RELIGION DURING THE PANDEMIC IN THE TERRITORY OF THE CHUVASH REPUBLIC

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic has led to significant changes in people’s lives in all spheres, including religion. The usual way of religious life has undergone significant transformations in a short period of time. During the pandemic, it became dangerous for a large number of people to gather at the same time, which forced parishioners to restrict access to churches and mosques. In post-Soviet Russia, religious believers faced similar situations for the first time, and they became a definite challenge for representatives of individual confessions, which determined the relevance of the stated topic. The purpose of the article is to analyze the reaction of the authorities, religious leaders and ordinary citizens, both religious believers and non-believers, during the first year of the pandemic to restrictions in the field of religious practice. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the fact that for the first time, the materials of the Republic of Chuvashia show the forms that are not widespread and not quite typical for the Russian religious culture: crucessions by air and land transport, online broadcasts of religious services, contests on religious themes, the use of videoconferences to solve current problems. The research was based on the materials of legislative acts and publications in print and electronic media, as well as in news feeds on the websites of religious organizations. According to the authors, pandemic restrictions have divided religious believers into two main groups. One part of religious believers accepted new forms of religious practices cautiously, as it was difficult for them to rebuild their habitual way of life, to refuse even temporarily from visiting churches and mosques. The other part, on the contrary, reacted with some interest and understanding to innovations, since the use of remote technologies enabled more people to “attend” prayer services.