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Articles on Religion and society

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He may be praying, but so far the Pope has declined to intervene in Venezuela’s crisis to aid a unified coronavirus response. LUIS ACOSTA/AFP via Getty Images

Catholic Church urges Venezuela to unite against coronavirus

If anyone can convince the Maduro government and the Venezuelan opposition to come together to fight COVID-19, it’s the Pope. But the Church’s power to negotiate an emergency deal is limited.
Social distancing has changed the way people worship. A pastor at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Los Angeles holds a service through his iPhone. AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes

How to build community while worshipping online

Churches have moved online. But to be able to properly connect with people, they need to find a way to build community, says a scholar who studies digital religion.
Calls for help at Chicago’s Cook County jail, where hundreds of inmates and staff have COVID-19, April 9, 2020. Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images

Prisons and jails are coronavirus epicenters – but they were once designed to prevent disease outbreaks

In the 1790s, penal reformers rebuilt America’s squalid jails as airy, hygienic places meant to keep residents – and by extension society – healthy. Now they’re hotbeds of COVID-19. What went wrong?
Baseball fans look through a fence of the stadium following the cancellation of a game in Fort Myers, Florida. AP Photo/Elise Amendola

Why sports still matter – even in a time when you can’t actually watch any

All major sports events have been canceled at this time. Two sports philosophers remind people how sports help us bond as a community and why we miss them.
People take part in a ‘applause for care’ flash mob as part of a campaign to acknowledge the work of employees working in healthcare in Amsterdam. Olaf Kraak/ANP/AFP via Getty Images

Express gratitude – not because you will benefit from it, but others might

Gratitude has a strong connection to well-being, but more than that, two psychologists say, it could have a powerful effect on others. So, don’t hold back when it comes to expressing it.
Apostle Paul and his followers collected aid, likely for early Christians. Giovanni Paolo Panini /Hermitage Museum via Wikimedia Commons

What early Christian communities tell us about giving financial aid at a time of crises

In the late second century, some Christian groups in Rome began directing financial aid toward people living in another city, who were going through a crisis. That act of giving has lessons for today.
People wear a protective mask as they attend a Hindu ritual, known as Melasti, in Bali, Indonesia, on March 22. Agoes Rudianto/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Why people need rituals, especially in times of uncertainty

As the coronavirus spreads and life comes to a standstill, people are coming up with a host of rituals to maintain a sense of order and human connection.

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