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| Prayer Before Meal (Public Domain) |
This past Sunday, Pope Francis led a "Holy Hour" in which "participants prayed at the same time around the globe" for those who are criminally victimized and economically
oppressed.
Roman Catholics were asked to join Francis in praying not only for these two groups, but also for the "1.2 billion member Church itself" (that it be "without stain or blemish"). This latter prayer most likely alluded to issues (such as pedophilia) that have rocked the Church within recent times.
Although Reuters reported that this "prayathon" was the first of its kind in Vatican history, group prayer for a common goal is far from new. The question is: Have
group prayers such as these been shown to be effective?
Wikipedia explains that in 1872, Francis Galton set out to answer that very question. Because thousands had been praying for the wellbeing of the British royal family every Sunday, Galton checked to see whether longevity within that family was any greater than in most other families. Lo and behold, it was not.
Does this mean that the prayers had been ineffective?
Not necessarily…
Perhaps "wellbeing" in God's eyes is quite different from what humans perceive it to be. However, the Galton experiment did do one thing: whet the public's appetite for further inquiry along these lines.
Further studies have had varying results. Ones indicating that group prayer was effective within specific situations have been challenged methodologically – as have ones indicating just the opposite. As in most things religious – it might just come down to a matter of faith…
Resources
http://news.yahoo.com/pope-leads-catholics-first-worldwide-holy-hour-153935502.html?.tsrc=lgwn
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer
Copyright June 3, 2013 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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