Religion, Law and Covid-19 Emergency
Why this site?
The health emergency caused by the contagious virus SARS-CoV-2 is having many consequences also on religious rules – more broadly for the difficulties raising from the possible contradiction between the respect for the measures taken by civil authorities and religious rules. International law allows for the limitation˝ of the right to religious freedom on the grounds of protection of public health, and we are witnessing a situation of unprecedented restrictions on the global scale. As scholars engaged in the study of the legal regulation of the religious phenomenon, we have wanted to create a space to collect documents, comments and other useful materials related to the emergency, in order to assess the outcomes of the normative choices made by civil and religious authorities.
L’emergenza sanitaria prodotta dal contagioso virus SARS-CoV-2 sta producendo molte conseguenze anche sulle regole religiose, e più in generale sulle difficoltà che nascono in forza della potenziale contraddizione che può determinarsi fra il rispetto delle regole imposte dalle autorità civili e le regole religiose. Le norme internazionali ammettono che la libertà religiosa possa essere ristretta dalla legge per motivi di sanità pubblica, e stiamo assistendo ad un esercizio di restrizione su scala mondiale mai registrato in precedenza. Nella qualità di accademici impegnati nello studio della disciplina giuridica del fenomeno religioso, abbiamo pensato di creare uno spazio di raccolta di documenti, commenti, e altro materiale utile intanto ad affrontare l’emergenza, e in prospettiva a studiare gli esiti delle scelte normative che le istituzioni civili e quelle religiose stanno compiendo.
Position Papers
Per continuare a celebrare in sicurezza: riordinare l’emergenza
Nella nostra veste di professori e ricercatori di diritto e religione nelle università statali, costituiti nel gruppo di ricerca “DiReSom” – che nel corso di questa pandemia ha attivato il primo portale web internazionale su diritto, religione e coronavirus (www.diresom.net) – sottoponiamo al Governo italiano e alle istituzioni confessionali un secondo contributo alla riflessione circa la possibilità di consentire le celebrazioni dei culti religiosi, nel rispetto delle misura necessarie per prevenire il contagio del virus Sars-Cov-2, causa della malattia Covid-19. Il Dpcm 13 ottobre 2020 ha aggiornato le misure di contenimento del contagio attraverso la posizione sia di regole in senso stretto, sia di alcune raccomandazioni, volte nel loro complesso a prevenire la sospensione di alcuni diritti fondamentali, che ha purtroppo caratterizzato i provvedimenti delle c.d. «Fase 1» e «Fase 2».
EBOOK
LAW, RELIGION AND THE SPREAD OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC – Ebook, DiReSoM Papers 2
As scholars engaged in the study of the legal regulation of the religious phenomenon, we decided to create a web space (www.diresom.net) to collect documents, comments and other useful materials related to the Covid-19 emergency, in order to assess the outcomes of the normative decisions made by state and religious authorities. By the end of April, …
Law, Religion and Covid-19 Emergency – Ebook, DiReSoM Papers 1
As scholars engaged in the study of the legal regulation of the religious phenomenon, we decided to create a web space to collect documents, comments and other useful materials related to the Covid-19 emergency, in order to assess the outcomes of the normative decisions made by state and religious authorities. So, on March 8th we …
Recent Comments
The “Spirit of Assisi” as a tool to face coronavirus emergency
by Luigi Mariano Guzzo
One of the most iconic photos of interreligious dialogue in the time of Covid-19 was published by CNN on March 26, 2020 “Muslim and Jewish paramedics pause to pray together”. Jewish paramedic Avraham Mintz prays facing Jerusalem while Muslim paramedic Zoher Abu Jama prays facing Mecca, each as an individual but together in the same kind of action. In my opinion, this photo represents how religious differences can be overcome and transformed into a possible helpful tool to manage contemporary and global crisis, such this pandemic is. Coronavirus Emergency has indiscriminately crossed national borders, regardless of a people’s religion or culture: but it has also inspired moments of interfaith unity, connecting believers (and non-believers) in the same battle. In this respect, interreligious dialogue seems actually to be a tool to face the Coronavirus Emergency, so much that even Wikipedia has made a page about it, which is constantly being updated.
The Dialogue among States and Religious Groups
by Maria Luisa Lo Giacco
The article is focused on a research in which the DiReSom research group[1] is involved since the beginning of the Covid-19 emergency. The title of the paper is: “The dialogue among states and religious groups” and I’ll examine this topic in three steps; then, I’ll try to imagine how the dialogue could be the method for the future relationships, when states and religions will probably afford other situations of emergency.
Covid-19 between the Chinese patriotic church and the under-ground church in the diocese of Shanghai (China)
by Angela Patrizia Tavani
In this frenetic succession of regulatory provisions in Italy, it seems that in a single stroke Covid 19 has deeply compressed religious freedom, reducing it almost to an abstraction, when the Catholic Church (as well as other religious confessions) and citizens- Catholic faithful have had to observe the provisions of the Italian State, with evident sacrifice of their fundamental rights of religious freedom and freedom of worship, for the benefit of the protection of the right to health and life, a priority in the acute phase of the pandemic.
The communities of ultra-Orthodox Jews in the ‘storm’ of Covid-19
by Enrica Martinelli
During the first lockdown imposed, in March, by the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic, resistances, or even actual oppositions, were observed in Israel – and in the United States of America – by numerous communities of ultra-Orthodox Jews, who refused to obey government regulations and to follow the instructions of the health authorities.
Dialogue and cooperation between French institutions and religious groups
by Maria Cristina Ivaldi
Preliminary remarks about French secularism
The Law of 9 December 1905[1] established the State separation from the churches, excluding state funding of faith-based organizations. This system of secularism since the 1946 Constitution has assumed the specific form of French laïcité[2]. It is a system which appears to be characterized on the one hand by the affirmation of the principle of strict neutrality of public institutions and on the other hand by the recognition of the religious freedom of individuals which, over time, has been posed limits, especially in terms of external manifestations[3]. Furthermore, there are no special relationships between the State and the different religious institutions.
Webinars
BREAKING NEWS
NOTE ON ASH WEDNESDAY – Distribution of Ashes in Time of Pandemic
http://www.cultodivino.va/content/cultodivino/it/documenti/note/nota-mercoledi-delle-cenere/english.html Anglice Prot. N. 17/21 NOTE ON ASH WEDNESDAY – Distribution of Ashes in Time of Pandemic The Priest says the prayer for blessing the ashes. He sprinkles the ashes with holy water, without saying anything. Then he addresses all those present and only once says the formula as it appears in the Roman Missal, …
UAE Fatwa Council: Covid vaccine use allowed according to Islamic laws
ABU DHABI, 22nd December, 2020 (WAM) — The UAE Fatwa Council, under the chairmanship of Shaykh Abdallah bin Bayyah, has issued a ‘fatwa’ (Islamic ruling) allowing the coronavirus vaccines to be used in compliance with Islamic Sharia’s objectives on the protection of the human body and other relevant Islamic rulings. This comes in response to …
UAE Fatwa Council: Covid vaccine use allowed according to Islamic laws
The Council urges everyone to cooperate with governments to ensure the success of vaccination campaigns.
The UAE Fatwa Council, under the chairmanship of Shaykh Abdallah bin Bayyah, has issued a ‘fatwa’ (Islamic ruling) allowing the coronavirus vaccines to be used in compliance with Islamic Sharia’s objectives on the protection of the human body and other relevant Islamic rulings.
This comes in response to growing concerns among Muslims over the halal status of the Covid vaccines and following a request for an advisory opinion addressed by the Minister of Religious Affairs of Malaysia, to the UAE Fatwa Council on the same subject.
Comunicazione circa il Decreto Legge del 18 dicembre 2020. Una precisazione della Conferenza Episcopale Italiana dopo il decreto legge
Il Decreto-Legge n. 172, contenente ulteriori disposizioni urgenti per fronteggiare i rischi sanitari connessi alla diffusione del virus COVID-19, introduce – come ormai noto – alcune limitazioni agli spostamenti durante il periodo natalizio, dal 24 dicembre 2020 al 6 gennaio 2021. Nei giorni 24, 25, 26, 27, 31 dicembre 2020 e 1, 2, 3, 5, …
Note on the morality of using some anti-Covid-19 vaccines
The question of the use of vaccines, in general, is often at the center of controversy in the forum of public opinion. In recent months, this Congregation has received several requests for guidance regarding the use of vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19, which, in the course of research and production, employed cell …
Recent Documents
- NOTE ON ASH WEDNESDAY – Distribution of Ashes in Time of Pandemic
- French Bishops’ Conference, “Mgr Éric de Moulins-Beaufort will apply to the Council of State”, press release 2 November 2020
- UAE Fatwa Council: Covid vaccine use allowed according to Islamic laws
- Comunicazione circa il Decreto Legge del 18 dicembre 2020. Una precisazione della Conferenza Episcopale Italiana dopo il decreto legge
- Note on the morality of using some anti-Covid-19 vaccines
- Petition for the resumption of the public celebration of masses, promoted by a group of Catholic students, addressed to the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron
- Central Consistory and Chief Rabbi of France, “Closing of the synagogues from sunday evening onwards”, press release 30 October 2020
- Decree No. 2020-1310 of 29 October 2020 prescribing the general measures needed to deal with the covid-19 epidemic in the context of a state of health emergency
- US Supreme Court: Covid-19 restrictions on houses of worship in New York State
- SEMINARIO INTERNACIONAL – “Covid-19 y libertad religiosa”
- UK – The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (No. 4) Regulations 2020
- Webinar “Law Religion and Coronavirus: a six month assessment”. Watch Full Conference
- Webinar – “Law, Religion, and Coronavirus in the United States: A Six-Month Assessment”
- Laws – Special Issue “The Crisis of Religious Freedom in the Age of COVID-19 Pandemic”
- Greetings to Russia’s Jews on Rosh Hashanah
- BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE OF SCOTLAND – PASTORAL LETTER 5TH JUNE 2020
- Bishops’ Conference of Scotland – Working Group on COVID-19 – Guidance for churches
- ENGLAND COVID-19 – Advice on Individual Prayer by Members of the public in Church Buildings
Don’t follow this example: an Italian bishop celebrates Holy Thursday Mass without respecting measures of hygiene and of security
