Mourning and Caring Amid the New Pandemic Age

A Rising Mode of the Religious

Abstract

All over the world, many people died of COVID-19 during the past years. Caring for the patients proved to be very difficult, and funeral ceremonies could not be conducted as normal. Everyday religious events and rituals had to be canceled or limited in scope. Some dying patients could not receive sufficient medical help and religious care. Others lost their income and livelihood, and some even saw no other way but to commit suicide. This pandemic is a catastrophic disaster that threatens the human community. After the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, there were many opportunities to mourn the loss of human lives together through religious rituals and other practices of commemoration. However, facing the disaster of COVID-19, in Japan there have not been many occasions for collective mourning. In some other countries, ritual events have been performed for those who died of COVID-19. In contrast to traditional religious responses to disasters, a new perspective on religion emerges in reevaluating the practice of medical workers. Expressions of respect and gratitude honoring medical workers and others involved in providing care in the face of unbearable suffering may resemble a religious response.