ФОРМУВАННЯ РЕЛІГІЙНОЇ ПОЛІТИКИ В УМОВАХ ПАНДЕМІЇ COVID-19: ДОСВІД ТУРЕЧЧИНИ І УКРАЇНИ

Abstract

With the global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the states’ policy for religion has become visible in numerous forms that were bound to differ. It thus merits to reflect on how both the pandemic itself and the various government responses are likely to shape the role of religion in the society. This paper seeks to shed light on how rationally public authorities manage the COVID-19 outbreak process with regard to religious sphere in case of Turkey and Ukraine. The study follows a content-analysis research design, and the data obtained derive from official statements made by relevant policy-makers and religious leaders in Turkey and Ukraine and available from open data sources.From analyzing statements with a reference to the COVID-19 and made by the targeted officials and religious leaders in Turkey and Ukraine, we can trace (1) how the narrative of public authorities to religion has been shaping over the pandemic, and (2) how religious organizations respond to governmental decisions. Against the background of the quite frequent reference to the theme of COVID-19, religious issues do not appear so often on policy-makers’ agenda. In case of Turkey, religious times do not have a meaningful influence on religiosity in the discourses, and persons remain their general parlance, while for Ukraine we record a clear correlation of religious reference dynamics with highly intensive religious times.We can find that local religious background affects religious policy in emergency situations such as pandemic. When it comes to Turkey, Diyanet as a public body intertwined with political power may embrace a parallel attitude with it and keep control over religious affairs effectively. As for Ukraine, its current religious environment makes public decisions related to religious organizations rather vague and causes some uncertainty. In this regard, the authorities need to scrutinize their contribution when introducing some public regulations to limit activities of religious organizations on the grounds of both justice and policy effectiveness. They should strike a balance between minimizing religious disruption and respecting religious rights and freedoms. The COVID-19 pattern proves an importance of the relevant agency in the sphere of religion as a driver in a full-fledged dialogue with public authorities and religious organizations.