Religious Freedom and COVID-19

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will be a topic for academic research for years to come. This collection brings together international scholars from various disciplines to analyse the impact of the pandemic on both religious freedom and on religious community life in Europe. Divided into two parts, the first focuses on theoretical considerations, while the second explores local challenges and includes case studies from countries with different socio-political profiles. The book includes critical evaluations of public crisis management of religious communities during the pandemic, as well as critical reflections on religious freedom appeals in such crisis. In sum, the volume probes and challenges scholars and students of law, religion, politics, and sociology to go beyond the typical oppositions in considering Freedom of Religious Belief in the current secular European context. The work will be a valuable resource for academics, researchers, and policy-makers working in the areas of Law and Religion, Human Rights Law, Sociology, and Political Science.

Jelle Creemers is a Professor of Religious Studies & Missiology at the Evangelische Theologische Faculteit in Leuven and director of the Institute for the Study of Freedom of Religion or Belief. Tatiana Kopaleishvili is a Guest Assistant Professor at the Evangelische Theologische Faculteit in Leuven and coordinator of the Institute for the Study of Freedom of Religion or Belief.

Foreword, Heiner Bielefeldt; 1. Never Let a Good Crisis Go to Waste... Part I: European Values, Norms and Policies 2. FoRB in the time of Covid-19: A comparison of state restrictions on worship and religious practices in the United States and Europe 3. Preliminary Remarks on the Impact of COVID-19 on the Exercise of Religious Freedom in Europe 4. Religious freedom, human dignity and state neutrality in times of pandemic: A comparative analysis of the Belgian and Dutch approach 5. Reconstructing a Right to Conscientious Objection in Europe: An Analysis in Light of Vaccinations During Pandemics Part II: Case Studies in European Countries 6. Freedom of Religious Assembly in Belgium: Legislation and Praxis Concerning Religious Freedom during the COVID-19 Pandemic. 7. Pointing the Finger: Societal Tensions During the COVID-19 Crisis in Orthodox Georgia 8. The State of New Religious Movements in Ukraine Before and After the Covid-19 Pandemic 9. Science as Telos in the Pursuit of Beruf: How and Why the Church of England Agreed to Lockdown at the Start of the COVID-19 Pandemic