ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic derailed religious life throughout the world. Without an effective medical cure against the new virus, national governments embraced social distancing as the most effective means of curtailing its spread. Hence, they started imposing bans on public gatherings. In the case of faith congregations, however, the civil authorities adopted different approaches. Some governments ordered the local religious ministers to close their temples and prayer houses, while others tried to achieve the same through negotiations. At the same time, the response of religious ministers varied from country to country and faith to faith. Some agreed with the temporary interruption of public services for their faithful. As a result, many synagogues remained closed during the Purim festivities, 1 the annual Hajj to Mecca was cancelled, 2 and Pope Francis held the Easter mass without public attendance. 3 However, other religious leaders refused to close the temples. For this purpose, they agreed to introduce various disinfection measures, and even to modify the traditional performance of certain rites and customs.
