Healing in Pentecostal and Charismatic churches : a challenge to the Roman Catholic Church's mission in urban centres of Cameroon.

Abstract

This study has been motivated by the observation made in urban centres of Cameroon, that many Catholics are getting involved in divine, faith or spiritual healing ministry; something that has not been the case few years ago. A closer look at this phenomenon revealed that, not only the people were committing to the ministry, but the influence was external to the Catholic Church. With the gradual expansion of Pentecostalism in the cities and towns of the country, with its emphasis on healing, healing ministry became more of a necessity for other churches. The Roman Catholic Church having neglected this ministry over centuries is at the crossroad. And the question is to know how Catholic healing ministers can improve their healing ministry with elements borrowed from Pentecostal churches. In a fieldwork in Cameroonian city of Yaoundé, 20 interviews were conducted: 10 from the catholic side and 10 from the Pentecostal side represented by The Apostolic Church Cameroon. These data were analysed by the Thematic Analysis method. The analysis and the reflection that followed brought to light that there are different types of healing ministers operating in our cities but not all of them are actually doing what needs to be done. At this, Jesus Christ is presented as the model of healing for ministers to imitate; because Jesus did not heal for his own glory and interest rather for the infinite glory of God and for the salvation of the vulnerable people. The study states that ecumenism between Catholics and Pentecostal can well be initiated from healing ministry through a set of identified recommendations. KEY WORDS: Roman Catholic Church, Faith Healing, Healing ministry, Pentecostalism and Charismatic Churches.