Bishop Mark Seitz and priests from his diocese knelt for 8 minutes and 46 seconds to honor George Floyd, El Paso, June 1, 2020.
Courtesy of Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters
Though often seen as socially conservative, the Catholic church has a strong progressive strain that can be traced back 50 years to Latin America’s liberation struggles.
Even when singing does take place, voices are muffled.
Alex Edelman/AFP via Getty Images
A choral conductor and scholar of sacred music explains what’s missing from church worship with singing banned due to the pandemic – and why live choir rehearsals are still a ways off
Members of the military wearing U.S. Army Special Forces insignia block protesters near Lafayette Park and the White House on June 3, 2020.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
There is a long line of military heroes who had the moral courage not to follow immoral orders. In the days ahead, some may have to consider what exactly their oath to the Constitution requires.
A pastor leads a prayer at an outdoor Easter service.
AP Photo/Chris O'Meara
If worshippers congregate outside amid coronavirus fears, it wouldn’t be unprecedented. Early settlers used outside worship to sanctify colonized land, and slaves relied on it to meet in secret.
Krishna the charioteer guiding Arjuna in the battlefield of Kurukshetra.
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As the COVID-19 pandemic exposes the risks of an interconnected world, Indian thinkers offer timely insights on how to understand our global community and act more wisely.
Donald Trump poses with Bible at a moment of national crisis.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
In appearing with Bible in hand at the time of crisis, Trump is signaling his position as defender of traditional values, while ‘othering’ detractors. Russia’s Putin and India’s Modi have done similar things.
In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the Sunshine Cathedral holds a drive-in Easter service in its parking lot. Each car received a Ziploc bag with a prayer card, palm leaf and pre-packaged communion.
Getty Images / Joe Raedle
Understanding how unrest informed both early Christianity and the foundational stories of the United States can serve as a guide in this current period of turmoil.
Churches have to weigh the risk to congregants in opening too soon.
AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh
Justices have lent weight to state officials who want churches to remain closed until the public health crisis is over. But not every place of worship is following the rules.
Ladijane Sofia da Concecão, one of millions of unemployed housekeepers in Brazil, accepts a food donation from a friend in São Paulo, May 7, 2020.
Alexandre Schneider/Getty Images
Maids were among Brazil’s earliest COVID-19 victims, infected by employers who had been to Italy. Now 39% of Brazilian ‘domésticas’ have been let go, most without severance or sick leave.
The late Youssef Cohen moved from New York to Oregon in 2016 because of its aid-in-dying law. During the pandemic, assisted dying for terminal patients has gone online.
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Terminally ill patients in nine states and Washington, DC can use telemedicine to get a doctor’s approval to hasten their end of life. But family members must mix the lethal drug cocktail themselves.
Migrant workers leaving New Delhi to go back to their villages amid the coronavirus lockdown.
AP Photo/Manish Swarup
Dalits have long been ostracized as the ‘untouchables’ in Indian society. Discrimination and the impact of the coronavirus have only reinforced their status.
People wearing protective masks form lines to receive free food from a food pantry run by the Council of Peoples Organization on May 8, 2020 in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.
Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images
For economically strapped Americans, the financial fallout from the epidemic may be permanently embedded in their digital profiles, making it harder for them to regain their economic footing.
A funeral director calls relatives of a COVID-19 victim for a virtual viewing before cremation on May 22, 2020 in New York City.
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Religious scholars and faith leaders reflect on the death rites cultures have developed to honor the deceased, comfort the living and share the burden of mourning.
Visiting parents during the pandemic poses new risks.
AP Photo/Rick Bowmer
A mother with underlying conditions wants to hug her children even if means risking her own life with COVID-19. Should they abide by her wishes or keep their distance?
View of blood collection tubes in a rack on the first day of a free COVID-19 antibody testing event at the Volusia County Fairgrounds, in DeLand, Florida.
Paul Hennessy / Echoes WIre/Barcroft Media via Getty Images
After the pandemic is over, grocery workers and nurses will still be essential. But will they be paid any better?
Dar Al-Hijrah Mosque in Minneapolis, Minnesota, before the midday prayer during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month that ends May 27, 2020, and is celebrated this year amid pandemic.
Stephen Maturen/AFP via Getty Images
A survey of Muslim women finds many are frustrated by having a Islamic holy month in quarantine. But others say a ‘remote Ramadan’ is nothing new because child care duties often keep them home anyway.
Distant relatives? Visiting mom during the pandemic may be a risk.
Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
Is it right to visit family members during the pandemic, even if they say they don’t want you to come? Philosophy may hold the answer.
Faithful in many religions, including Islam, may turn to healing amulets like necklaces and other small objects in difficult times.
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From magic bowls to holy shirts, Muslim cultures used various devices to protect the user from harm starting in the 11th century. Many of these objects were beautifully designed, too.
The crisis has forced many businesses to close, prompting a spike in unemployment claims.
AP Photo/Rick Bowmer
With so many people in need of financial support due to the coronavirus crisis, is it right to draw on unemployment when you have savings?
The biblical book of Ezekiel describes a vision of the divine that medieval philosophers understood as revealing the connection between religion and science.
By Matthaeus Merian (1593-1650)
Those experiencing stress and uncertainty amid the coronavirus may find guidance in medieval responses to plagues, which relied on both medicine and prayer.
Buddhist monks in Thailand pray at Phleng temple amid the COVID-19 crisis, May 11, 2020.
Chaiwat Subprasom/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Many in the West may see Buddhism as more of a philosophy than a religion, but for millions of people worldwide Buddhism is very much a faith – and prayer is part of their COVID-19 response.
Tipping from a social distance at The Lucky Devil strip club in Portland, Oregon.
Steve Dykes/Getty Images
Ownerless cats may find it harder to find food scraps with restaurants closed during the coronavirus crisis. Given social distancing rules, is it okay to go outside to feed them?