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.
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.
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.
by Stefano Picciaredda
The pandemic has not spared the lands in war, where “worst is yet to come”. For this reason, the General Secretary of the United Nations Organization Antonio Guterres re-launched on April 3rd 2020 his appeal for a global ceasefire, which received support from many religious leaders, including Pope Francis. “There should be only one fight in our world today, our shared battle against Covid 19”, added Guterres. In the appeal of March 23rd he had used similar explicit, direct and effective expressions. He recalled that “the virus does not care about nationality or ethnicity, faction or faith because it attacks all, relentlessly”. Moreover, “women and children, people with disabilities, the marginalized and the displaced pay the highest price”. In summary, therefore, “the fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war”.
by Stefano Testa Bappenheim
The proliferation and spreading of the Covid-19 epidemic has meant that even in various European states, and not only in Italy, gatherings of people have been prohibited with the issuing of specific rules, which have also included community religious celebrations. This has resulted in a certain friction in various countries with the relative constitutional provisions for the protection of religious freedom. The case of a State that intervenes on religious functions depicts a complex and needy picture of specialists, thus calling into question the comparative ecclesiastical law which again, in the current situations, fulfilled the prophecy that saw it, for “the intermediate position within the juridical disciplines” and “the undeniable historical-political assumptions”, “not as a science in the process of exhaustion, but as a bank of evidence of the most delicate dogmatic problems”
by Cătălin Raiu
According to international standards, states cannot suspend FoRB during war or emergency state. However, religious freedom can be limited as an exceptional measure, to reestablish order and public security, or in the case of an epidemic as an exceptional measure and with the fulfillment of the following terms: 1. to be provided by law 2. to serve purposes of the political body in its whole (protection of security, public order, health, etc.) 3. to be nondiscriminatory in language and application 4. to strictly serve the purpose and announced period.
by Maria Luisa Lo Giacco
A world day of fasting and prayer was held on May 14, 2020 to free humanity from the Coronavirus pandemic. The day was organized by the Higher Committee for Human Fraternity, an interreligious organization founded in the United Arab Emirates, that has among its members representatives of the three Abrahamic religions, as well as representatives of international cultural institutions.
di Luigi Mariano Guzzo
Sono stati sottoscritti nel pomeriggio di ieri – 15 maggio 2020 -, a Palazzo Chigi, i Protocolli per la manifestazione del culto delle confessioni religiose diverse dalla Chiesa cattolica, anche di alcune che non hanno sottoscritto l’intesa con lo Stato italiano, ai sensi dell’art. 8 comma 3 della Costituzione italiana. Si tratta di regole che nascono dal confronto e dal dialogo condotto dal Viminale a partire dalla videoconferenza che si è tenuta il 7 maggio scorso, alla quale hanno partecipato come consulenti anche i professori Pierluigi Consorti, ordinario di Diritto e religione all’Università di Pisa, e Paolo Naso, docente di Scienza politica all’Università “La Sapienza” di Roma.
by Maria Luisa Lo Giacco
The pilgrimage is a universal form of worship. All world’s religions have places, which we may define “sacred”, to where believers go to pray, sometimes also to ask for healing or for protection by a disease .
In the Jewish tradition, pilgrimage appears as an obligation since the destruction of the Temple, that occurred in 70 A.D. by the Roman troops. In the Bible we can read that through Moses God said to his people to go to Jerusalem Temple to honour him three times a year, during the main holidays. Archaeologists recently unearthed a stretch of the ancient pilgrims’ road, which dates back over two thousand years and which connected the Siloe swimming pool to the Temple
by Antonio Fuccillo fuccilloantonio@gmail.com 1.- The «Charter of the new alliance of virtue» Scholars and religious leaders that signed «The charter of thenew alliance of virtue» – in Abu Dhabi on December 2019 – share the statement that religious freedom belongs to the ontological status of the human being[1]. The sponsor of the Forum for …
DiReSoM 