ReCoVirA (Religious Communities in a Virtual Age) is a European research project that examines how the form, role and experience of religious life in Europe has changed after the rapid digitalization that took place during the Covid-19 pandemic. The consortium includes research groups from seven different countries and universities: Manchester Metropolitan University, Aarhus University, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, University of Ljubljana, Södertörn University, University of Warsaw and Åbo Akademi University, with Professor Joshua Edelman (MMU) as consortium leader.

The pandemic forced many religious communities into new relationships with technology and digitality, as the social constraints imposed by the pandemic led religious groups to quickly turn to digital tools in order to continue their activities during the crisis. ReCoVirA examines the effects that the pandemic has had on religious life in Europe. The research is carried out in seven countries across Europe (the UK, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Poland, Sweden and Slovenia), and the case studies include religious communities with many different beliefs, practices and origins. The focus is on both majority and minority communities.

The Finnish research group studies the impact of the pandemic on the practice of religion in three communities that rank on a scale from majority to minority religion in Finland: a) the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (majority religion), b) Jehovah’s Witnesses (established minority religion), c) a Vietnamese Buddhist community (minority religion). The research method is ethnography, carried out in both physical and digital environments. The research collects ethnographic data using interviews, as well as participant observations both online and offline. The project is funded by the Polin Institute (2024-2025) and the CHANSE ERA-NET Co-fund programme, within the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme (2022-2024). The consortium ended on 31.8.2024.

From 1.9.2024 until 31.12.2025, a follow-up project of the Finnish case studies will be funded by the Inez and Julius Polin Institute. The continuation project is led by Linda Annunen, PhD, and Katriina Hulkkonen, PhD, is the project researcher.

Recovira-Finland Consortium Research Group (2024-2025):

Project leader: TD Marcus Moberg, PhD Ruth Illman

Project researchers: PhD Måns Broo, PhD Linda Annunen, PhD Katriina Hulkkonen