaging.

“Conclusion: Public trust in faith leaders is crucial in health emergencies. The initial request by government authorities for faith leaders to deliver set health messages rather than co-develop and design messages appropriate for their congregations resulted in faith communities not understanding health messages. Delivering public health messages using language familiar to faith communities could help to ensure more effective public health communication and counter misinformation.”

A reassuring but also disturbing article featured racial identity issues linked to COVID-19: “Pushed online in pandemic, women of color find safe spaces for faith and healing.”