The Social Representation of Coronavirus In the Polish Catholic Press

The article presents the components of the social representation of coronavirus discussed on the basis of headings from the most important religious periodicals in Poland. The object of research is currently one of the most frequently discussed and commented upon phenomena in the digital space. In addition to the cognitive image of SARS-CoV-2 which has been constructed in mainstream portals, the particular version produced by the Catholic media constitutes an interesting supplement. Basing on the analysis of the contexts for anchoring the coronavirus nomination, general elements of its social representation have been distinguished, e.g. “coronavirus is hindering participation in religious services”, “coronavirus is an opportunity for mankind”, “prayer ghts the Covid pandemic”. This kind of perception of the coronavirus has prompted a large group of Catholics in Poland to form their own opinions about the pandemic, in digital and real space; this has subsequently determined the undertaking or abandoning of specic activities and provoked various polemical opinions.

Introduction caused confusion in terms of the terminology used since scienti c knowledge differs from common sense knowledge[1].
[1] An example is the interchangeable use of the terms coronavirus (the cause of infection and pandemic) and COVID-19 (the result of infection -disease). The following examples show the misuse of these terms: Vatican: for the rst time ever, the Angelus on Sunday without the faithful (I); As the Vatican Press O ce explains, these decisions are necessary to avoid the risk of spreading ; WHO declares Covid-19 pandemic (GN).
Main Text 1. The Social Representations Theory as the methodological foundation of the conducted research Digital media play a key role in constructing the components of how coronavirus is represented. They enable the publication, exchange and circulation of various information, opinions and views in the public sphere. Texts and images related to the coronavirus can be easily found both on o cial websites of news portals and informal Internet forums. Since March 2020, they have been one of the most important components of daily news in Poland (providing information on the number of infected people, deaths due to COVID-19, restrictions in social life, ways of reducing the risk of infection, etc.). All this is discussed on the Internet and determines the collective and individual image of the virus. Therefore, it is worth undertaking research on the components responsible for the construction of this cognitive image, using the methodology of social representations developed by Serge Moscovici (1984Moscovici ( , 2001. The Social Representations Theory (hereinafter referred to as SRT) makes it possible to explain the way in which new concepts are adapted within social consciousness, and how they are construed and changed in the discursive space. Moscovoci's main point of interest was the relation between scienti c forms of knowledge and common sense knowledge, developed at various levels of social communication. In his view, representations are the basis of social relations and a tool for perceiving the world. They turn out to be a modern version of common sense, creating a network of concepts and de nitions of related elements (Moscovici 2000). At the same time, it is di cult to identify them with coherent thought patterns, because, especially in the case of controversial phenomena, they often contain con icting ideas and views.
Currently, due to the signi cant role of digital space in the dissemination of knowledge, research on social representations of ideas and concepts is taking on a new dimension. The Internet makes their transmission and reception -both in the public media and privately -almost universally available. Each participant of this type of communication is offered the opportunity to construct and reconstruct any fragment of reality. As a result, he/she changes or creates the image of objects and concepts as well as the way of comprehending the emerging problems (Zbróg, Zbróg 2018). In such a socio-cultural context, social representations arise as a result of complex communication relations between the authors of publications and their recipients, whose perception of given objects differs.
Coronavirus representations originated from the publication of news articles in the media. They in uenced the previous representations of viruses present in the social consciousness (e.g. in uenza, SARS-CoV as well as MERS-CoV). Information about the new object was either reproduced or renegotiated by content modi cation. In this way, knowledge about coronavirus was categorised and a speci c attitude was shaped as a result of frequent contact with new knowledge and experiences of new type (e.g. Wagner 2015). A new representation is usually constructed in the process of adjusting prior knowledge (Chaib et al. 2011). It is worth mentioning that the study of the social representation of coronavirus (and any other object) cannot be confused with the study of an "ordinary" image or picture.
Communication context in digital space generates various communication processes in the community of senders and receivers constructing their representations; images and texts are used, including metaphors, emotions and values embedded in the media world (Höijer 2011).

Methods of data collection and analysis
There are numerous research methods in the methodology of identifying the resource of social representations. Usually, they are associated with socio-genetic processes that reveal the ways in which certain elements circulate, i.e. how they develop, change and coexist with each other. This approach most often concentrates on the analysis of various programs and texts available in the media (the press, radio, television, the Internet -e.g. articles, forums, chats) (Flick, Foster, Caillaud 2015 64-65).
In order to collect the corpus to be analysed in the present article, four of the most widely read Catholic magazines were selected, namely electronic versions of "Gość Niedzielny"[1], "Niedziela", "Idziemy" weekly magazines and "Nasz Dziennik" daily. The collection of headings to be analysed qualitatively was excerpted by means of threading. After typing the word coronavirus (and its contextual equivalents) into the browsers of the above magazines' websites approximately 500 articles from each of the magazines were obtained and then reviewed. The main research task was to analyse the contextual eld in which the coronavirus nomination or its equivalents (e.g. korona, koronka, SARS-CoV-19) appeared, e.g.: Coronavirus in a parish in Zalesie Dolne. Church closed until further notice (N) [3]. Jasna Góra Monastery: every day at 8 p.m. an additional Holy Mass to end the coronavirus pandemic (I).
Such object placement in a contextual eld is referred to as anchoring and takes place by naming an object, its features and functions, comparing it with other objects or through metaphors and antinomies. This mechanism makes it possible to identify elements of social representations (Moscovici 2000:41-52).
Anchoring changes the "unknown" into the "known" by comparing it to the previous social representations in order to interpret them (e.g. by juxtaposition such as "coronavirus is u-like" or "coronavirus is a plague and death"). Thanks to naming a new phenomenon, it can be then placed in a well-known sphere of life and culture. A metaphor is used in order to understand the essence of a new phenomenon, whereas thematic anchoring connects the "new" to certain basic patterns of cultural thinking. At the same time, objecti cation contributes to the fact that the "unknown" becomes the "known" through imaging or transforming it into something that can be perceived through the senses (e.g. a face mask becomes an objecti cation of protection against coronavirus, whereas a picture of the virus makes the object more concrete) (Höijer 2010(Höijer , 2011.
Existing ways of anchoring the coronavirus in the contextual eld and its objecti cation affect participants in the public sphere. This, in turn, implies comments containing new ways of anchoring or reproducing the existing ones. Thus, a contextual network is created in which a given unit appears. Analysis of such contexts makes it possible to characterise the social representation of coronavirus -i.e. the potential way of perceiving it.

Components of the social representation of coronavirus from the perspective of Catholic press
Due to the article's purpose, the research focused on those components of the SARS-CoV-19 representation that can be considered a product of Catholic discourse. The analysed periodicals The above headings generate similar components of the social representation of coronavirus, e.g.
"coronavirus is a threat to people", "coronavirus brings death", "a face mask and maintaining physical distance can protect people against coronavirus infection", "restrictions in social life are necessary to limit the spread of SARS-CoV-19".
The following examples illustrate the second relation: Priest asks for face masks to be removed. Archdiocese distances itself. Prayer to end the pandemic unites the faithful from across the world.
Coronavirus in a Kielce parish. Parishioners are asked to report to the Centre of Disease Control.
On the basis of a simpli ed quantitative analysis, a conclusion can be drawn that religious-focused media shared approximately 60% of all information which appeared in the general media, while the latter published only 5% of news from Catholic media. What is more, such news appeared as if directly because it constituted a general component of the discourse on coronavirus (e.g. information about infections in parishes, coronavirus-related deaths of priests and bishops, restrictions on the number of people participating in religious services, postponing church celebrations).
The ndings of the research are discussed below in order to provide an insight into how Catholic media used anchoring in the contextual eld of coronavirus. It was the starting point for constructing the individual and/or collective representation of SARS-CoV-2.

Coronavirus and its equivalents
The most signi cant nomination used to describe a new virus was coronavirus. Moreover, the term SARS-CoV-19 was used in o cial headings: Regulation have been published changing the conditions for undertaking SARS-CoV-2 test (ND); Niedzielski: The regulation on the standard of care for patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 is already in force (N).
The abbreviated form of the full name -the colloquial korona or koronka appeared rarely Resistance in the time of korona (N); Korona does not scare many parishioners (I).
As already mentioned, the name of the disease, COVID-19, has often been misused to describe the virus: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is a reminder that one of the most important systems in the body is ... (I).
Frequently, coronavirus was placed in the context of two other terms: epidemic and pandemic: How to protect yourself from the coronavirus epidemic? (I); On May 14, all religions will pray for an end to the coronavirus pandemic (GN).
The word plague, as it is known from religious language, could in some contexts be considered both the equivalent of coronavirus and the epidemic(pandemic): Our Lady of the plague Tuesday (I); The Church in times of plague (I).

Prayer and Christian deeds as a way to combat coronavirus
From a religious point of view, prayer was a natural context in which coronavirus was anchored. In these type of collocations, the name of the virus appeared quite often (approximately 25%). Consequently, at least several components of its representation can be distinguished.
One element would be a general conviction that "prayer can beat coronavirus" or that "prayer is a way for believers to ght coronavirus". The Pope prayed for those frightened by the coronavirus pandemic (I); Pope Francis prayed for those experiencing the consequences of the pandemic (GN).
The headings also included requests for prayers for certain people infected with coronavirus: Coronavirus among Capuchins. Brothers ask for prayer (N); Gniezno: The Primate asks for prayers for Bishop Wojtuś, infected with Covid-19 (GN).
In some contexts, prayer as the main element was used together with affective verbs: The Pope pleaded for an end to the pandemic (GN) and the coronavirus was metaphorically anchored, which also added an emotional character to the headings: Pope Francis: We want to respond to the virus pandemic with prayer (GN); Lithuania: Prayer Map against Coronavirus (I); Prayer attack against the end of the pandemic (N).
Sometimes, instead of the nomination of prayer, its substitutes were used which included the names of speci c prayers (e.g. novena, entrustment).
Entrustment to the Divine Mercy in the face of the coronavirus pandemic (I); Lourdes: Novena to save the world from coronavirus (I).
Yet another variant was to pray to certain saints: Blessed Hanna Chrzanowska -in times of pandemic, people ask her for help (I); Coronavirus: Mayor of Venice entrusted the city to Mary in the face of the coronavirus pandemic (GN).
Anchoring coronavirus in contexts containing prayer was a key premise for Catholic recipients to include components of an overall message such as: "prayer as a tool to ght coronavirus", "prayer will end the coronavirus pandemic", "prayer helps coronavirus victims" into the resource of its social representation. Such mental constructs seem natural for believers. The heading con rmed the validity of what is obvious for a Catholic during the time of a pandemic, namely that prayer is to help us overcome the threat of coronavirus, help its victims and, consequently, with divine help will end the pandemic.
An invariant was the development of the context of prayer to include other religious deeds and practices of a merciful or penitential nature, performed in order to seek protection against coronavirus: May 14: prayer, fasting and works of mercy for the end of the epidemic (I); Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Franciscans fast for all people (GN); Mercy against the pandemic (N).
Placing coronavirus in these type of contextual elds generated social components such as "good Christian deeds can stop coronavirus" or "fasting and mercy will help defeat the virus". In this context, the headings also refer to the help provided generally by the Christian community to representatives of other faiths: Pakistani Christians support Muslims during the pandemic (I) and to spiritual assistance initiated by the Church: Coronavirus in Mexico: The Church promotes neighborhood support networks in parishes (GN).
Placing coronavirus in this type of context allowed to include components such as "The Church supports people in the ght against coronavirus", "The Church is an institution that is helpful in overcoming the effects of the coronavirus pandemic" in its social representation. This component of the social representation is illustrated by the following affective heading and an article excerpt: The Church in the ght against the coronavirus. Once again the Church is equal to the task: it does not divide people into believers and non-believers; it does not ask about their views but is there when they need it (N).

Coronavirus obstructs religious practices
One of the key threats for believers was the obstruction of religious practices by coronavirus (including the temporary closing of churches, bans on religious services or reducing the number of Mass attendees): Vatican: for the rst time in history, an 'Angelus' Sunday without the participation of the faithful because of the coronavirus (GN); Italy: the faithful excluded from Holy Mass -coronavirus (I).
There were warnings that in some places around the world coronavirus could even cause permanent closure of churches: Coronavirus as an excuse to close churches after the pandemic? (I).

Coronavirus became a threat to religious rituals:
What about First Communions? General Curia issues announcements regarding the organisation of the First Holy Communions during the pandemic (I).
In the initial stage of SARS-CoV-2, both clergy and lay people, despite threats reported in the media, expressed their concern and protest against restrictions regarding the organisation of religious practices: Andrea Riccardi criticises church closures due to coronavirus (I); Archbishop Depo opposes church closings due to coronavirus (I).
The above ways of anchoring coronavirus created in its resource of social representations provide a clear message that it "hinders religious practices in almost every dimension". However, the strict order to apply sanitary recommendations raised doubts and protests. In this case, one can speak about the rare polemic nature of the opinions of members of the Catholic community. Thus, an additional component of this representation can be distinguished: "the coronavirus pandemic must not prevent the cultivation of traditional forms of religious practice". This last component complemented the representations of extreme and conservative Catholics with many believing absence during a Sunday Mass is a sin. At the same time, this raised a particular issue as to whether, if religious practices were relaxed, it would be more di cult to continue them after the pandemic was over [4]. For this reason, the following calls could be heard: It seems that dispensation, usually quite rarely applied and probably not fully understood by many of the faithful, was included into the lexical resource of Catholics as a synonym for justifying absence during Mass; it thus developed their resource of social representation of coronavirus which "exempts them from this obligation".
A lot controversy -both among the faithful and the clergy -was raised in connection with the reception of Holy Communion during the pandemic into the hand instead of the mouth (both forms are acceptable by the Church). The headings anchored coronavirus also in this context: The controversial campaign "'STOP Holy Communion in the hand'. It is impossible to desecrate Holy Communion unknowingly, and the tongue is just as worthy as the hands to receive it. Stop the fake news in the eld of theology! -writes a secular philosopher involved in the life of the Church (https://deon.pl/kosciol/kontrowersjska-akcja-stop-komunii-swietej-na-reke-sa-pierwszekomarzenia,1006332; accessed on 12/10/2020).
The entire discussion moved to general Internet portals, Billboards in Rzeszów: "Stop Holy Communion in the hand!". Who is behind it: those who deny the pandemic or ultra-Catholic? (https://rzeszow.wyborcza.pl/rzeszow/7,34962,26397970,stop-komuniiswietej-na-reke-grzmi-napis-na-billboardach.html; accessed: 12/10/ 2020); as well as other areas of the Internet[5]. The following heading illustrates the standing of both parties: First Communion in the hand -rescue from the "coronavirus pandemic" or the defeat of the Church?
The above elds, where coronavirus was located, made it possible to create the following associations: coronavirus is "an excuse for absence during obligatory Mass as stated in the dispensation", "prevents the ful lment of duties by the faithful", "is an understandable reason for cancelling even the most important religious events", "allows to make changes in traditional rituals, such as receiving Holy Communion in the hand".
In the context of religious practices, the way of participating in them and celebrating them in the times of coronavirus has led to the formation of contradictory opinions among Church o cials, especially at the beginning of the pandemic, and those of the faithful who opposed the liberalisation of canon regulations.
Currently, however, prohibitions and restrictions are rarely questioned because of the large number of the clergy and lay people infected with SARS-CoV-2 during religious practices. These experiences led to the inclusion of the Catholic clergy into a group of those encouraging compliance with the rules protecting against coronavirus infection: Call of the President of the Polish Episcopal Conference for compliance with sanitary recommendations during the coronavirus pandemic (I).

Living as Christians in times of trial
Important metaphysical questions were anchored in articles' headings in connection with the pandemic. There were also some questions whether coronavirus was "God's punishment": The pandemic continues. Have we been punished? (N); The question must be asked: What is the signi cance of the virus pandemic from the perspective of God's will? (N); Coronavirus Outbreak -God's Punishment? (I); Is coronavirus a punishment from God? (ND); Coronavirus as a punishment for sins? Salesians explain (GN).
The above examples of coronavirus placement emerged in various individual contexts. They might be generally summed up with phrases like: "a pandemic is a kind of trial for believers" or "coronavirus is a catalyst for di cult questions about the foundations of faith". The only thematic regularity was related to the question "Is coronavirus an act of God?". The question mark at the end of the sentence would indicate the fear of stating such a fact directly, as illustrated in the following excerpt: What does the Father answer to those who ask about the coronavirus pandemic? That this is God's punishment, God's act. Or maybe it is better not to involve God in it (I).

Coronavirus leads to new ways of communication in the Church
An interesting aspect of the pandemic was the acceptance by the clergy and believers of religious practices in digital media. Coronavirus was often anchored in the elds related to online communication: The Church in the face of a pandemic -on-line prayer (I); Online adoration in a time of pandemic? Fr. Jacek Grzybowski (I); Is adoration of the Blessed Sacrament possible online through live broadcast? (GN); Pandemic-induced isolation is to help use digital media (N);

Online Easter Without Borders during Coronavirus (I);
On-line youth retreat. The prevailing coronavirus pandemic will not prevent young people from participating in the May retreat! (N). Therefore, the social representation of coronavirus should include the following components: "the coronavirus pandemic digitises the universal Church", "coronavirus dynamically develops the reach of prayer including digital space".

Coronavirus as an invitation for change
In addition to the dilemmas, fears and anxieties described above, many coronavirus headings were associated with unpleasant phenomena that favour a change for the better. The virus was placed in the contexts of chance, hope and bene t: Pope Francis: Struggling with Coronavirus as a Chance to End Injustice (I); The Pope in an interview for "The Tablet": let us not waste the present chance for conversion (GN); Let us straighten our paths. How to take advantage of the current Covid-19 pandemic? (N); Blessed crisis? How to take advantage of the pandemic (N); Chaldean Patriarch: the Coronavirus pandemic "a chance for awakening" for humanity (GN). The social representation of coronavirus was thus expanded to include positive aspects such as: "the pandemic is a hope for change for the better", "coronavirus is an opportunity to change the modern world". In the whole negative picture of SARS-CoV-2, it was a truly Christian view, illustrated with an almost oxymoronic expression of the blessed crisis.
3.8 Objecti cation as a source of components of social representations of coronavirus Moscovici (2000:51) argued that objecti cation makes it possible to materialise ideas, phenomena and objects as images. Coronavirus, as an entity which exists in reality but remains imperceptible and invisible to the naked eye, was presented in the form of magni ed microscopic photographs. Thanks to them, its effects were visualised, which in turn widened the contextual eld of its social representation.
In general Internet portals, the key image illustrating the pandemic included a person wearing a face mask. Sometimes, hand sanitisers were used to illustrate the need to protect oneself against infection.
The hope of inventing a vaccine against coronavirus was visualised by a picture of a scientist working in a laboratory, using a microscope and syringe.
In the religious press, there were photographs featuring a clergyman wearing a face mask or a visor or protective gear.
Very often, information about the effects of coronavirus was accompanied by photographs of empty churches, whereas what was related to the question of faith and prayers for the end of the pandemic was illustrated with photographs of praying people or Catholic attributes: the cross, prayer books or the rosary.
The conclusion can be drawn that objecti cation in the religious press developed the following components of the social representation of coronavirus: "rules of protection against coronavirus apply to all", "prayer in the hope of salvation from the pandemic", "coronavirus restricts religious practice".
[2] According to Wirtualne Media, the weekly "Gość Niedzielny" was the top-selling weekly in Poland in the years 2018-2019 -an average of 110 thousand copies (https://www.wirtualnemedia.pl/artykul/ Sprzedaż-tygodnikow-opinii-i-iii-kwartal-2019-gazeta-polska; accessed: 23/09/2020). It is included in the so-called opinion-forming weeklies. The other Catholic magazines are not so popular. However, the importance of 'Gość Niedzielny' allows us to state that the in uence of the Catholic press on the opinions and judgments of Poles, and therefore also the social representations of various objects, is signi cant.
[3] Due to the volume limitations, the quoted titles were abbreviated to one of the four analyzed periodicals. Their locations are presented at the end of the article. Digital addresses were given only for titles from other portals.
[4] This was indicated in articles in the Catholic press, e.g. How does coronavirus affect Polish religiosity? It is not yet known how long the restriction of public worship will be a fact. Regardless of this, the question now arises as to whether the continuation of the epidemic threat and refraining from participating in the Sunday Mass will have a lasting impact on religious practices after the threat has passed -this is one of the questions posed in the analysis of the Institute of Statistics of the Catholic Church on the impact of the coronavirus on Polish religiosity (GN).

Conclusions
In the general media, coronavirus was anchored in the contexts which presented its features and properties as an entity (e.g. the species of Coronavirae virus that causes COVID-19) indicating a threat to health and life (e.g. an infection may cause the loss of smell and taste), informing about the government's protective measures and policy towards the pandemic (e.g. after reaching a certain level of infections, the government will introduce lockdown measures and impose quarantine on those who are infected), providing data on the number of cases and deaths from COVID-19 (e.g. 20,000 infections and economy and its employees (e.g. shopping malls and schools will be closed until Monday) and presenting the limitations resulting from the risk of infection (e.g. wearing a face mask in a shop) and methods of treating the sick (e.g. hand disinfection is indispensable) as well as various virus-related effects (e.g. online education for school children and university students). This perspective was reproduced in the content of religious portals. However, there was also a different perspective of SARS-CoV-2 presented there, resulting from the provenance of faith.
On the basis of the analysed corpus of contextual elds of over two thousand headings excerpted from Catholic periodicals in Poland, the article has presented a characterisation of contextual elds in which the examined object was placed. The object was usually marked by means of coronavirus nomination and its equivalents included: SARS-CoV-2, plague, korona, koronka and the incorrect name of COVID-19. Coronavirus also became a component of repetitive phrases: coronavirus pandemic/epidemic, the time of coronavirus (e.g. "in the time of coronavirus there are more deaths").
Following the analysis of the contextual elds of the headings, a simpli ed map of the generalised components used in the Polish Catholic press was developed to make up the social representation of coronavirus. For better clarity, the components were combined into one element on the basis of semantic synonymity (e.g. explanations such as "prayer can defeat coronavirus", "prayer is the believers' way to ght coronavirus", "prayer is a tool to ght coronavirus", "prayer will help end the coronavirus pandemic" were uni ed as "coronavirus and its effects can be combated by prayer"). The highest frequency of components (each of them constituted between 13 to 15% of the set of excerpts) were connected with a solid line whereas the dotted line was used for those of the lower frequency (between 9 to 12%) with a broken line representing the lowest frequency components (between 6 to 8%). The remaining components were not included.
Catholic religious Internet portals signi cantly expanded the social representation of coronavirus, including the aspect related to faith, and this was a lens through which the pandemic was perceived.
There were components typical of Christian beliefs and practices: prayer as the solution for misfortune, turning to God in times of crises, concern about performing religious rituals or nding the potential for change in the time of a pandemic.
Such a resource of social representation was discussed in Internet forums and the formulated opinions and judgements allowed for its expansion. One of the components of this social representation, seemingly irrational in the context of information about the dramatic effects of SARS-CoV-2 was "coronavirus does not really exist, it is just fake news", "patients with COVID-19 in hospitals are lm extras". The common sense cognitive picture of coronavirus is highly complex and is still developing.

Declarations
Competing Interests: none