The Role of the Danish Church in the Fight against the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Significance of This Experience for the Russian Federation

Abstract

The social responsibility of religious organizations in modern conditions is reflected in a variety of activities carried out by religious institutions and differ depending on both the confessional affiliation of these institutions and the specific structural territorial unit where they take place. The presented work is devoted to a detailed analysis of the peculiarities of the manifestation of one of the directions of social responsibility of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark (ELCD), associated with minimizing the consequences of COVID-19 on the example of its individual dioceses. The dioceses characterized by the highest proportion of adherents in the population structure (Diocese of Viborg, Ribe, Aalborg and Lolland-Faster) were selected to clearly reflect the trends taking place. The subject of the study is the social activities of the ELCD to mitigate the consequences of COVID-19 for parishioners, the features of the implementation of which are considered on the example of structural units at the regional level. The article substantiates the increased importance of the ELCD in the development of the region, since the designated institution largely assumes the social obligations of the state (duplicates several functions) in connection with the risks of the spread of coronavirus infection. To achieve the goal, methods of analysis of factual and economic-statistical information, comparative comparison were used. The experience of a religious organization in dealing with the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic is of interest to the public, government bodies and authorities, as well as religious organizations in other countries. The results of the study can be useful in developing a strategy for the development of state-religious relations in Russia, where there are trends of strengthening the social and economic role of religious organizations.