Abstract

This paper is about a healing ritual in a Italian Catholic charismatic group. The initial part of the essay is devoted to a brief sociological description of the Catholic Charismastic Renewal in Italy and the rest of the world. The main section of the paper contains a first-person ethnographic narrative of a mass prayer for physical healing conducted by a British healer at a national meeting in Rimini (Italy) in the Spring of 2007. The paper ends with an analysis of some features of charismatic spirituality as it emerged from the ritual: 1) the symbolic relation between the healer and Jesus Christ; 2) the meaning of the laying on of hands; 3) a new conception of pain and suffering influenced by the success of modern scientific medicine.