While most leaders of major religions have supported governments’ efforts to fight the pandemic by limiting gatherings, a minority of the faithful — in both religious and secular institutions — have not.
Tanzania’s president claimed the coronavirus “cannot sit in the body of Christ.” Israel’s health minister dismissed a potential curfew by saying that “the Messiah will come and save us.” A global Muslim missionary movement held mass gatherings — and took the blame for spreading the disease.
“One of the things that most religious faiths stress in the first instance is to care for the most vulnerable in a community, to save others’ lives as a primary focus,” said Litzman.
But for some people of faith — particularly those whose churches, synagogues and mosques are important community centers — that focus appears to conflict with the very fabric of their lives.
Israeli Health Minister Yaakov Litzman had insisted on exempting synagogues and other religious institutions from limits on public gatherings, according to Israeli media reports, only to come down with the virus himself this month — apparently after failing to heed the social distancing precautions he had publicly preached.
In India, the Muslim missionary movement Tablighi Jamaat came under fire with the online circulation of an audio clip said to be of its chief Maulana Saad, urging the faithful to continue to congregate at mosques.
Die in the mosque…
“They say that the infection will spread if you gather at a mosque, this is false,” Saad told worshippers. “If you die by coming to the mosque, then this is the best place to die.”
A spokesman for Jamaat, Mujeeb ur Rehman, said the recording was taken out of context. “During the same sermon, he also went on to ask his followers to follow the government guidelines to battle the spread of the virus.”
Most U.S. religious services have paused or shifted online as the federal government discourages group gatherings to help contain the virus.
But a few faith leaders and congregants in America have rebelled against those limits and claimed an incursion on their rights.
Seeking solace, during the End of Days
“We believe that Jesus is really there and is bringing graces in the world that will help stop this coronavirus,” said Smith, who recently retired from Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit.
Seeking solace in spirituality or relying on religious rituals for relief and protection, some believers across faiths have continued to shrug off coronavirus risks as they worship.
One of the visitors who have trekked to the imam’s gold-domed shrine complex, Ayoub al-Moussawi, said he has over the years braved threats to perform religious visits.
“We have always been subjected to all sort of things from bombs to explosive devices, but protection comes from God,” said al-Moussawi. “This time it’s the corona pandemic.”
He said he took precautions such as donning a mask in crowded areas and sanitizing his hands. There were fewer pilgrims this year and many marked the occasion remotely from their rooftops, he said.
