Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses the relationship between religion, policymakers, and digital technology during the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland within three religious organizations, based on the analyses of official church documents, religious media, and secular media outlets.

Paper long abstract:

This paper presents findings about the relationship between religion, policymakers, and digital technology during the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland. Based in the concept of mediatization, the paper analyses documents produced by three religious institutions in Poland (statements, official guidelines, etc.), as well as articles in religiously-orientated media (i.e. media produced by the institutions, including leading press titles) and in mainstream nationwide news outlets (including "Gazeta Wyborcza"). The analyzed religious institutions are the Roman Catholic Church, the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church, and the Jehovah's Witnesses. The analyses focus on how the institutions, in their official communications and in their media, reacted to the restrictions and safety measures during the pandemic (2020-2023), for instance by imposing new rules of religious gatherings and practices, resorting to digital innovations, as well as by presenting their standpoints on vaccines and social distancing, or more openly reflecting on the topics of illness and death. It will be shown that these reactions exist on the spectrum from supportive of the measures and open to changes to rejecting the restrictions and opposing adjustments. It will also be shown how different degrees of implementation of digital innovations within the organizations during the pandemic may have affected how these institutions function. The paper will also reflect on the common themes developed across the projects, noting the distinctiveness of the Polish cases.