The faith of healing

In this 'vale of tears' that is life, we are often saddened by news of illness or other bodily suffering. Indeed, one of the worst and commonest forms of evil which puzzles human beings and makes them unhappy is disease together with pain and other concomitant setbacks.

Since time immemorial, mankind has attempted to get to grips with disease, trying to help the sick recover, or at least alleviate some of the effects. The history of medicine offers clear evidence that war against disease has been waged relentlessly throughout the ages, albeit not always with the desired result. Healing is a boon which concerns not only the science and art of medicine, but also other spheres of philosophy and religion.

The sacred books contain evidence that both Our Lord and the apostles, by his concession, wrought miraculous cures. However, the power to heal was given to the apostles and other saints not for their own benefit or prestige, but in order to confirm their mission.

The Church has for a long time looked after the more feeble among us and prayed for them. It is a praiseworthy act of charity when someone desires that a person is cured and asks God to make this happen. The Church encourages such a practice and there are special prayers to this end, particularly in the rite of the sacrament of the Anointing of the sick. And although the Church places much confidence in the Lord's help, the use of medicine and other natural aids to bring about cure is by no means prohibited or dissuaded. On the contrary, it is encouraged.

There are three ways in which the Catholic community can help its weaker members: the charitable approach, where some form of assistance is given to the sick person; the liturgical approach, which consists of prayers for the sick as well as the administration of the sacrament; and the charismatic dimension. It is this latter form that is capable of giving rise to controversy and therefore merits some discussion.

In the annals of Church history, hundreds of miraculous bodily healings have been recorded from the time of the apostles to the present day. Sometimes these wonders are connected with special places, such as the tombs of the martyrs, or shrines where the apparitions took place, like Lourdes.

But neither the miracles performed by the intercession of the saints, nor the miraculous cures that have been said to happen at certain places, fall, strictly speaking, into the 'healing category'. In the modern sense of the term, 'faith healing' or 'charismatic cure' takes place at special meetings that are organised specifically to bring about this recovery for the people who attend. They are not just a result of prayer, but also of a special power or charisma, whether real or imaginary, which the leader of the prayer meeting has, pretends to have, or others attribute to him.

An official pronouncement on the issue made quite recently by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was, perhaps, not given the media attention that it deserved in Catholic countries, including our own.

Among other things, the document stated that both non-liturgical prayers for healing and the liturgical celebration should be held under the supervision of the local ordinary or diocesan bishop who must explicitly grant permission for such 'healing services' to be held.

Likewise, the use of any means of communication in connection with prayers for healing falls under the competence of the bishop and prayer meetings held for the purposes of healing in a church or other sacred place should be led by an ordained minister. The document also points out that prayers for faith healing should be said in addition to the celebration of Mass.

A careful analysis of the text reveals that the faithful are neither prohibited nor deterred from taking part in faith healing sessions. But there is a warning against anything that resembles hysteria, artificiality, theatricality or sensationalism, above all on the part of those who are in charge of such gatherings.

The document also says that those who direct healing services should strive to maintain a climate of peaceful devotion and exercise the necessary prudence if healings take place among those present.

Moreover, when the celebration is over, any testimony of healings should be collected with honesty and accuracy, and submitted to the proper ecclesiastical authority.

Everyone in Malta and Gozo should be vigilant and do their utmost to follow these sensible guidelines to avoid being duped by charlatans or fraudsters and, perhaps more importantly, to avoid being given false hope when they are in a desperate situation.

Any other approach would only serve to bring more tears to an existence which is already difficult enough.