Charismatic Renewal in Spain accepts bishops’ ‘intergenerational healing’ guidance

Madrid, Spain, Dec 2, 2024 / 15:15 pm (CNA).

The Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Spain has accepted “with filial obedience” the recent doctrinal note by the country’s bishops on practices of “intergenerational healing” that are not in accord with the magisterium and tradition of the Catholic Church.

In a statement published on its website, the Catholic Charismatic Renewal of Spain said it gratefully welcomes the content of the document approved by the Spanish Bishops’ Conference and “adheres to it with filial obedience, agreeing with its content and the concern that underlies it.”

The movement also stated that it “will continue to ensure that, within the scope of our association, part of the entire stream of grace, its guidelines are followed.”

The charismatic organization added that the bishops’ document, titled “His Mercy Extends from Generation to Generation,” is necessary “to clarify concepts, risks to this practice, as well as the areas of its implementation, in the light of the studies carried out and the notes from the magisterium of the Catholic Church that are enunciated.” 

In addition, the association hopes that what the bishops have set forth will help “identify and correct these practices that deviate from the tradition and the magisterium of the Church and that can cause great moral and spiritual harm to the holy people of God.”

The statement from the Catholic Charismatic Renewal of Spain was signed by its national coordinator, Víctor Gregorio Arellano, and the national spiritual adviser, Father Francisco Javier Ramírez de Nicolás, a priest of the Diocese of Osma-Soria.

The Catholic Charismatic Renewal of Spain is a private association of the faithful whose statutes were approved by the Spanish Bishops’ Conference in 2004 and modified in 2011.

The doctrinal note from the Spanish Bishops’ Conference noted that Father Robert DeGrandis of the Society of St. Joseph “has popularized the practice in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal due to his involvement in it.”

De Grandis and other authors teach “the intergenerational transmission of sin and, correlatively, the possibility of intergenerational healing,” the bishops’ note criticizes.

The way to supposedly “cure” physical and mental illnesses consists of “identifying the sin in one’s own family tree” and breaking “the bond of sin” through “intercession, exorcisms, and, especially, the celebration of a Eucharist,” which results in a supposed healing, the doctrinal note explains.

The Spanish bishops point out that “sin is always personal and requires a free decision of the will” and that the same is true of the punishment associated with sin. The prelates noted that “the only sin that is transmitted from generation to generation is original sin” but that this occurs only “in an analogous way.”

Furthermore, they affirm that it’s not possible to “maintain that there is an intergenerational transmission of sin without contradicting Catholic doctrine on baptism,” the sacrament in which “the forgiveness of all sins occurs.”

Regarding the Eucharist, the bishops maintained that offering petitions during Mass for intergenerational healing “seriously distorts the Eucharistic celebration.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.