Religion Becomes a Collateral Victim of COVID-19

The end of the calendar year is often a good time to make an assessment. The study just published by the Pew Research Center (PRC) on November 29, 2022, is not without interest, as it shows how different religious groups have been affected by the health restrictions, and how they reacted.

The American research institute draws five conclusions from an exhaustive study based on 198 countries and territories around the world.

Firstly, in 46 countries, which represents 23% of the territories studied, the state used force against various religions, making arrests which sometimes led to prison sentences, in order enforce with its containment policy.

In the extreme, police and security forces used violence. In India, for example, “two Christians died after they were beaten in police custody for violating COVID-19 curfews.” These are rare facts, but they are not isolated.

Second, in 54 countries, or 27% of the total, “religious groups filed lawsuits or spoke out against the public health measures,” arguing that places of worship were treated in a discriminatory manner compared to other places of secular gatherings, such as supermarkets. For example, in France, several Catholic associations brought actions before the Council of State.

The third finding of the PRC's survey highlights the hostility of several religious groups to health restrictions. In 69 countries or territories, or 35% worldwide, “one or more religious groups defied public health rules” enacted by governments, with some challenging them.

Another significant conclusion is that in nearly half of the countries studied (47% exactly), religious leaders followed in the footsteps of the state, if not anticipating it, by establishing drastic restrictive measures. FSSPX.News has repeatedly mentioned the case of this happening in Catholic churches, particularly in Europe and the United States.

Finally, the PRC study specifies that in 18 countries, i.e. 9% of the total, public authorities or certain communities did not hesitate to make an explicit link between “the spread of COVID-19 to specific religious groups or gatherings in ways that singled out those groups for blame.”

In Turkey, for example, Armenian Orthodox Christians have been accused of bringing the Coronavirus to the country. The same is true in Egypt. In Argentina and France, it is the Jewish community that has been the object of similar attacks on social networks.