Same but Different: The Perceptions of Faith-Based Funeral Providers in a Pandemic
Main Article Content
Abstract
Background: Media reports, academic research and anecdotal evidence detail the changes in dying, death and funerals since the COVID-19 pandemic commenced in late 2019. We could find no evidence of the experiences of faith-based celebrants in regard to funerals they had conducted.
Method: Forty-eight funeral celebrants from six Christian denominations plus members of Buddhist, Hindu and Jewish faiths, predominantly based in Victoria Australia were interviewed individually by video conference or phone. The researchers separately analysed all transcripts before reviewing the themes together. The results are informed by a discussion of the anthropology of religious rituals and the term ‘pararitual’ is introduced for those performative aspects which “complement the formal liturgy”.
Results: The participants reported that formal faith-based rituals had only changed subtly, though the almost universal use of live-streaming meant that respondents had to interact with those on-line plus the congregation. They reported much greater changes in the pararituals, especially in the absence of a post funeral gathering and were concerned that these absences might impact the grieving processes of the bereaved.
Conclusion: Although the rituals of faith-based funerals were not found to have changed significantly the participants considered that there would be ongoing changes in funerals after the pandemic including live-streaming, minimal rituals or even none. The impact of such changes remains to be seen in both personal and community expressions of grief.
Keywords:
Funerals, faith-based, ritual, pararitual, COVID-19, wakes
Article Details
How to Cite
FLYNN, Eleanor.
Same but Different: The Perceptions of Faith-Based Funeral Providers in a Pandemic.
Medical Research Archives, [S.l.], v. 11, n. 5, may 2023.
ISSN 2375-1924.
Available at: <https://esmed.org/MRA/mra/article/view/3805>. Date accessed: 25 apr. 2024.
doi: https://doi.org/10.18103/mra.v11i5.3805.
Section
Research Articles
The Medical Research Archives grants authors the right to publish and reproduce the unrevised contribution in whole or in part at any time and in any form for any scholarly non-commercial purpose with the condition that all publications of the contribution include a full citation to the journal as published by the Medical Research Archives.
References
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Richards N. 2020. “We are sharing more than we want to share”- A funeral celebrant and a mourner discuss on line funerals. University of Glasgow End of Life Studies. http://endoflifestudies.academicblogs.co.uk/we-are-sharing-more-than-we-want-to-share-a-funeral-celebrant-and-a-mourner-discuss-online-funerals/ accessed 24 November 2020.
Village A and Francis LJ. Faith in Lockdown: Experiences of Rural Church of England Clergy and Laity during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Rural Theology. 2020:18 (2):79-86
Macneil A, Findlay B, Bimman R, Hocking T, Barclay T, Ho J. Exploring the Use of Virtual Funerals during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review. OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying. 2021. doi:003022282110452.
Goveas JS and Shear MK. Grief and the COVID-19 Pandemic in Older Adults. FOCUS. 2021;19(3):374–8.
Moore K, Jones L, Ripol L S, Jones T, Yonally-Phillipps E. Key Considerations: Dying, Bereavement and Mortuary and Funerary Practices in the Context of COVID-19. Social Science in Humanitarian Action. 2020 https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/handle/20.500.12413/15236
World Health Organisation.Practical considerations and recommendations for regious leaders and faith-based communities in the context of COVID-19. 2020, February 13. https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019 accessed May 3, 2021
O’Mahony S. Mourning our dead in the covid-19 pandemic. BMJ. 2020;369:1649
Selman L, Sowden R, Borgstrom E. ‘Saying goodbye’ during the COVID-19 pandemic: A document analysis of online newspapers with implications for end of life care. Palliative Medicine. 2021, Vol. 35(7) 1277–1287
Simpson N, Angland M, Bhogal JK, et al. ‘Good’ and ‘Bad’ deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic: insights from a rapid qualitative study. BMJ Global Health. 2021 doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2021-005509.
Kohn T, Gould H, Nansen B, Alison F, Gibbs M. Small funerals, online memorials and grieving from afar: the coronavirus is changing how we care for the dead. The Conversation. 2020, March 26 https://theconversation.com/au accessed March 4, 2021.
Fernández Ó and González-González M. The Dead with No Wake, Grieving with No Closure: Illness and Death in the Days of Coronavirus in Spain. Journal of Religion and Health. 2022;61(1):703–21.
Boholano H and Remedios C. B. Catholic Funeral Traditions And Alterations Due To COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications To Compliance Of Health Protocols Journal of Positive School Psychology. 2022;6(6):10614-10630.
Da Silva A. Funerals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Brazilian Research and Studies Center. 2021;1(1):1-5.
Muturi I, Freeman F and Banner-Lukaris D. Virtual Funerals during Covid-19 and beyond. Innovation in Aging. 2021;4(Suppl 1):996.
Frisby, H. Traditions of Death and Burial. Oxford: Bloomsbury Publications. 2019
Mountford, F. Good Grief: A proper funeral is a great comfort. The Spectator, 2021; February 20:18.
Pepinster, C. Minds under lockdown. The Tablet. 2020;May 16:7-8.
Gaisford, S. Safe Passage to eternity. The Tablet. 2020; 23 May:14-15.
Gould, H. Remote, Restricted, and Redesigned: Funerals in the time of Coronavirus. https://deathtech.research.unimelb.edu.au/2020/06/23/remote-restricted-and-redesigned-funerals-in-the-time-of-coronavirus/ accessed June 23, 2020.
Long, N.J., Tunufa’i, L., Alkman, P.J. et al. “The most difficult time of my life” or “COVID’s gift to me”? Differential experiences of COVID-19 funerary restrictions in Aotearoa New Zealand. Mortality. 2022;27(40:476-492
Ronan, M. Funerals in the time of Coronavirus. Irish Journal of Sociology. 2021;29(2):236-240.
Australian Religion [internet] Australian Bureau of Statistics 2023. Available from https://www.abs.gov.au/people/people-and-communities/cultural-diversity-census/2021 cited 7/2/23
Jalland P. Changing Ways of Grieving in 20th Century Australia. Dialogue. 2005;24:4-18.
https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/snapshot-australia/2021.
Cited March 13, 2023
Howarth G. Australian Funerals. in Kellahear, A. .editor. Death and Dying in Australia. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2000.p. 80-91.
Nicol R. Australian Burial Customs. in Kellahear, A. editor. Death and Dying in Australia. Oxford: Oxford University Press;2000. p.91-104.
Cremation Society https://www.cremation.org.uk/International-cremation-statistics-2019 cited 19 October 2021
SA Stats March 2010 1345-4. https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/Lookup/1345.4Feature%20Article1Mar%202010 cited 19 October 2021
Griffin GM and Tobin D. In the Midst of Life…The Australian Response to Death. Second Edition. Melbourne: University of Melbourne;1997.p. 78-9.
Woodthorpe K, Rumble H, Corden A. et al. ‘My memories of the Time We Had Together are More Important’: Direct Cremation and the Privatisation of UK Funerals. Sociology. 2021; 00:1-18.
Kellahear A. editor. Death and Dying in Australia. Oxford: Oxford University Press;2000
Gilchrist, R. Medieval Life: Archaeology of the Life Course. Cambridge: Boydell & Brewer; 2012.
French K. The Good Women of the Parish: Gender and Religion after the Black Death. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press;2008.
Van Gennep A. Rites of Passage. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press; 1909, republished 1960.
Bourdieu P. Outline of a Theory of Practice. trans Nice R. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1977.
Bell C. Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice. New York; Oxford University Press;1997.
Reid K, Flowers P and Larkin M. Exploring lived experience. Psychologist. 2005;18:20-23.
Mathijssen B. Transforming bonds: ritualising post-mortem relationships in the Netherlands. Mortality 2018;23:215-230.
Muir E. Ritual in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2005.
Holloway M, Adamson S, Argyrou V, Draper P, Mariau D. “Funerals aren’t nice but it couldn’t have been nicer”. The makings of a good funeral. Mortality. 2013;18:30-53.
Bryant CD and Peck DL. Encyclopedia of Death & The Human Experience. Los Angeles: Sage; 2009.
Castle J, Phillips WL. Grief Rituals: Aspects That Facilitate Adjustment to Bereavement. Journal of Loss and Trauma. 2003;8(1):41–71.
Birrell J, Schut H, Stroebe M, et al. (2020). Cremation and Grief: Are Ways of Commemorating the Dead Related to Adjustment Over Time? OMEGA—Journal of Death and Dying. 81, 370–392
Burrell, A. & Selman, L.E. (2020). How do Funeral Practices impact Bereaved Relatives’ Mental Health, Grief and Bereavement? A Mixed Methods Review with Implications for COVID-19. OMEGA—Journal of Death and Dying. https://doi.org/10.1177/0030222820941296
Eisma MC, Boelen PA, Lenferink LIM. Prolonged grief disorder following the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Psychiatry Research. 2020;288:113031.
Albuquerque S, Teixeira AM and Rocha JC. COVID-19 and Disenfranchised Grief. Front. Psychiatry. 2021;12:638874. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.638874
Mitima-Verloop HB, Mooren TTM, Kritikou ME and Boelen PA. Restricted Mourning: Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Funeral Services, Grief Rituals, and Prolonged Grief Symptoms. Front. Psychiatry 2022;13:878818.doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.878818
Lobb EA, Kristjanson LJ, Aoun SM, Monterosso L, Halkett GKB, Davies A. Predictors of Complicated Grief: A Systematic Review of Empirical Studies. Death Studies. 2010;34(8):673–98.
Selman L. Tweet discussing the research done with Burrell. [internet] https://twitter.com/lucy_selman/status/1281218310969929733?s=12. July 9, 2020.
Richards N. 2020. “We are sharing more than we want to share”- A funeral celebrant and a mourner discuss on line funerals. University of Glasgow End of Life Studies. http://endoflifestudies.academicblogs.co.uk/we-are-sharing-more-than-we-want-to-share-a-funeral-celebrant-and-a-mourner-discuss-online-funerals/ accessed 24 November 2020.
Village A and Francis LJ. Faith in Lockdown: Experiences of Rural Church of England Clergy and Laity during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Rural Theology. 2020:18 (2):79-86
Macneil A, Findlay B, Bimman R, Hocking T, Barclay T, Ho J. Exploring the Use of Virtual Funerals during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review. OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying. 2021. doi:003022282110452.
Goveas JS and Shear MK. Grief and the COVID-19 Pandemic in Older Adults. FOCUS. 2021;19(3):374–8.
Moore K, Jones L, Ripol L S, Jones T, Yonally-Phillipps E. Key Considerations: Dying, Bereavement and Mortuary and Funerary Practices in the Context of COVID-19. Social Science in Humanitarian Action. 2020 https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/handle/20.500.12413/15236
World Health Organisation.Practical considerations and recommendations for regious leaders and faith-based communities in the context of COVID-19. 2020, February 13. https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019 accessed May 3, 2021
O’Mahony S. Mourning our dead in the covid-19 pandemic. BMJ. 2020;369:1649
Selman L, Sowden R, Borgstrom E. ‘Saying goodbye’ during the COVID-19 pandemic: A document analysis of online newspapers with implications for end of life care. Palliative Medicine. 2021, Vol. 35(7) 1277–1287
Simpson N, Angland M, Bhogal JK, et al. ‘Good’ and ‘Bad’ deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic: insights from a rapid qualitative study. BMJ Global Health. 2021 doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2021-005509.
Kohn T, Gould H, Nansen B, Alison F, Gibbs M. Small funerals, online memorials and grieving from afar: the coronavirus is changing how we care for the dead. The Conversation. 2020, March 26 https://theconversation.com/au accessed March 4, 2021.
Fernández Ó and González-González M. The Dead with No Wake, Grieving with No Closure: Illness and Death in the Days of Coronavirus in Spain. Journal of Religion and Health. 2022;61(1):703–21.
Boholano H and Remedios C. B. Catholic Funeral Traditions And Alterations Due To COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications To Compliance Of Health Protocols Journal of Positive School Psychology. 2022;6(6):10614-10630.
Da Silva A. Funerals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Brazilian Research and Studies Center. 2021;1(1):1-5.
Muturi I, Freeman F and Banner-Lukaris D. Virtual Funerals during Covid-19 and beyond. Innovation in Aging. 2021;4(Suppl 1):996.
Frisby, H. Traditions of Death and Burial. Oxford: Bloomsbury Publications. 2019
Mountford, F. Good Grief: A proper funeral is a great comfort. The Spectator, 2021; February 20:18.
Pepinster, C. Minds under lockdown. The Tablet. 2020;May 16:7-8.
Gaisford, S. Safe Passage to eternity. The Tablet. 2020; 23 May:14-15.
Gould, H. Remote, Restricted, and Redesigned: Funerals in the time of Coronavirus. https://deathtech.research.unimelb.edu.au/2020/06/23/remote-restricted-and-redesigned-funerals-in-the-time-of-coronavirus/ accessed June 23, 2020.
Long, N.J., Tunufa’i, L., Alkman, P.J. et al. “The most difficult time of my life” or “COVID’s gift to me”? Differential experiences of COVID-19 funerary restrictions in Aotearoa New Zealand. Mortality. 2022;27(40:476-492
Ronan, M. Funerals in the time of Coronavirus. Irish Journal of Sociology. 2021;29(2):236-240.
Australian Religion [internet] Australian Bureau of Statistics 2023. Available from https://www.abs.gov.au/people/people-and-communities/cultural-diversity-census/2021 cited 7/2/23
Jalland P. Changing Ways of Grieving in 20th Century Australia. Dialogue. 2005;24:4-18.
https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/snapshot-australia/2021.
Cited March 13, 2023
Howarth G. Australian Funerals. in Kellahear, A. .editor. Death and Dying in Australia. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2000.p. 80-91.
Nicol R. Australian Burial Customs. in Kellahear, A. editor. Death and Dying in Australia. Oxford: Oxford University Press;2000. p.91-104.
Cremation Society https://www.cremation.org.uk/International-cremation-statistics-2019 cited 19 October 2021
SA Stats March 2010 1345-4. https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/Lookup/1345.4Feature%20Article1Mar%202010 cited 19 October 2021
Griffin GM and Tobin D. In the Midst of Life…The Australian Response to Death. Second Edition. Melbourne: University of Melbourne;1997.p. 78-9.
Woodthorpe K, Rumble H, Corden A. et al. ‘My memories of the Time We Had Together are More Important’: Direct Cremation and the Privatisation of UK Funerals. Sociology. 2021; 00:1-18.
Kellahear A. editor. Death and Dying in Australia. Oxford: Oxford University Press;2000
Gilchrist, R. Medieval Life: Archaeology of the Life Course. Cambridge: Boydell & Brewer; 2012.
French K. The Good Women of the Parish: Gender and Religion after the Black Death. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press;2008.
Van Gennep A. Rites of Passage. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press; 1909, republished 1960.
Bourdieu P. Outline of a Theory of Practice. trans Nice R. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1977.
Bell C. Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice. New York; Oxford University Press;1997.
Reid K, Flowers P and Larkin M. Exploring lived experience. Psychologist. 2005;18:20-23.
Mathijssen B. Transforming bonds: ritualising post-mortem relationships in the Netherlands. Mortality 2018;23:215-230.
Muir E. Ritual in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2005.
Holloway M, Adamson S, Argyrou V, Draper P, Mariau D. “Funerals aren’t nice but it couldn’t have been nicer”. The makings of a good funeral. Mortality. 2013;18:30-53.
Bryant CD and Peck DL. Encyclopedia of Death & The Human Experience. Los Angeles: Sage; 2009.
Castle J, Phillips WL. Grief Rituals: Aspects That Facilitate Adjustment to Bereavement. Journal of Loss and Trauma. 2003;8(1):41–71.
Birrell J, Schut H, Stroebe M, et al. (2020). Cremation and Grief: Are Ways of Commemorating the Dead Related to Adjustment Over Time? OMEGA—Journal of Death and Dying. 81, 370–392
Burrell, A. & Selman, L.E. (2020). How do Funeral Practices impact Bereaved Relatives’ Mental Health, Grief and Bereavement? A Mixed Methods Review with Implications for COVID-19. OMEGA—Journal of Death and Dying. https://doi.org/10.1177/0030222820941296
Eisma MC, Boelen PA, Lenferink LIM. Prolonged grief disorder following the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Psychiatry Research. 2020;288:113031.
Albuquerque S, Teixeira AM and Rocha JC. COVID-19 and Disenfranchised Grief. Front. Psychiatry. 2021;12:638874. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.638874
Mitima-Verloop HB, Mooren TTM, Kritikou ME and Boelen PA. Restricted Mourning: Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Funeral Services, Grief Rituals, and Prolonged Grief Symptoms. Front. Psychiatry 2022;13:878818.doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.878818
Lobb EA, Kristjanson LJ, Aoun SM, Monterosso L, Halkett GKB, Davies A. Predictors of Complicated Grief: A Systematic Review of Empirical Studies. Death Studies. 2010;34(8):673–98.
Selman L. Tweet discussing the research done with Burrell. [internet] https://twitter.com/lucy_selman/status/1281218310969929733?s=12. July 9, 2020.