Faith Healing

Re "Sunday service tugs at agnostic," May 11 I find it stunningly beautiful that a man may reach a point at which, influenced by a single event or perhaps a confluence of events, he is able to hear the voice that has always been calling. Who is to say that a homeless violinist is not God's angel? The potential effect of Steve Lopez's friendship with Nathaniel Ayers is beyond calculation. Robert Spalding San Diego

Re "Sunday service tugs at agnostic," May 11 I find it stunningly beautiful that a man may reach a point at which, influenced by a single event or perhaps a confluence of events, he is able to hear the voice that has always been calling. Who is to say that a homeless violinist is not God's angel? The potential effect of Steve Lopez's friendship with Nathaniel Ayers is beyond calculation. Robert Spalding San Diego

Here's the rundown on guests and topics for the weekend's public-affairs programs: Today "John McLaughlin's One on One": Faith healing, 1:30 p.m. (28). "Evans & Novak": Syndicated columnist Art Buchwald, 2:30 p.m., repeats Sunday 7 a.m. CNN. "Inside Politics Weekend": Harold Ickes, former White House deputy chief of staff, 3:30 p.m.; repeats midnight, CNN. "Tony Brown's Journal": Hepatitis, 3:30 p.m. (28). "Capital Gang": Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), 4 p.m., 10:30 p.m. CNN.

Gene Scott, a flamboyant televangelist who previously relied on faith healing to cure his prostate cancer, announced he would undergo surgery Monday at UCLA Medical Center, saying his disease had run "out of control." A statement by three of his organizations said the 75-year-old preacher had discovered this month that a "golf ball-sized cancer" had spread to his bladder from his prostate, where cancer was first diagnosed four years ago.

The state appeals court on Tuesday overturned a $9.15-million award against the Christian Science Church for the death of a boy whose mother treated his diabetes with prayer. The Minnesota Court of Appeals' 2-1 decision said the Boston-based First Church of Christ, Scientist, does not have to pay $9 million in punitive damages or $150,000 in compensatory damages to 11-year-old Ian Lundman's father.

A 24-year-old woman suffering from a brain tumor died Wednesday at the Anaheim Convention Center at a faith healing revival, just before the healing service was to start, authorities said. The woman's family had attended the Benny Hinn Miracle Invasion Crusade in hope of healing the woman who had been diagnosed with brain cancer in 1984, according to authorities.

For eight years Ona Davis has suffered pain and problems with arthritis in her knees. The doctors couldn't seem to do much to help, so Davis turned to a faith healer. It worked, she says. "It isn't energy," Davis said, describing how her life changed a few days ago. "It's a great kind of peace. It's a joy that comes." With that kind of testimony, it's little surprise that Davis joined more than 5,000 people Friday night at the San Diego Sports Arena to take part in a Healing Explosion.

Yiye Avila, a Puerto Rican bodybuilding champion turned evangelist, paced feverishly, microphone in hand, across the artificial turf nailed to the makeshift stage at the 50-yard line of the East Los Angeles College football stadium. In a giant huddle at his feet--under a scoreboard that announced "Christo Viene" (Christ Is Coming)--nearly 1,000 ailing believers had gathered, some in wheelchairs, some on crutches, some with just hernias or hemorrhoids.

Stepping into an emotional conflict of criminal laws and religious rights, the state Supreme Court granted hearings Thursday to Christian Science parents whose children died while being treated by prayer. Chief Justice Rose Bird and Justices Stanley Mosk, Joseph Grodin, Allen Broussard and Cruz Reynoso, one more than the majority needed on the seven-member court, voted to hear the appeals of parents in Sacramento and Sonoma counties who are charged with involuntary manslaughter.

The California Supreme Court is considering whether a Christian Scientist should be tried on a charge of manslaughter in the 1984 death of her 4-year-old daughter, who died of acute bacterial meningitis. Instead of calling a doctor, the mother asked an accredited Christian Scientist practitioner to pray for the girl's recovery. In Massachusetts, a Christian Scientist couple have just been indicted for manslaughter, after the 1986 death of their 2 1/2-year-old son from a bowel obstruction.

A Van Nuys faith healer was sentenced to nine years in state prison Monday for operating an illegal medical practice and injecting drugs into a man who later died, prosecutors said. Reina Chavarria attracted numerous working-class "patients" to her house with promotions in the Spanish-language media. She was arrested in October 2002 after administering the drugs to Roberto Caceres, an Orange County handyman who had visited her for treatment of a persistent skin condition.

A Van Nuys faith healer whose services were promoted on a popular Spanish-language radio show has pleaded guilty to unlawfully practicing medicine after selling antibiotics to an undercover police officer and injecting drugs into a man who later died, prosecutors said. The case of Reina Chavarria, who was arrested in October 2002, has gained added notoriety in the Latino community because she was touted by radio host Renan Almendarez Coello.

Esmeralda was curious about the man who was known for his ability to see into the future. She was 15 when she went to visit him at his house in southwest Los Angeles. She says the first thing he asked was whether she was a virgin. Her answer was yes. He then told her about the terrible vision he had involving her father: He was a victim of witchcraft and would die soon. Esmeralda says the man made her believe her father could be saved if she sacrificed her virginity to St.

The Rev. Alberto Juarez has seen a young woman erupt in an angry man's voice and growl like a dog. Father Enrique Maldonado tells of houses where locked doors flew open and objects moved about. In these days of high technology and lunch-hour therapy sessions, many people think of exorcism as a relic of the Middle Ages. But the ritual to drive away the forces of evil is alive and well around the globe, perhaps no more so than in Mexico.

Nineteen criminal charges were filed Thursday against a man accused of raping seven women since Christmas after telling them he was a faith healer who could cause great harm if they refused his demands, police said. Carlos Hugo Catalan, 49, has been held on $2 million bail since his arrest Jan. 13 by Southwest Division officers. Detectives said the victims are Latinas between 12 and 43 years old who had known Catalan for years as a curandero, or faith healer.

Fate deprived William Joseph Seymour of sight in one eye, but the fiery African American preacher's vision of a colorblind Christianity, reinvigorated by what its adherents called "the gifts of the spirit," changed the face of American religion.

Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop says faith healing is bunk. But the pediatric surgeon bases his diagnosis on his theological, not his medical, credentials. Dr. Koop's denunciation of faith healing is contained in his contribution to a new book, "The Agony of Deceit: What Some TV Preachers Are Really Teaching" (Moody Press).

Four people were injured Friday when people who were trying to get into a faith-healing service at the Shrine Auditorium surged forward and crushed them against the auditorium walls, officials said. Three of the injured were treated at the scene, and one woman, who suffered heat-related trauma, was taken to California Hospital, where she was in stable condition, said city Fire Department spokesman Mike Little. The crowds came to see faith healer Benny Hinn, who arrived late to the 2 p.m.

They come to the shady little house on Hooper Avenue because they believe in the old ways of healing. As they begin arriving in the twilight, they chat on the sidewalk and eat tamales, bound by their common faith that the spirits will cure where doctors have failed. They drive from Pico-Union, Hollywood, Altadena--all to have a "consultation" with 23-year-old Genaro Cortez, who they believe holds a remarkable power to heal.

Here's the rundown on guests and topics for the weekend's public-affairs programs: Today "John McLaughlin's One on One": Faith healing, 1:30 p.m. (28). "Evans & Novak": Syndicated columnist Art Buchwald, 2:30 p.m., repeats Sunday 7 a.m. CNN. "Inside Politics Weekend": Harold Ickes, former White House deputy chief of staff, 3:30 p.m.; repeats midnight, CNN. "Tony Brown's Journal": Hepatitis, 3:30 p.m. (28). "Capital Gang": Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), 4 p.m., 10:30 p.m. CNN.