A Balm Or A Risk?

The religious practices of hundreds of millions of people — perhaps even billions — are undergoing profound changes to limit the transmission of COVID-19. Not only have religious leaders encouraged their followers to take precautions, but also channel their spirituality to help maintain physical health, mental health, and help weather the economic stresses of the virus. Today we explore in a photo essay how religion has already been impacted by COVID-19 — and if, perhaps, religion might be exercising its own impact on the virus.

The chief pastor of the Protestant church in Goma walks into a deserted church in the Democratic Republic of Congo. (Alexis Huguet/AFP/Getty Images)

Buddhist monks wear face shields to protect themselves from contracting COVID-19. (Allison Joyce/Getty Images)

(Left) Christians practice social distancing by standing in marked circles, six feet apart (Aamir Qureshi/Getty Images) // (Right) Rev. Scott Holmer holds confession in his church parking lot on March 20, 2020 in Bowie, Maryland (Rob Carr/Getty Images)

Father Victor Jimenez, poses at a church in San Jose, Costa Rica where he placed pictures of parishioners on the pews (Ezequiel Becerra/AFP/Getty Images)

(Left) A Muslim man walks through a disinfection chamber before worshiping at Ploso Kuning Mosque in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. (Barcroft Media/Getty Images) // (Right) Christians were forced to find new ways to observe Easter because of the coronavirus pandemic, many did so in parking lots. (Eric Gay/AP Photo)

(Left) Rabbi Daniel Epstein conducts a funeral at a Jewish cemetery for a victim of COVID-19 via Zoom (David Levene/The Guardian) // (Right) A concept of virtual church, with people displayed on digital tablets inside of the church (CHBD, Contributor/Getty Images)

Hindu women offer water as they perform ritual of Gangaur Festival during an imposed lockdown (Vishal Bhatnagar/NurPhoto/Getty Images)

(Left) A Hindu family prays outside of the closed temple of Monkey God Hanuman (Pacific Press/Getty Images) // (Right) Sheikh Fuad Mohamed, imam at the Muslim American Society of White Center, live-streams his Friday sermon from his home in Seattle on March 20 (Brian Snyder/Reuters)

(Left) A Palestinian man wearing a mask as protection against COVID-19 while standing in front of the Dome of the Rock (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images) // (Right) The Kaaba — Islam’s holiest site — in Mecca, Saudi Arabia nearly empty in March (Bandar Aldandani/AFP/Getty Images)

Ademar Kyotoshi Sato, a Buddhist monk wearing a mask, prays at an empty temple in Brasilia, Brazil, on March 23 (Adriano Machado/Reuters)

(Left) A cleric praying in an empty mosque in Baghdad, Iraq, in mid-March (Khalid al-Mousily/Reuters) // (Right) Attendees practice social distancing at a London Mosque (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

(Left) A church service is live-streamed on a mobile phone on March 22, 2020, in Manila, Philippines (Ezra Acayan/Getty Images) // (Right) Pope Francis delivers a blessing to an empty St. Peter’s Square on March 15 (Vatican News via AP)

(Left) A volunteer in Indonesia sprays disinfectant at Baiturrahman Grand Mosque as a preventive measure against the spread of COVID-19 (SOPA Images/Getty Images) // (Right) Panama’s patron saint, Santa Maria de la Antigua, is transported to a helicopter at Howard Air Force Base before being flown over the capitol to “protect the country from disease” (Luis Acosta/AFP/Getty Images)

(Left) A priest celebrates mass by streaming through his mobile phone in a deserted church (Fabrizio Villa/Getty Images) // (Right) Empty chairs stand before the Pope’s Sunday prayer, which was streamed on video on March 8th (Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)

(Left) A prayer at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on April 6 (Guy Prives/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images) // (Right) Workers sanitize the Western Wall against the spread of COVID-19 in Jerusalem (Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images)