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. 2021 Aug;60(4):2285-2305.
doi: 10.1007/s10943-021-01266-x. Epub 2021 Apr 27.

Dungaw: Re-imagined Religious Expression in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Fides A Del Castillo  1 , Clarence Darro Del Castillo  2 , Jeff Clyde Corpuz  3
Affiliations

Dungaw: Re-imagined Religious Expression in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Fides A Del Castillo et al. J Relig Health. 2021 Aug.

Abstract

Expressions of religious piety have been practiced in the Catholic Church as a response to plagues and pandemics. The faithful seek comfort in prayer and appeal to God and the saints for mercy and protection from illness and loss of life. In the Philippines, the veneration of sacred images and placing them outside the window of a house or a church is a religious expression known as "dungaw" (to look out). This paper discusses "dungaw" as a faith-response of Filipino Catholics during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study is an empirical phenomenology that consists of a literary review and interviews. This paper analyzed the significance of the religious expression "dungaw." Four areas of inquiry were identified: (1) Views on the COVID-19 pandemic, (2) "Dungaw" and prayer life during the pandemic, (3) "Dungaw" as a religious expression, and (4) "Dungaw" and communal life. Results showed that Filipino Catholics utilized religion as a coping resource during turbulent times. Filipino Catholics also embodied traditional values to help repair the frayed social fabric during COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; Culture; Health; Popular devotions; Religion; Religious coping; Sacred images; Spirituality.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no Conflict of interest.

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