Latinos/as, Healing, and Christianity

Abstract

This chapter examines the varieties of healing traditions practiced by Latino/a Christians. Because healing has been an intrinsic part of Christianity from its inception, it is little wonder that Latinos/as have likewise relied on the healing power of the Christian God and God’s representatives to treat their suffering, cure their diseases, and to restore wholeness to broken bodies and relationships. This chapter traces the particularities of how the Latino/a experience has shaped how this healing takes form. Spanish colonization and evangelization of indigenous populations, and the accompanying brutality and dislocation, necessitated a faith that included healing. A medicinal and religious tradition developed that drew as much on Iberian Catholicism as it did on indigenous medicines and understandings of the human body. Curanderismo and other combinatory healing practices have creatively and effectively addressed the health needs of many Latin Americans and Latinos/as. In the last century, charismatic forms of Christianity have grown rapidly in Latino/a communities, often because they specialize in miraculous healing. Religious healing has been and promises to remain an essential element of Latino/a Christianities. There are many opportunities for future study in this area. As the Latino/a population continues to grow and diversity, it will be important to understand better how religious healing traditions from different national origins come to interact and even combine in the United States.