Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sep 30, 2004 / 22:00 pm
In a statement on the public announcing of unconfirmed miraculous healings, Bishop Jorge Luis Lona of San Luis, Argentina, reiterated that alleged supernatural healings taking place during certain Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR) prayer meetings should not be announced as fact without both confirmation by science and approval of the Church.
In his statement, Bishop Lona said the national advisor to the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Argentina, Father Angel Gabriel Gayte, has expressed his complete agreement with church policy regarding such public statements, which in the CCR are known as “words of knowledge.”
Bishop Lona pointed out that Father Gayte himself has said that “regarding the charism of words of knowledge, it must be discerned in community. Not everyone has this charism and many times it can be very tempting to have it because it makes one stand out and gives one a certain status in the Church, and therefore it falls to the bishop to discern if one has the charism or not.”
“This charism, in order to be credible, must be accompanied by clear testimony of what has occurred and should be certified by doctors or by the fact that one is healed of blindness, deafness, or someone who is paralyzed recovers the use of his legs and begins to walk,” he stated.