Safety and Reverence: How Roman Catholic Liturgy Can Respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Budaev, Sergey V.

doi:10.1007/s10943-021-01282-x

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 111 publications

(140 reference statements)

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“…While a good deal of research has been done in Euro-American contexts on how Christian and Jewish commitments may support public health in the context of COVID-19 (Budaev, 2021;del Castillo et al, 2020;Galang, et al, 2021;Olagoke et al, 2021;Osei-Tutu et al, 2021;Pirutinsky et al, 2020;Pirutinsky et al, 2021;Papazoglou et al, 2021;Rashi, 2020;Serfaty et al, 2021;VanderWeele, 2020;Weinberger-Litman et al, 2020), much less work has focused on how Islamic commitments may do the same. What's more, the work that has been done with respect to Islamic commitments is for the most part centered specifically on mental health concerns rather than on Islamic practices and commitments more generally (Achour et al, 2021;Husain, 1998;Mahamid & Bdier, 2021;Saud et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Religion, Islam, and Compliance with COVID-19 Best Practices

Dajani

Coetsee

Al-Tabba³

et al. 2022

J Relig Health

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While many have implemented best practices intended to help stem the spread of COVID-19, there are also a substantial number of citizens, both domestically and abroad, who have resisted these practices. We argue that public health authorities, as well as scientific researchers and funders, should help address this resistance by putting greater effort into ascertaining how existing religious practices and beliefs align with COVID-19 guidelines. In particular, we contend that Euro-American scholars—who have often tended to implicitly favor secular and Christian worldviews—should put added focus on how Islamic commitments may (or may not) support COVID-19 best practices, including practices that extend beyond the domain of support for mental health.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Religion, Islam, and Compliance with COVID-19 Best Practices

Dajani

Coetsee

Al-Tabba³

et al. 2022

J Relig Health

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“…Governments from all around the world have reacted to the pandemic with urgent preventive restrictions and preparedness measures to avert the spreading of a highly transmissible air-borne virus. The measures undertaken have been directed at precluding agglomerations of large crowds by canceling or postponing religious festivals, such as Easter, Ramadan, Makara Jyothi, Bishwa Ijtema, and Black Nazarene, as well as pilgrimages, including Mount Athos, Hajj, and Umrah (Aggrawal et al, 2020 ; Budaev, 2021 ; Ebrahim & Memish, 2020 ; Khan et al, 2020 ; Mubarak & Zin, 2020 ; Osei-Tutu et al, 2021 ; Pavli et al, 2020 ). We should acknowledge that these measures may have saved the world from aggravated circumstances and super-spreader events, which could possibly have led to a spike in COVID-19 cases or mortality rates.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spiritual Health and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Impacts on Orthodox Christianity Devotion Practices, Rituals, and Religious Pilgrimages

et al. 2021

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The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on multiple aspects of physical and social health, including spiritual and religious dimensions, has been discussed not only by numerous theologians, scientists, and politicians, but also by millions of believers of all faiths worldwide. The pandemic seems to have exerted a significant impact on religious practices. Massive gatherings of devoted and faithful people have been strongly discouraged and even openly banned. Prominent religious festivals and pilgrimages that have been conflated by the media with other "mega-spreader events" are incessantly canceled to mitigate the pandemic and alleviate the burden of COVID-19 on the healthcare system. The impact of the pandemic on Catholic or Muslim religious tourism has been extensively described in peer-reviewed and gray literature. However, observant members of the Orthodox Christianity faith have also experienced the constrictive prohibitions for gathering at and worshiping in shrines, churches, and monasteries. Among the manifestations of devotion that the pandemic has interfered with are the attendance to public worship spaces for the celebration of rites and ceremonies, like the celebration of Orthodox Easter. Expressions of reverent devotion including the kissing of crosses and icons as well as the sacrament of Holy Communion may have also been considered a motive of concern as these holy objects and the spoon used might act as fomites in the dissemination of the virus. Visitation of holy places has been also hampered by the pandemic. The most important centers of pilgrimage for Orthodox Christianity are Mount Athos and Jerusalem, as well as the Shrine of Panagia Evangelistria in the Island of Tinos, Greece. Authorities have halted almost completely the arrival of visitors to these sites. This paper aims at elaborating on the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on social manifestations of religiosity and therefore taking a toll on the spiritual health of believers who have deeply rooted religious convictions and are strongly attached to Church tradition. This analysis closes with the provision of specific suggestions for the care, support, and healing of the impacted or splintered spiritual health of the believers who cannot participate in expressions of devotion, such as pilgrimages and religious tourism because of personal and public health concern, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

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“…[6]. Furthermore, the nature of the liturgical services requires close contact in the form of touching hands, kissing crosses and icons, and sharing sacramental vessels, a practice that subjects the Coptic clergy to potential infection risk [7,8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Obesity Strongly Predicts COVID-19-Related Major Clinical Adverse Events in Coptic Clergy

Henein

Bytyçi

Nicoll

et al. 2021

JCM

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Background and Aims: The Coptic clergy, due to their specific work involving interaction with many people, could be subjected to increased risk of infection from COVID-19. The aim of this study, a sub-study of the COVID-19-CVD international study of the impact of the pandemic on the cardiovascular system, was to assess the prevalence of COVID-19 among Coptic priests and to identify predictors of clinical adverse events. Methods: Participants were geographically divided into three groups: Group-I: Europe and USA, Group II: Northern Egypt, and Group III: Southern Egypt. Participants’ demographic indices, cardiovascular risk factors, possible source of infection, number of liturgies, infection management, and major adverse events (MAEs), comprising death, or mechanical ventilation, were assessed. Results: Out of the 1570 clergy serving in 25 dioceses, 255 (16.2%) were infected. Their mean age was 49.5 ± 12 years and mean weekly number of liturgies was 3.44 ± 1.0. The overall prevalence rate was 16.2% and did not differ between Egypt as a whole and overseas (p = 0.23). Disease prevalence was higher in Northern Egypt clergy compared with Europe and USA combined (18.4% vs. 12.1%, p = 0.03) and tended to be higher than in Southern Egypt (18.4% vs. 13.6%, p = 0.09). Ten priests (3.92%) died of COVID-19-related complications, and 26 (10.2) suffered a MAE. The clergy from Southern Egypt were more obese, but the remaining risk factors were less prevalent compared with those in Europe and USA (p = 0.01). In multivariate analysis, obesity (OR = 4.180; 2.479 to 12.15; p = 0.01), age (OR = 1.055; 0.024 to 1.141; p = 0.02), and systemic hypertension (OR = 1.931; 1.169 to 2.004; p = 0.007) predicted MAEs. Obesity was the most powerful independent predictor of MAE in Southern Egypt and systemic hypertension in Northern Egypt (p < 0.05 for both). Conclusion: Obesity is very prevalent among Coptic clergy and seems to be the most powerful independent predictor of major COVID-19-related adverse events. Coptic clergy should be encouraged to follow the WHO recommendations for cardiovascular disease and COVID-19 prevention.

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Safety and Reverence: How Roman Catholic Liturgy Can Respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Cited by 6 publications

References 111 publications

Religion, Islam, and Compliance with COVID-19 Best Practices

Religion, Islam, and Compliance with COVID-19 Best Practices

Spiritual Health and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Impacts on Orthodox Christianity Devotion Practices, Rituals, and Religious Pilgrimages

Obesity Strongly Predicts COVID-19-Related Major Clinical Adverse Events in Coptic Clergy

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