The Ramadan in the days of Covid-19. A glance from Italy.

by Rosa Geraci

The Coronavirus emergency has led the Government and local authorities to adopt measures restricting religious freedom. The Ordinances and Decree-Laws of recent weeks have actually ordered the suspension of collective rites and worship and the limitation of access to sacred places, in order to deal with the emergency situation and protect the health of citizens. The state of major emergency has forced the Government to take some specific measures, which obviously must be proportional and appropriate to the risk, including the suspension of civil and religious ceremonies and the limitation on entering places of worship.

The Covid-19 pandemic in Muslim countries

by Caterina Gagliardi

The Covid-19 approach to the health emergency of Muslim countries may prove to be of considerable interest if one considers their specific social and legal connotations. For this reason, even though without any pretension of exhaustiveness, the following analysis proposes, on the one side, to understand to what extent the governmental dynamics of prevention of contagion – some of which are still in progress – have affected the systems of guarantee of liberties and fundamental rights; on the other side, it is intended to verify what has been the role of the Islamic religion in the process of adoption of the institutional responses to the crisis.

Covid-19 in Africa and Latin America. Certain forms of religious negationism favor the pandemic

by Stefano Picciaredda

In the universe of religious worlds, reactions to the spread of the pandemic have been very different. As it has been observed, there have been examples of underestimation, exploitation, or even radical denial of Covid-19 harmful effects. Interpretations based on millenarianism have also flourished. Some examples of such conceptions in Africa and Latin America, are examined in the following pages.

The “on the road” Reconciliation. A way to deal with the pandemic

by Daniela Tarantino
This year’s period of Lent, among the tribulations that have marked it, has also been characterized by the impossibility to participate in the liturgy and the sacraments, making the situation even more difficult for believers.

Eastern Orthodoxy and the pandemic. Cultural approaches towards rule of law in Romania

by Cătălin Raiu
Even if during the actual pandemic all states have imposed general restrictions regarding the conduct of religious activities, Romania is among the few democratic regimes in which the public authorities addressed liturgical recommendations. Fascinated by its despotic power, the state forced itself in the Chalice recommending abstention from the Eucharist. It did not do so for theological reasons, but from lack of democratic culture. Both international and national legislation are extremely precise regarding the regulation of worship: citizens are empowered with religious freedom, a right set at the base of the pyramid which is the rule of law and which is exercised also by taking part in the religious ceremonies conducted according to norms established by the religious organizations, based on their autonomy towards the neutral state from a religious standpoint.