The online survey has been conducted by the Research Programme on Religious Communities and Sustainable Development (RCSD) since June 2020 and is still ongoing.
In the recently issued policy brief, the Research Programme reports on the preliminary findings of the online survey. It is the first survey comprehensively exploring the development and relief efforts of religious leaders worldwide as well as their social and theological views on the pandemic. Religious leaders see their communities suffering primarily from the economic challenges caused by government restrictions to curb the spread of the virus. Nonetheless, religious leaders overwhelmingly support the preventive measures introduced by their governments. Consequently, they use their influence to reinforce the importance of adherence to the preventive measures. In regions where governments’ handling of the pandemic is less efficient, the demand on religious leaders to fill the void is high. Concerning the post-pandemic world, religious leaders see it as imperative to “build back better” by advancing social justice, economic equity, ecological sustainability and international cooperation.
Read the policy brief document here
The survey can be accessed here
