Rituals Reflecting Various Forms of Human Sociality as Means of Coping with the Covid Crisis

The emergence and rapid global spread of the virus SARS-CoV-2 in 2019 triggered the severe COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic affected almost every dimension of human life to such an extent that it can be viewed as a disaster. A defining feature of this period was the disruption of established forms of human sociality resulting from anti-pandemic measures. Drawing on Afifi’s model of coping and Carrithers’ concept of human sociality, this article examines the diversity of ritual repertoires through which individuals and institutions responded to the pandemic’s impact on social life. It primarily addresses the dynamic transformations of aspects of the ritual environment during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly shifts in the relationships between public and private, bodily and virtual, continuity and disruption, mimesis and fidelity, and breach and reintegration. It argues that the distinctiveness of Christian sociality lies in its anamnetic, epicletic, koinonic, and oikodomic dimensions, which provide key criteria for assessing the adequacy of adaptations of Christian rituals in times of crisis. The article advances a tentative hypothesis that communities with more internally diverse repertoires of lived ritual practices may exhibit greater resilience, as such diversity enhances the natural and cultural resources of human sociality.