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COVID-19, Religion and Belief Webinar Series

Introduction

The novel coronavirus has impacted countries across the word and is affecting many domains of our lives. While other initiatives were focusing on economic or health related impacts of the pandemic, this webinar series aimed at exploring the strategies and initiatives of governments and religious groups to deal with the crisis. Our focus is global and will assess the impacts of the pandemic on civil liberties, and especially freedom of religion or belief. During the series, our guests also touched on cross-cutting themes like the impact of the pandemic on levels of religiosity, on religious practice, on theological reflection and religious imagination, on faith-based humanitarianism, on religion and inclusion/xenophobia. The series brought together government officials, scholars and practitioners to discuss the threats we face, and how we might respond to them.

The series was organized by the Cambridge Institute on Religion and International Studies, the Center for Religious Studies at Bruno Kessler Foundation, the Center for Justice and Society at Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV) Law School-Rio de Janeiro, the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University Law School, the European Union Office of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the University of Siena.

Sponsoring Institutions

Our Hosts

  • Dr. Pasquale Annicchino, Bruno Kessler Foundation / CIRIS
  • Dr. Judd Birdsall, Cambridge Institute on Religion & International Studies
  • Francesco Di Lillo, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - EU & Intl. Affairs
  • Prof. Michael Mohallem, FGV Escola de Direito do Rio de Janeiro
  • Prof. Brett Scharffs, BYU International Center for Law and Religion Studies
  • Prof. Marco Ventura, Bruno Kessler Foundation / University of Siena

Webinars

Our weekly webinars were live Zoom events open to the public. Participants were able to submit questions in advance, or during the webinar by using the chat tool.

Recordings

  1. Introduction to the webinar series and general overview
  2. Freedom of Religion and Belief, COVID-19 and Human Dignity
  3. COVID-19, Religion and Belief: Civil Society Organizations' Perspective
  4. COVID-19, Religion and Belief: EU Institutions' Perspective
  5. COVID-19, Religion and Belief: Multilateral Organisations' Perspective
  6. COVID-19, Religion and Belief: Central and South America Perspectives
  7. COVID-19, Religion and Belief: Business, Religion, Economics
  8. COVID-19, Religion and Belief: Special Envoys' Perspective
  9. COVID-19, Religion and Belief: Asia Perspectives
  10. COVID-19, Freedom of religion or belief, and Gender
  11. COVID-19, Religion and Belief: Africa and the Middle East Perspectives
  12. COVID-19, Religion and Belief: Contribution of Faith-Based Humanitarian Organizations
  13. COVID-19, Religion and Belief: Canada, United States, and United Kingdom Perspectives
  14. COVID-19, Religion and Belief: 2020 Vision - Looking Back and Seeing the Road Forward

Scroll down to find more information about the individual episodes.

Ep.1 "Introduction to the Webinar Series and General Overview"

Thursday, 9 April 2020 at 3:00 PM CEST

In the first webinar we explained the rationale of the initiative and explored some of the relevant challenges that COVID-19 poses to civil rights and Freedom of religion and belief (FoRB) in particular. The discussion tackled the following points: 1) How COVID is impacting on civil rights; 2) Specific impact on FoRB; 3) The role of religious communities; and 4) Future challenges.

Ep. 2 "Freedom of Religion and Belief, COVID-19 and Human Dignity"

Thursday, 16 April 2020 at 3:00 PM CEST

During our second episode focusing on human dignity, our panelists addressed these and other questions: How is this global emergency affecting our concept of human dignity? How can we ensure that restrictions to civil liberties that we accept for our collective safety respect human dignity and human rights?

Ep. 3 "COVID-19, Religion and Belief: Civil Society Organizations' Perspective"

Thursday, 23 April 2020 at 3:00 PM CEST

With our diverse panel of civil society leaders, we explored a range of urgent questions, including: how is the pandemic affecting the rights of civil society organizations? Are the measures taken to limit the contagion placing an undue burden on religious and other civil society groups? What can governments and civil society organizations do to preserve and defend human rights during this crisis? How can we best fight conspiracy theories and stigmatization? What are likely to be some of the long-term implications of the present crisis for FoRB and religious tolerance?

Ep. 4 "COVID-19, Religion and Belief: EU Institutions' Perspective"

Thursday, 30 April 2020 at 3:00 PM CEST

The pandemic is emerging as a threefold challenge for the European Union. The first challenge is about the fundamentals of the European project. The second challenge concerns the role of religion and belief communities in assessing the state of Europe as well as in deciding about its future. The third challenge regards current EU mechanisms and procedures for engaging with religion, in particular the dialogue under Article 17 TFEU, and the internal and external action for the protection and promotion of freedom of religion or belief, and the global exchange on religion in society. The webinar gathered witnesses from the EU institutions in order to discuss how the pandemic is affecting the debate, and how it is shaping the response to such a momentous challenge.

Ep. 5 "COVID-19, Religion and Belief: Multilateral Organizations' Perspective"

Thursday, 7 May 2020 at 3:00 PM CEST

With our panel of multilateral officials, all of whom have expertise in engaging religious actors, we explored a range of urgent questions, including:

  • How is the pandemic affecting multilateral institutions’ engagement with religious and belief groups?
  • What is the added value that multilateral organizations bring to engagement with religious/belief groups and to the promotion of Freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) and tolerance?
  • As the pandemic seems in many cases to be reinforcing nationalism and even xenophobia, how can multilateral institutions and religious/beliefs groups and interfaith networks work together to promote international cooperation and respect?
  • What are likely to be some of the long-term implications of the present crisis for FoRB, religious tolerance, and the role of religion within multilateral organizations?

Ep. 6 "COVID-19, Religion and Belief: Central and South America Perspectives"

Thursday, 14 May 2020 at 3:00 PM CEST

With our panel of leading academics, we explored a range of urgent questions, including:

  • In what ways have governments infringed on the right to freedom of religion or belief?
  • In what ways have religious groups helped or hindered the response to the virus?
  • Have best practices emerged?

Ep. 7 "COVID-19: Business, Religion, Economics"

Thursday, 21 May 2020 at 3:00 PM CEST

The following issues were discussed:

  • The economic context of the global pandemic and its impact on religious groups;
  • The contribution of world religions and its impact on businesses and public finances;
  • The initiatives of international organizations.

Ep. 8 "COVID-19, Religion and Belief: Special Envoys' Perspective"

Thursday, 28 May 2020 at 3:00 PM CEST

The following questions were addressed:

  • What is the current state of the art of the missions of Special Envoys?
  • What is the role of Special Envoys in the context of the pandemic?
  • What is the future of Special Envoys?
  • How is the Covid-19 crisis impacting Freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) in the world? Will it eventually change FoRB as we know it?

Ep. 9 "COVID-19, Religion and Belief: Asia Perspectives"

Thursday, 4 June 2020 at 3:00 PM CEST

With our panel of leading academics, we explored a range of urgent questions, including:

  • In what ways have governments infringed on the right to freedom of religion or belief?
  • In what ways have religious groups helped or hindered the response to the virus?
  • Have best practices emerged?

Ep. 10 "COVID-19, Freedom of religion or belief, and Gender"

Thursday, 11 June 2020 at 3:00 PM CEST

With our panel of experts, all of whom have significant experience of efforts to advance freedom of religion or belief for all in diverse contexts, we explored the following questions:

  • How is the pandemic affecting freedom of religion or belief, and what has been the differential impact on men and women, boys and girls?
  • How can governments, intergovernmental organizations, civil society, religious or belief communities, and the academy best address the gender dimension of the pandemic’s impact on freedom of religion or belief? What good practices in this regard can be discerned?
  • Looking to the future, what are the implications of the current situation for the better protection of women and girls’ freedom of religion or belief and for the interrelationship between freedom of religion or belief and gender equality in general?

Ep. 11 "COVID-19, Religion and Belief: Africa and the Middle East Perspectives"

Thursday, 18 June 2020 at 3:00 PM CEST

With our speakers, all experts on religious freedom in the Africa and the Middle East areas, we explored the following questions:

  • What impact has Covid-19 had on religious communities and activities in these regions (with a focus also on what is happening in refugee camps)?
  • How did governments' respond, and how did those responses affect religious communities?
  • What are the lessons we are learning for the future?

Ep. 12 "COVID-19, Religion and Belief: Contribution of Faith-Based Humanitarian Organizations"

Thursday, 25 June 2020 at 3:00 PM CEST

Our panel of experts explored the following questions:

  • How engagement with faith-based humanitarian organizations can help fight COVID-19 and limit contagion?
  • In which ways has Covid-19 had an impact on humanitarian organizations and their ability to deliver their projects?
  • What are the lessons we are learning for the future? What role will humanitarian organizations play in the post-pandemic efforts?

Ep. 13 "COVID-19, Religion and Belief: Canada, United States, and United Kingdom Perspectives"

Thursday, 2 July 2020 at 3:00 PM CEST

  • How did the pandemic affect the transatlantic partnership as one of the leading driver for the advancement of FoRB?
  • With increasing restrictions in travel and physical interactions, how can religious minorities be protected, and the monitoring of FoRB violations be effective, especially in remote regions?
  • Can the international community improve any of the existing FoRB instruments or initiatives in view of the lessons learned during the crisis?

This panel analyzed the current situation and highlighted the policy options for future engagement.

Ep. 14 "COVID-19, Religion and Belief: 2020 Vision - Looking Back and Seeing the Road Forward"

Thursday, 9 July 2020 at 3:00 PM CEST

Since we launched it in April, our "Covid-19, Religion and Belief" webinar series offered hundreds of academics, civil society, government, and religious leaders a space to reflect upon some of the consequences of the pandemic and its effects on FoRB. Using a cross-cutting approach, we looked at the impact of the pandemic at the intersection of human dignity and human rights, religiosity, religious freedom, civil rights, the economy, humanitarian aid.

The aim of our concluding webinar was to take stock of good practices and lessons learned and try to imagine what the world will look like six months from now. To do so, this episode was slightly different, and made it a truly participatory exercise.

Credits:

Created with an image by Martin Sanchez - "untitled image"