Christian Churches, Religious Media, and the Management of Covid-19 in Brazil

The research aims to map and analyze the role of religious ideas, practices, and institutions in responding to the Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil, focusing on the speeches produced by Christian religious leaders in the mass media and social networks, in addition to the use of public TV for political and religious proselytism. The research is justified by the growing public role played by Christian churches in the country, exacerbated during the Covid-19 pandemic. To this end, the churches intensified a practice they had already exercised before the pandemic: an intense use of mass media and new information and communication technologies. The research aims to answer questions such as: What religious and secular discourses about the pandemic are disseminated in religious media, and how do they align or not with the guidelines proposed by international organizations such as the World Health Organization and national health authorities? How do these discourses influence public policies and other responses to the pandemic that are being adopted in Brazil? How do churches intensify the use of media and new information and communication technologies in a context of social distance, given the ban on opening temples? How do Christian worldviews influence the population's perception of the crisis we are experiencing? Thus, it intends to contribute to the understanding of the particular ways in which the pandemic is seen, experienced, and managed in Brazil.