During the Covid-19 pandemic, religions became an important resource for many people, who have sought in the spiritual sphere comfort, hope, psychological and emotional support and meaning.
When measures such as lockdown and social distancing were adopted to contain the spread of contagions, religious celebrations have undergone adaptations, often shifting to or increasing online, television and radio modalities. Religious experience, forms of contact with the sacred, spatiality and materiality have also changed, often giving rise to creative solutions, adherence to new religions and spiritualities, the construction of new religious bricolages and a more direct and individualized contact with the sacred.
Religious institutions have also divided among themselves and, in some cases, in their interior, adhering to preventive measures or participating in the construction of denialist positions and the spread of fake news. Some religious institutions delivered speeches of peace, unity and solidarity and attempted to alleviate social tensions, while others have fueled divisions and conflicts, increasing hate speech circulating in the media, underlining the division between good and evil, and blaming and stigmatizing individuals or groups for the spread of contagion.
Some religious institutions played other fundamental roles during the pandemic, such as the continuation and intensification of social, health and economic assistance to the most vulnerable, the mitigation of social and psychological suffering and the creation of new ways to be close to loved ones in case of illness and to celebrate funeral rites.
This panel aims at discussing religions during the Covid-19 pandemic, shedding light on continuities, ruptures, creativity and forms of resistance at individual and institutional levels; relationships with other institutions; forms of healing and social assistance; meanings and adherence (or contrast) to scientific explanation, preventive measures and vaccination campaigns; the transformation of religious spaces and materialities and related issues.
