Paper short abstract:

This paper will investigate the impact of Covid-19 on Christians’ handling of death, burial rituals and the whole process of grieving among the Shona people of Zimbabwe.

Paper long abstract:

Every society has its own death related rituals. Focusing on the Karanga people of Nyajena in southern Zimbabwe. Chitakure (2021) identifies three death related rituals: pre-burial, burial and post-burial rituals. The advent of Christianity among the people of Zimbabwe saw certain changes in the way death-related rituals were practiced traditionally. Chitakure (2021) rightly observes that in Zimbabwe there are now two types of death-related rituals: traditional and Christian. The advent of Covid-19 beginning March 2020 saw the introduction of measures that seriously affected the practice of death-related rituals. The need for social distancing, the need to stay home, prohibition of huge gatherings, the use of masks to cover the nose and mouth had tremendous effects on people’s practice of death-related rituals, both traditional and Christian. This paper will investigate the impact of Covid-19 on Christians’ handling of death, burial rituals and the whole process of grieving among the Shona people of Zimbabwe. The paper is based on an ethnographic study of one family that I studied closely from the time of the death of their beloved one up to about a year later during which time most of the death-related rituals would ordinarily have been undertaken. This data is complemented by findings from literature and other observations and informal discussions I had with various people during the time of study. The paper also investigates how the Christians interpreted certain biblical texts as they either violated or came to terms with the dictates of Covid-19 protocols.