Autonomy of religious organizations and freedom of religion in the context of the spread of COVID-19 (experience of Russia and Italy)

Abstract

The situation in the world caused by the spread of the new coronavirus infection forced the executive authorities in many countries to issue acts that provided for strict restrictions on constitutional rights, in particular, freedom of religion. First of all, we are talking about the prohibition of worship, religious rituals and coram populo ceremonies, the use of a truncated burial format in order to protect public health. The article aims to investigate the measures taken by state authorities and religious organizations in Russia and Italy, to assess their validity and proportionality, based on the standards of the Council of Europe. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the mechanisms of interaction between the authorities of various levels and religious leaders in order to develop acceptable solutions, identified the similarities and differences of the relevant legal regulation in these states. Author of the article tries to answer the question of a fair balance of constitutional values in emergency conditions - the protection of public health and the ability to manifest one's religious beliefs through external actions (forum externum). Revealing the influence of digital technologies on the transformation of worship and religious rituals in conditions of isolation of citizens, the author draws attention to the fact that in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches, “virtual faith” cannot replace Eucharistic communion in the temple, which should be taken into account when developing and applying regulatory legal acts. As a result, the author comes to the conclusion about the importance of finding compromise solutions and notes that the distortion of understanding of the norms on the autonomy of religious organizations and the fundamental provisions of the secular nature of the state leads to a disproportionate restriction of the constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens: the arbitrary administrative closure of religious buildings, the involvement of believers and clergymen in criminal proceedings. and administrative responsibility.