Hope for healing: the mobilization of interest in three types of religious healing in the Netherlands since 1850

The author examines the development of the popularity of religious healing in the Netherlands since 1850 and the factors that contribute to its continuation. He focuses upon three traditions: devotional healing in Roman Catholicism, charismatic healing in Pentecostalism and paranormal healing in western esotericism. From 1850 to about 1965, interest in making a pilgrimage to holy places of healing showed a strong increase, while the number of participants in faith-healing and esoteric healing remained small. Since then, this situation has been completely reversed. Starting from a mobilization approach, the author shows that this development is linked to contextual (market and demand) factors and institutional (organization and supply) factors. It is argued that the continuation of religious healing practices challenges established religious as well as medical institutions to approach patients more integrally as whole persons.