Chaplains have always provided spiritual care outside traditional houses of worship, but their significance is growing as Americans’ religious identities change.
The only chaplain in the COVID-19 section of a Montréal hospital offers spiritual care to patients and families, as well to staff, who have found themselves more intimately exposed to life and death.
Research shows people who suffer from loss of meaning die earlier than those who maintain purpose. We can help people find meaning again by nurturing their “spirit”.
Associate Professor of Anthropology and Religion at McGill University; Faculty fellow of the Material Economies of Religion in the Americas project, Yale University