Argentina: The Catholic Church distances itself from the activity of Leda Bergonzi

The Archbishopric of Rosario (Argentina) distanced itself from the “Breath of Living God” group, led by Leda Bergonzi, a woman with a reputation as a healer, whose activity the local Catholic Church had supported months ago.

He statementsigned by the Archbishop of Rosario, Mons. Eduardo Eliseo Martín, speaks about the Breath of God Living group “after a reasonable time of prayer, listening and discernment, having timely carried out the necessary consultations and having received the opinion of the team of priests who accompany this experience.”

Taking the words of Pope Francis in the apostolic exhortation The Joy of the Gospelthe prelate recalls that “the Bishop must always promote missionary communion in his diocesan Church following the ideal of the first Christian communities, where believers had one heart and one soul.”

In that sense, when referring to “Breath of Living God,” a group led by Leda Bergonzi, a 44-year-old laywoman whom the archbishopric attributed months ago to having a “charisma of healing,” and who weekly gathers crowds in Rosario and other points of the country, recognized that “in it there are positive signs and at the same time significant elements that need to be purified so that the work of God shines.”

Secondly, he clarified that “until progress is made in this process of purification and compliance with the timely indications given, any pastoral activity carried out in the name of the Catholic Church by the ‘Breath of the Living God’ group is prudently suspended.”

On the other hand, he blamed Leda Bergonzi and the group “Breath of Living God” for everything about their activities and shows, “even when on the occasion of them it is announced that the laying on of hands will be carried out, a gesture that the Church has always reserved for priests to perform.” the communication of the Holy Spirit”; as well as for the statements that Bergonzi and the group make to the media.

Mons. Martín assured that pastoral and spiritual accompaniment will continue to be offered to Leda Bergonzi, and to the rest of the group and its collaborators, so that they can “fully experience a necessary ecclesial dimension.”

Finally, he reminded the faithful who attend the meetings of the “Breath of Living God” group that they can receive the preaching of the Word of God, sacramental grace and priestly accompaniment in each of the parishes and ecclesial communities of the Archdiocese of Rosary.

It is the third time in the span of a year that the Archbishopric of Rosario has spoken about Leda Bergonzi, who has gained great popularity as a result of the massive meetings she leads in different parts of the country, from which testimonies of physical cures and healing are collected. spiritual.

In the first statement, dated September 26, 2023, the archbishopric clarified that “this religious phenomenon that has expanded in these months is a phenomenon that occurs within the Catholic Church,” with priestly accompaniment.

“The Church of Rosario, seeing the good fruits it produces in many people, accompanies this phenomenon to discern its depth and solidity,” Archbishop Martín said then, while recognizing in Bergonzi a “charisma of healing.”

“The Church of Rosario accompanies this event so that in an appropriate channel it produces many fruits, not only in healings, but through them, spiritual healings and other graces, people glorify God, begin or deepen a path of Christian life, especially in prayer and in the experience of the sacraments of Confession and the Eucharist,” he stated then.

Months later, the Archbishopric of Rosario issued a statement due to the repercussion of the statements made by the Rosario laywoman on a visit to Chile, about the origin of cancer, a disease that she attributed to the “lack of forgiveness.”

Given these statements, the local Church warned that the woman’s words about the origin of cancer “do not correspond to the teaching of the Church on this matter” and “are her exclusive responsibility.”