Church leader's Interpretation of COVID-19 in Nigeria: Science, Conspiracies, and Spiritualization

The need for governments across the globe to collaborate with religious leaders in the fight against COVID-19 has been emphasized by international organizations including the World Health Organization (WHO). However, there has not been much discernible scholarly effort to know what religious leaders...

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Bibliographic Details
Subtitles:"Spirituality, Mental Health, and COVID-19"
Authors: Nche, George C. (Author) ; Agbo, Uchechukwu M. (Author) ; Okwueze, Malachy I. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Springer Science + Business Media B. V. 2024
In: Journal of religion and health
Year: 2024, Volume: 63, Issue: 1, Pages: 741-764
Further subjects:B church leaders
B Conspiracy Theories
B Interpretations
B Covid-19
B Government
B Religious leaders
B Spiritualization
B Nigeria
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:The need for governments across the globe to collaborate with religious leaders in the fight against COVID-19 has been emphasized by international organizations including the World Health Organization (WHO). However, there has not been much discernible scholarly effort to know what religious leaders think of COVID-19. The present study, therefore, explored the interpretations church leaders have about COVID-19 in Nigeria. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eighteen leaders from Catholic, Anglican and Pentecostal churches in Nigeria. Using a thematic analytical approach, the study found that only few church leaders interpreted COVID-19 as a medical problem in line with science (33%). The rest interpreted the virus as a tool of conspiracies/political manoeuvrings (27%) and as a spiritual event (39%). The study discussed the implications of the findings for policy and research as well as how to address some of the harmful interpretations.
ISSN:1573-6571
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of religion and health
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s10943-023-01947-9