The Impact of COVID-19 on Church Gatherings in the Philippines: A Policy Analysis
The Philippines is the largest Christian country in Asia. With church gatherings playing a vital role in the nature of Christianity in the Filipino culture, the advent of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Philippines posed challenges to public religious practices amid efforts to mit...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Health for All Nations
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Christian Journal for Global Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journal.cjgh.org/index.php/cjgh/article/view/505/931 |
| _version_ | 1823938263153377280 |
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| author | Grace Zurielle Malolos Joseph Christian Obnial Rena Mallillin Pamela Bianca Pasco Erika Ong Arianne Andes Faith Ann Apat Emma Teresa Carmela Aportadera Rafael Valencia Don Eliseo III Lucero-Prisno |
| author_facet | Grace Zurielle Malolos Joseph Christian Obnial Rena Mallillin Pamela Bianca Pasco Erika Ong Arianne Andes Faith Ann Apat Emma Teresa Carmela Aportadera Rafael Valencia Don Eliseo III Lucero-Prisno |
| author_sort | Grace Zurielle Malolos |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Philippines is the largest Christian country in Asia. With church gatherings playing a vital role in the nature of Christianity in the Filipino culture, the advent of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Philippines posed challenges to public religious practices amid efforts to mitigate COVID-19 community transmission. Various policy pronouncements from both the government-led Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Diseases and the church-led Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) were issued. These guidelines were implemented in order to address the two-pronged problem on healthcare and religious obligations. While these guidelines were initially contributory to the mitigation of disease transmission, varied compliance by Filipinos was observed through the progression of the pandemic. Considering the value that church gatherings and religion play in the lives of the Filipino people, further studies on COVID-19 transmission in the church should be conducted in order to develop more efficient policies and guidelines on the practice of religion, particularly for religious gatherings. Furthermore, a more synergistic state and church cooperation must be encouraged in order to arrive at solutions that will mutually address the concomitant problems of the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T02:42:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c6e5f26d25194a10b5941f3e77ae5de5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-2415 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T02:42:50Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | Health for All Nations |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Christian Journal for Global Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-c6e5f26d25194a10b5941f3e77ae5de52022-12-21T22:06:39ZengHealth for All NationsChristian Journal for Global Health2167-24152021-01-0181536310.15566/cjgh.v8i1.505505The Impact of COVID-19 on Church Gatherings in the Philippines: A Policy AnalysisGrace Zurielle Malolos0Joseph Christian Obnial1Rena Mallillin2Pamela Bianca Pasco3Erika Ong4Arianne Andes5Faith Ann Apat6Emma Teresa Carmela Aportadera7Rafael Valencia8Don Eliseo III Lucero-Prisno9College of Medicine, University of the Philippines Manila, Manila, PhilippinesFaculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, PhilippinesAteneo de Manila University School of Medicine and Public Health, Pasig City, PhilippinesJONELTA Foundation School of Medicine, University of Perpetual Help Rizal, Las Piñas City, PhilippinesCollege of Medicine, University of the Philippines Manila, Manila, PhilippinesJONELTA Foundation School of Medicine, University of Perpetual Help Rizal, Las Piñas City, PhilippinesMatias H. Aznar Memorial, College of Medicine, Cebu City, PhilippinesFaculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, PhilippinesUniversity of the Philippines DilimanDepartment of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United KingdomThe Philippines is the largest Christian country in Asia. With church gatherings playing a vital role in the nature of Christianity in the Filipino culture, the advent of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Philippines posed challenges to public religious practices amid efforts to mitigate COVID-19 community transmission. Various policy pronouncements from both the government-led Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Diseases and the church-led Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) were issued. These guidelines were implemented in order to address the two-pronged problem on healthcare and religious obligations. While these guidelines were initially contributory to the mitigation of disease transmission, varied compliance by Filipinos was observed through the progression of the pandemic. Considering the value that church gatherings and religion play in the lives of the Filipino people, further studies on COVID-19 transmission in the church should be conducted in order to develop more efficient policies and guidelines on the practice of religion, particularly for religious gatherings. Furthermore, a more synergistic state and church cooperation must be encouraged in order to arrive at solutions that will mutually address the concomitant problems of the COVID-19 pandemic.https://journal.cjgh.org/index.php/cjgh/article/view/505/931covid-19philippinespolicy analysisstate and church cooperation |
| spellingShingle | Grace Zurielle Malolos Joseph Christian Obnial Rena Mallillin Pamela Bianca Pasco Erika Ong Arianne Andes Faith Ann Apat Emma Teresa Carmela Aportadera Rafael Valencia Don Eliseo III Lucero-Prisno The Impact of COVID-19 on Church Gatherings in the Philippines: A Policy Analysis Christian Journal for Global Health covid-19 philippines policy analysis state and church cooperation |
| title | The Impact of COVID-19 on Church Gatherings in the Philippines: A Policy Analysis |
| title_full | The Impact of COVID-19 on Church Gatherings in the Philippines: A Policy Analysis |
| title_fullStr | The Impact of COVID-19 on Church Gatherings in the Philippines: A Policy Analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Impact of COVID-19 on Church Gatherings in the Philippines: A Policy Analysis |
| title_short | The Impact of COVID-19 on Church Gatherings in the Philippines: A Policy Analysis |
| title_sort | impact of covid 19 on church gatherings in the philippines a policy analysis |
| topic | covid-19 philippines policy analysis state and church cooperation |
| url | https://journal.cjgh.org/index.php/cjgh/article/view/505/931 |
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