Family Tree Masses / Generational Healing - Is it Catholic ?

I put together an article on this topic before as these 'Family Tree Masses' are still ongoing.  It is good to pray for the dead, the Holy Souls and we must because they need our prayers so badly.  But it is not correct to say that the sins of our ancestors 'cause us the sins of today'.  We are all affected by original sin but we cannot blame our ancestors continually for our mistakes.  We are all individually responsible for our own sins.  Of course we are affected by others sins, but not in the way that this family tree / generational healling suggests. One could ask oneself what is the purpose of our Baptism ?  What is the purpose of purgatory and also what great graces has God given us in the Divine Mercy.  See articles below and also my older post on the Family Tree which you can find in labels which has more on this subject.   

Below is a paragraph from http://www.catholicdoors.com/isit/isit12.htm

"Generational Healing" promotes the belief that there is a necessity to heal the family tree based on the alleged "too many cases" where recurring problems such as divorce, alcoholism, financial problems, accidents, run in families. When a person dies, it is believed that his/her spirits who caused such problems or natural spiritual tendencies or inclinations are passed on to the descendants. In other words, it is believed that children are adversely affected by the sins of their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, who were also affected by the sins of their ancestors.

Article on what the Bishops in Korea said in 2007: http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=25913

Healing the "family tree", or "generational healing" spread from the United states to Korea. The Korean bishops express deep concerns that some Catholics have deviated from Church teaching and issue a pastoral directive against it.

SEOUL, KOREA (UCAN) - Bishop Paul Choi Deog-ki of Suwon has issued a pastoral directive warning Catholics against "family-tree healing" practices, which he says runs counter to Church teaching.

Bishop Choi released his four-page directive on Nov. 2, All Souls' Day. The document was also published in the Nov. 11 issue of the diocesan weekly bulletin.
"Recently, the so-called 'family-tree healing' practice has been spreading among some faithful in Suwon diocese. It came from overseas and combines Church teachings with non-traditional teachings," he wrote in his letter. The bishop speaks of concerns that this wrong practice could spread "especially in November, the month dedicated to praying for the souls in Purgatory."

According to the directive, proponents of this practice believe that people inherit their ancestors' sins, which cause chronic family problems. The proponents of "family-tree healing," also called "generational healing, argue that if people do not pray for their ancestors' souls and offer Masses for the removal of their sins, these problems cannot be solved. Bishop Choi explains that "family-tree healing is a mixture of traditional Church teaching" on the souls of the dead and Oriental religious worldviews. "The belief that people inherit their ancestors' sins is not part of the Catholic faith," he stresses.

He points out that sins belong solely to the individual and cannot be inherited. Furthermore, baptism frees all Catholics from their past sins, even original sin, he points out. In his directive, the prelate prohibits meetings where erroneous "family-tree healing" beliefs are propagated. He urges Catholics not to participate in these gathering and to report such cases to parish priests. Father John Moon Hee-jong, evangelization director of Suwon diocese, told UCA News on Nov. 9: "For the past few years, the Church has been monitoring the family-tree healing practice among the faithful with concern. Bishop Choi issued the directive to warn the faithful not to subscribe to this belief."

The priest, who teaches liturgy at Suwon Catholic University, added that the diocese issued the directive after theological, doctrinal and pastoral investigations into the phenomenon over the past year.
According to Father Moon, "family-tree healing" came to Korea from the United States and has been practiced mostly at charismatic gatherings. Proponents play on people's fears by using "threatening words," he added, saying the Church "has to stop them to protect the faith life of Catholics." He pointed out that Catholicism "is a religion of hope, as believers wait for the resurrection of all people, following Jesus Christ."

The Korean bishops, during their plenary assembly in October, expressed concern that some Catholics have deviated from Church teaching through the misguided "family-tree healing" practice. They said it arises from an incorrect interpretation of the doctrine of original sin and an incorrect view of the world to come, adding that these errors are combined with shamanism. As of 2006, Suwon diocese had 672,803 Catholics served by two bishops and 386 priests in 173 parishes and 28 mission stations, according to the Korean bishops' conference. The diocese has the second-highest number of Catholics in South Korea after Seoul archdiocese.

The Need for Confession

Recently I was informed that at a pilgrimage site in Ireland, a Priest was heard to say that there was no need to confess one's sins when going to confession...no just go for a chat and get a blessing, he said.  It is very sad to hear that a Priest actually said this in a place where people go for penance and prayer.  It was also a lost opportunity for many if they did what he had said. 

Confession is a beautiful and very necessary Sacrament that restores us to Christ and rebuilds and breathes new life into a soul that is dead in sin.  It restores us to grace, refreshes and cleanses us again and brings healing to our souls and also to the whole body of Christ.    For someone to say we don't need to confess our sins when we go to Confession is an absolute lie, it is false and leads many down a dangerous path.  What is the Sacrament of Confession for but to confess our sins and be sorry for them ?  May the Lord have mercy on us and let us pray for our Priests. 

Here below is what our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI said on a reflection of the Gospel of Mark in 2009.  Sin is what puts distance between the believer and God, and it's the sacrament of confession that brings the two back together, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope said this in a Gospel reflection on Mark's account of the healed leper, which he delivered before praying the midday Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter's Square. 

In the Gospel account, recalls the Pontiff, the leper "gets on his knees and says: 'If you wish, you can make me clean!' Jesus, moved, stretches out his hand, touches him and says: 'I do wish it. Be made clean!'"

"According to the ancient Jewish law," the Holy Father explained, "leprosy was not only considered a sickness but the gravest form of 'impurity.'"  He continued: "Leprosy thus constituted a kind of religious and civil death, and its healing was a kind of resurrection. We might see in leprosy a symbol of sin, which is the true impurity of heart, distancing us from God. "It is not, in effect, physical malady that distances us from him, as the ancient norms supposed, but sin, the spiritual and moral evil."

Benedict XVI reflected: "The sins we commit distance us from God, and, if they are not humbly confessed, trusting in the divine mercy, they will finally bring about the death of the soul. This miracle thus has powerful symbolic value.  "In the Sacrament of Penance Christ crucified and risen, through his ministers, purifies us with his infinite mercy, restores us to communion with the heavenly Father and our brothers, and makes a gift of his love, joy and peace to us."

"Dear brothers and sisters," he concluded, "let us invoke the Virgin Mary, whom God preserved from every stain of sin, that she help us to avoid sin and to have frequent recourse to the sacrament of confession, the sacrament of forgiveness, whose value and importance for our Christian life needs to be rediscovered today."

And From the Diary of St. Faustina, Jesus said
 

Come with faith to the feet of My representative...I myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden by the priest... I Myself act in your soul... Make your confession before Me. The person of the priest is, for Me, only a screen. Never analyse what sort of a priest it is that I am making use of; open your soul in confession as you would to Me, and I will fill it with My light...

Were a soul like a decaying corpse, so that from a human standpoint, there would be no hope of restoration and everything would already be lost, it is not so with God. The miracle of Divine Mercy restores that soul in full... From this fount of mercy souls draw graces solely with the vessel of trust. If their trust is great, there is no limit to My generosity.

Family Tree Mass 
(Generational Healing)


I often wondered where the Family Tree Mass & generational healing came from and why it is practiced in certain circles in our Catholic Church.  It didnt really make much sense to me as we have the Sacraments of Baptism and Confession as well as our beliefs in Purgatory and our prayers and Masses for the Holy Souls.  And we also have the Indulgence granted through the Divine Mercy devotion which is fully approved by the Church.  So I did a little bit of research on Family Tree or Generational healing Masses and here below are contents of some of the articles from various Catholic sources explaining that this practice does not have any foundation in our Catholic faith. 

This Family Tree/generational healing 'ministry' originated from an Anglican psychiatrist called Kenneth McCall.   Dr McCall wrote a book called ‘Healing the Family Tree’ in the 80′s .  


The practice of the Family Tree Mass began to take on in certain Catholic Charismatic groups.  The Family Tree Mass is a Mass celebrated for one's intentions, or apparently for the healing of any possible bondages afflicting the body, mind or spirit of any family members, living or dead (and also for the prevention of disorders in future family members who do not yet even exist). 

Below a paragraph taken from an article on the practice of Generational Healing...: http://www.catholicdoors.com/isit/isit12.htm

"Generational Healing" promotes the belief that there is a necessity to heal the family tree based on the alleged "too many cases" where recurring problems such as divorce, alcoholism, financial problems, accidents, run in families. When a person dies, it is believed that his/her spirits who caused such problems or natural spiritual tendencies or inclinations are passed on to the descendants. In other words, it is believed that children are adversely affected by the sins of their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, who were also affected by the sins of their ancestors.

Yet in Scripture we have the following passage from Ezekiel:

Ezekiel 18:20 The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him.

There is nothing in Catholic teachings to support
"Generational Healing."

In 2007, the Korean Bishops issued a statement on this practice of the Healing of Generations or Family Tree.

Healing the "family tree", or "generational healing" spread from the United states to Korea. The Korean bishops express deep concerns that some Catholics have deviated from Church teaching and issue a pastoral directive against it.  They said it arises from an incorrect interpretation of the doctrine of original sin and an incorrect view of the world to come, adding that these errors are combined with shamanism.

Bishop Choi explains that "family-tree healing is a mixture of traditional Church teaching" on the souls of the dead and Oriental religious worldviews. "The belief that people inherit their ancestors' sins is not part of the Catholic faith," he stresses.

He points out that sins belong solely to the individual and cannot be inherited. Furthermore, Baptism frees all Catholics from their past sins, even original sin, he points out.

In his directive, the prelate prohibits meetings where erroneous "family-tree healing" beliefs are propagated.

http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=25913 summary of the above document originally came from, http://www.ucanews.com/

Fr Peter Joseph has a doctorate in theology from the Gregorian University. He lectured in dogma at Vianney College, the diocesan seminary of Wagga Wagga, Australia, where he served as vice-rector. He has taught Theology at the Catholic Institute of Sydney, and the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family in Melbourne. He is at St Dominics at Flemington, Sydney.
He wrote the following in relation to the practice of Generational healing...

In the Catholic schema of things, we need to remember that sin is the greatest of all evils. God has not promised to heal us or release us from all ills in this life, but He has promised absolutely to forgive our sins if we repent.

The belief in ancestral or generational curses, etc, is a perversion of the Catholic doctrine of Original Sin, which suffices to explain the evils and imperfections in this world.


The remedy is baptismal regeneration and the life of Grace, not special exorcisms and healing rites, etc.  If people make a good confession of the past, make reparation for their sins, keep the Commandments, receive the Sacraments regularly, and avoid the occult and superstitions, and so on, then they can be certain that any afflictions are not by reason of some occult cause.  

Some Catholics claiming to expel the influence of troublesome ancestors are really just misled by New Age influences, which play upon desperate people's sensitivities and susceptibilities. It is typical of the new agers to teach others to look elsewhere than themselves for the source of their problems. This is a big problem in today's world, namely refusing to take responsibility for our own choices and decisions. So some seek to blame their parents, or ancestors, or evil spirits, or a curse that was placed upon them.  It is also extremely imprudent to tell people afflicted with fears that their problems are caused by demons or ancestors binding them. Such explanations are only calculated to make them worse.

What they do need is formation in the virtues of fortitude and trust in God.  We all know that in certain families there is a bigger tendency to alcoholism or gambling or reckless daring or other vices or whatever. But we also know that within a single family there are some siblings who are like chalk and cheese. Our basic temperament may be a given, but our character, which is what we do with it, is up to us. If we co-operate with the grace of God, we can overcome temptation, unhealthy proclivities and bad example. We can acquire new virtues. From sinful parents, God can and does produce saints! Only mindless determinism tries to lock people into a box for the rest of their lives.

There is a book by an Italian theologian, Father Renzo Lavatori, on  demonology from the Fathers of the Church. In that thorough book, and in other learned tomes on the teachings of the Fathers, you will not find a single Father of the Church who taught anything about evil spirits following your ancestral line, or healing your family tree by identifying the ancestor who is holding you bound.


I would go further and say that no Father, no Doctor of the Church, no Saint, no Pope, no Council ever taught or even implied any such thing. It is a pure fiction without foundation in Sacred Scripture or Sacred Tradition. There is not a word on the subject in the 688 pages of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It is a mythical notion imported from sects outside the Church.
 ref: http://www.ad2000.com.au/articles/2003/feb2003p12_1239.html

Robert Stackpole, STD, is director of the John Paul II Institute of Divine Mercy. His latest book is Divine Mercy: A Guide from Genesis to Benedict XVI (Marian Press).  He says the following on this practice.  He writes .......

I think God does not hold children, or present generations, morally responsible for the sins of their parents and ancestors. This is clearly laid out in Holy Scripture when the Israelites were blaming their troubles on the sins of their forefathers (see Jer 23:5-6). In the book of the prophet Ezekiel, chapter 18, verses 1-4, we read:   "The Word of the Lord came to me again: "What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, 'The Fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?' As I live, says the Lord God, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: that soul that sins shall die."

So, despite the ancient temptation to blame our ancestors for our sins and misfortunes, we are each morally responsible for our own sins in the eyes of God. Indeed, we need to look into our own hearts and ask the Holy Spirit to help us repent so that we can find forgiveness and spiritual healing. God is surely not so unjust as to force children (including infants, who have not attained the age of reason and therefore have not committed any voluntary sins of their own) to "pay" in justice for the sins of others.

Jesus Christ merited on the cross the forgiveness and sanctification of the whole world, but when people fail to fully receive that gift from Him, through repentance and faith — i.e., if their contrition for sin and love for God was "half-hearted" in this life — then they remain in partial moral debt to God (still owing, in theological jargon, "the temporal punishment for sin").

So by the grace and merits of Christ we can obtain further graces of contrition for them, and help relieve that moral debt. If this is what the offering of "Family Tree" Masses and "Generational" Masses means, then I see nothing but good in it. It is just another way of praying for the dead.   But if people think that they are thereby magically warding off the evil effects on their lives of the sins of their ancestors (effects such as I have described above), or "paying" for their ancestors' sins in ritual ways so that God will not make them "pay" for their ancestors' sins in real life, then I am afraid they are afflicted by superstition and a false view of God's justice. He does not force anyone to pay for the sins of anyone else, and in most cases, the ill effects of the evils of past generations on us today are best dealt with by Christian counseling and healing prayer.

Thus, the mercy of God can both pardon and heal the sinful hearts of our faithful departed ancestors, and heal us of the ill effects of any of their sins that we suffer from today. That is definitely part of what our Lord meant when He said to St. Faustina: "My Mercy is greater than your sins, and those of the entire world" (Diary of St. Faustina, 1485).

Ref:  http://thedivinemercy.org/news/story.php?NID=3642

Former Anglican, now Catholic Priest serving in the Diocese of Charleston Fr. Dwight Longenecker writes the following on his blog...this is just a section of his article which can be located on the link below.

Posted by Fr Longenecker at Tuesday, November 03, 2009 http://gkupsidedown.blogspot.com/2009/11/healing-family-tree.html

Healing the Family Tree

The fact remains that we, as Catholics, follow in the ancient tradition of the church and the Hebrew religion before us, in celebrating the sacrifice of Christ on behalf of our dead. We believe this does them good spiritually, but we often overlook the benefits to the living. A proper funeral and requiem Mass ritually cuts the bonds between the dead person and the living. It frees the living from the negative bonds that may exist and allows the dead person to rest in peace. It also, if you like, allows the living person to exist in peace.

If Catholics simply practiced our age old tradition of having masses offered for the dead, for years' anniversaries to be observed and for requiems to be offered regularly--especially when there has been a traumatic death, an unresolved family trauma or an unresolved death, then the dead would rest in Christ's peace and the living family members would find resolution of many of their illnesses, mental problems, family 'curses' and continued inherited spiritual and psychic diseases.
It would be a natural part of our life together rather than a stupendous and 'amazing' ministry of healing. Why not use the month of November to continue to pray and offer Masses for your beloved dead? It can't do anyone any harm, and it is likely to bring about much good that you cannot now imagine.