In all the measures, the desired goal was to eliminate the foci of risk due to the spread of the virus. Much scientific attention has come from the natural sciences, with sociological analyzes and studies of the impact of the pandemic on socioeconomic variables taking center stage. Religiously staunch Ugandans became more committed before the outbreak of the pandemic, albeit with restrictions to fully practice it.
The religious belonging presented here is similar to what Bimbo Omopo appropriates as religious sociability in his analysis of the impact of Covid-19 on religious practices in Nigeria (Omopo 2021:7). For the first two years of the pandemic, the country was in total lockdown for a total of ten people. Prayer in the context of group interaction ritually embodies and dramatizes the insights of the community (Fuist 2015:533). ).
On the one hand, the religious practices of Muslims are included in the five pillars of Islam, as well as deriving from the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad. In the Roman Catholic Church, for example, the anointing of the sick is one of the seven jealously guarded sacraments. However, the tradition of sharing wine and bread from the hands of the clergy was thought to be a possible means of transmission of Covid-19.
Ugandan Muslims had two unusual Eid al-Fitr celebrations during the continuation of the pandemic.
Devotionalism
One respondent claimed that one of the indicators of a family's religiosity in Uganda is belonging to the same religion and praying as a family (Religious Cleric 13, Anglican Church, Interview). While it is difficult to measure the amount of commitment, attentiveness and paralinguistic cues of the participants, it indicates increased commitment and devotion to their faith' (Religious Cleric 9, Catholic Church, Interview). The observation by the above-mentioned cleric indicates that a mere attendance at prayer may fall short in the measurement of religiosity.
The closure of places of worship tested the generosity of religious people through intentional giving, tithing and payment of zakat. While it is tradition for both Muslims and Christians to give financial contributions, zakat and offerings respectively, this was curbed. Pentecostal churches intensified the release of mobile money numbers on which tithes would be distributed.
In some less sophisticated cases, the clergy encouraged their followers to withhold tithes and offerings until places of worship reopened. Muslims were encouraged to contact their imams to give zakat to the needy. One respondent said: "The religious commitment of Catholics in my parish has been tested and strengthened through financial contributions to priests during lockdown.
The closure of places of worship was a scapegoat for those less willing to evade financial contributions to their religious institutions (Religious Cleric 12, Anglican Church, Interview). Overall, the closure of places of worship promoted nominalism and a devaluation of religious attendance. Before the pandemic, the less devoted only lingered there thanks to continued religious education.
This was partly due to the alternative ways of worship that the circumstances of the pandemic ushered in (Religious Cleric 4, Islamic faith, Interview, Masindi; Religious Cleric 13, Anglican Church, Interview). The finding is consistent with the study conducted by Bergan and McConatha (2001:24), who identify physical limitations among this group as a barrier to the expression of their religiosity. Mainstream churches, especially the Anglican Church in Uganda and the Roman Catholic Church were the biggest losers in this technological shift, but the Pentecostal churches flourished.
Innovations for Religious Life and Practice
Despite the fact that Covid-19 has affected the development of online religious services, different religious followers have reacted differently to these innovations. This encouraged personal prayer and less reliance on religious clerics for spiritual guidance, although many phone calls from Christians to clerics asking for prayer for specific challenges remained (religious cleric 13, Church of England, interview). They experienced what Del Castillo et al describe as spiritual dryness—an inability to experience interpersonal intimacy with the spiritual.
Different home routines interfered with participation and effective participation in online religious programs. Therefore, the effectiveness of digital literacy as the “new normal” for revitalizing religion among Ugandans in the midst of the pandemic remains questionable. Innovative strategies were not fully embraced, especially by the elderly and women, who were most challenged with adapting to new technologies, let alone inaccessibility to digital devices.
An Anglican priest of the Church of Uganda argued that online church meetings were not effective in previously engaging Christians to attend church services and meetings. Francis Chapel of Makerere University, about 300 attended special church teaching services online for two weeks during the lockdown. The case was not so different for the Bugolobi Church of Uganda (Religious Cleric 13, Anglican Church, Interview).
This dismal participation was attributed to limited internet data and connectivity, limited knowledge of ICT use, reduced concentration and extortionate ICT infrastructure, as well as simply reluctance to adapt to the new normal (Religious Cleric 7, Catholic Church, Interview).
Discussion and Conclusion
The pandemic and the associated measures produced disembodied religious communities, especially in the urban areas, similar to other African countries such as Nigeria (Omopo 2021:8-9). These revelations are indistinguishable from Europe, where the visibility of religious leaders declined in the wake of the pandemic (Dowson 2020:46), creating a stark divide between the religious individual and their religious community (Parish 2020:12 of 13) . . The pandemic had no significant effect on either religious belief or participation in religious activities, albeit with a ban on religious gatherings (Sambu et al. 2021: 9 of 18).
The Kenyan experience was attributed to the reduced costs of media and online coverage of religious activities during the pandemic, aiding majority access. Indeed, as argued by Pillay, the pandemic provided a window to recreate a new theology that is not focused on institutionalism, structure, roles and rituals, but on being God's transformative presence in the world. It was unthinkable before the pandemic that the Holy Communion for Christians could ever be celebrated over television.
Indeed, as advanced by Dowson (2020:42) and Parish (2020:2 of 13), such a religious revolution on the core beliefs and practices of religious beliefs requires reflection to modify the embodied presence of religion in society. The idea that God responds to those who physically gather in his Name in places of worship was demystified by religious innovations during the pandemic. He redefined the church as a group of Christians belonging to the same online church, WhatsApp church or Facebook group, which challenged the orthodox religious teachings of Islam and Christianity, which prioritize congregational prayer (Syahrul et al. 2020 :273).
While a large portion of Uganda's religious following was disrupted by this change, findings from Europe and the United States suggested the opposite, with the number of worshipers embracing the Easter Mass online tripling (Parish 2020:7-8 of 13 ). Religions' rapid adoption of technology and social media for worship during the pandemic provides an opportunity for religious organizations and scholars to reflect deeply on the intersection between religion, technology, and digitalization in developing countries. One of the limitations of the study is that these findings cannot be generalized to all religious groups in Uganda due to differences in forms of religious expression.
For example, believers of indigenous African religions and Hinduism in Uganda may not have found the pandemic limiting their expression of faith because most of the time they do not seek institutionalized places of worship that can be closed. Second, the evidence used in this article relied on the opinions of religious clergy, but not of lay religious members who could have provided first-hand personal experiences. Overall, the religious experiences of Ugandans during the pandemic contribute to the debate about the obsession with quantifying religion over qualitative studies.
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