DIREITO À LIBERDADE RELIGIOSA EM TEMPOS DE PANDEMIA

Abstract

Freedom of conscience of belief and worship are fundamental rights of the human being provided for in the legal system through national and international laws and documents. The exercise of religious practices has singular importance for the faithful, considering that, from the perspective of phenomenology, the religious experiences the sacred. It happens that fundamental rights are not absolute, which means that, in the specific case, they may be limited due to other rights that are more relevant, considering the concrete situation and the political and legal circumstances involved. Thus, there may be conflicts between fundamental rights, which requires a weighting judgment. In this sense, the present work intends to analyze how the right to religious freedom, embodied in religious manifestations, should occur in times of pandemic. Considering the above, we seek to answer the following research question: How should religious manifestations occur in times of pandemic, considering the right to health as a fundamental right to limit these collective manifestations? To achieve the proposed objective and answer the research question formulated, a bibliographic survey was conducted, based on materials previously prepared on the subject in question, such as doctrine, scientific articles, official documents, legislation and jurisprudence. It is emphasized that the analysis is delimited to the Brazilian scenario, not with the fact that other contexts are mentioned. It was concluded that, in the event of a collision between fundamental rights to health and religious worship, it is necessary to carry out a weighting, analyzing the circumstances of the specific case.