Is Father Ralph Diorio legit?

Catholic Living Spirituality
#1

If this is in the wrong section I apologize. It is a sort of odd topic so I wasn’t sure, but felt it fit better here than in the “back fence” section.

I recently heard about a priest who claims to have the gift of healing. His name is Father Ralph Diorio. He has apparently been practicing a healing ministry for a number of years now and is supposed to have approval for all of this from the Church. However, the only information I can find on him is on his own website and also a thread on CAF from several years ago (which, while interesting, didn’t contain much information).

I was wondering if anyone here has ever met/been healed by Father Diorio or knows anything about him? Is he legitimate, or is he a fraud?

I consider myself someone with strong faith and I do not doubt God’s ability to heal people through his servants, but I also have a natural skepticism that makes me reluctant to believe anyone’s claims to miracles, etc. unless I can see some decent evidence.

I wouldn’t much concern myself with asking about this priest, but my grandmother has COPD and her doctors only give her 5 years to live at the most. Right now she’s considering being put on a list to have a risky double lung transplant in the hopes that perhaps her health may be improved and life extended. I worry about the risk of complications for her though.

I know most people who have had healing abilities in the past can’t heal every person they come into contact with for various reasons, so I’m not looking for a personal guarantee that anyone who sees this priest will walk away feeling like a million bucks. But if this man can even help improve her health a little bit then it would be worth driving my grandma the 6 to 8 hours to see this priest.

I would greatly appreciate any information, positive or negative, you may be able to give me regarding Father Diorio. Thanks.

#2

I went to one of his healing services back in the early 1980’s. It was charismatic, but rather low-keyed and very prayerful. I don’t know if anyone was healed or not. He moved through the church and laid hands on people, he also laid hands on them when they came to be prayed over in the front of the church. I believe he is legitimate, he is not a sensationalist. My friend had a very powerful and life-changing conversion experience at the service when he touched her, like the Holy Spirit filling her up, and after almost 30 years she still remains a strong, faithful Catholic.

He has been around a long time having these services, since the late 70’s, I believe, and I have really never heard anything negative about him. It might be worth the trip if your Grandma can tolerate it. That sounds like a long trip for someone with end-stage COPD, though. Have you checked his itinerary to see if he will be coming somewhere nearer to you?

#3

Well … I know nothing about him apart from the internet, but an article I found online had this to say, emphasis mine:“In the face of criticism, DiOrio can be both conciliatory and unswerving. “What I do is in no way a replacement for the medical profession,” he concedes. “In fact, I insist that all those who come to see me remain under the care of their physicians. But you’ve got to remember that no doctor is a healer. He makes diagnoses; he performs surgery. The healing belongs to God.” As for doubters, DiOrio bluntly declares, "Whether church officials of any denomination accept us or not, we’re here to stay. That’s God’s plan, not mine."”
For me that’s a red flag.

#4

I have never been to any of his healing ministries, but I have heard two people give testimonies of their physical and spiritual healings, and I believe that they sincerely expressed what happened to them in a very moving way.

Going to a healing service is not a guarantee of healing for every individuual there. It is also important to realize that sometimes God says “no” .

The most important healings are spiritual healings.

#5

I went to a healing mass of his about 10 years ago and can tell you that the whole experience left me with an uneasy feeling. It felt like I was at a Protestant revival. When the time came for Fr. D´iorio to start healing people with the most extreme cases I was quite dismayed when it came time for a woman who could not hear to come up to him for a healing. He kept asking her over and over ¨Can you hear yet? Can you hear yet?" as if what he was doing to her guaranteed that she was going to be healed.

It’s not up to Fr. D’iorio to force God’s will as to whether or not someone is to be healed. And his approach in how he healed people truly turned me off.

When the time came towards the end of the service for people to go up to him and kiss the feet of the crucifix he was holding I remember that when it came to my turn that the look he gave me completely creeped me out and I sensed something not good about him. I think that this was the way the Holy Spirit was communicating to me that the healings Fr. D’iorio was doing was not of God.

I know people will say this I am going by pure feelings but if an experience leaves you not feeling spiritually edified by it and the Holy Spirit makes you sense that something is not of God then I wouldn’t dismiss it.

God bless

#6

I’m not a Catholic charismatic, but I have friends who are. I’ll have to admit that in listening to them, observing them, listening to their tapes from DiOrio and others and attending Charismatic Masses (a few) there is both a sort of admiration and a sort of creepiness one comes away with from it all. I don’t so much feel odd about the healing prayers or their emphasis on giving praise, but the speaking in tongues leaves me pretty cold.

But any Charismatics I know are very devout people; very orthodox, very charitable. At least among the ones I know, none claim to have “healing powers”, and I have never heard any of them say any of their members, including Diorio do (though some might). They believe in the power of prayer very intensely, but they will also readily say sometimes the answer to prayer is “no”. I have never had the impression that they think there’s anything remotely approaching “magic” to it. I have seen ordinary Charismatic lay people “lay hands” on sick people, but my impression is that’s just a signification of very intense prayer, which they do.

That contrasts very favorably with the beliefs of some Protestant Evangelicals I know whose beliefs about it really do cross over into a 'belief in magic" in my opinion.

Now, I don’t know this DiOrio, have never met him or even seen him. If he has gone off the rails, I couldn’t say.

#7

Thank you all for your responses. It seems there is a decent mix of positive, negative, and indifferent views about Father Diorio. While I’m not surprised by this, I must say it has left me just as undecided about this priest as I was to begin with. :hmmm:

I think part of my problem is very superficial of me, but I just can’t seem to get past the way Father Diorio behaves during his healing services and the way others are acting as well. I’ve watched a few videos online and all the ones that take place during his services just weird me out. But then he seems perfectly normal when I watch any videos of him just talking with an interviewer, etc. I know that the charismatic movement isn’t bad and that the people in it for the most part are true and devout Catholics, but I guess I’m too reserved to feel comfortable in that environment.

One video I saw really concerned me, since Father Diorio closed his eyes and started telling the people present that he could see four women and described what the women were wearing (vaguely like some TV psychic does). He then insisted that these four women all had breast cancer and asked them to touch their breasts and feel that the tumors they had were getting smaller and being healed. It was a little creepy.

But again, there does seem to be many testimonials to his authenticity. Also, from what I can tell so far, he doesn’t seem to be trying to become famous or rich through these healings. Nor have I found any official Church documents that denounce or even warn him regarding any of his behavior.

Anyway, I thank everyone again for their feedback and I welcome others to put in their :twocents: as well. For now I’m not going to mention this priest to my grandmother at all. I want to feel much more sure about him before I were to even bring up the notion of possibly taking her to go see him if she decided she wanted to.

#8

My :twocents: …

Father DiOrio is from our local area. My memory may not be completely accurate, but there were some questionable aspects to his ministry that was filled with controversy. I first heard about him way back in the 70’s, when the ‘Charismatic movement’ in the Church was one of the newest popular innovations following Vat II. I remember that there was some controversy surrounding him because of his methods, and also his very arrogant attitude toward people that dared to question his ‘gifts’. If I remember correctly, he even refused to submit to a Church investigation regarding his ‘healing services’. There was also some talk of his taking ‘donations’ from followers that were used to support his rather extravagant lifestyle at the time (always a red flag).

I also agree with the poster above that said they did not feel comfortable at one of his healing services. I had the same reaction to him when I went to one, back then. I would definitely proceed with caution and skepticism about him, at least.

#9

:sad_yes:

#10

I know of Father DiOrio. If I’m not mistaken, he was a member of an Italian religious congregation, the Missionary Society of St. Charles Borromeo (also known as the Scalabrinians, after their founder Blessed John Baptist Scalabrini), and he served in an Italian parish in my hometown that the Society was located, before he left them and became a diocesan priest.

I’ve never been to any of his ‘healing services’, but I know people who have and who promote them heavily. In fact, he did one in the Syracuse area just last week.

I’m not overly fond of such things-I like the term that Mother Angelica used in the biography written by Raymond Arroyo, ‘a disease called ‘healingitis’.’ Sometimes people have to suffer, and they should learn to offer them in union with Our Lord on the Cross. Sufferings can help save sinners.

#11

There’s a priest that travels in the Chicago area that has “healing Masses” at random parishes on occasion.

I went to one, and I also felt uneasy through the entire 2-hour long Mass and “healing.” People were falling down once they had lined up to hold the priests’ hands. How many actually were feeling Grace, I couldn’t say.

Just the tongues, the random singing, people falling, etc. just left me feeling odd. We had gone with a Charismatic relative, but my father and I both were a little suspicious of the priest when talking afterward.

It could very well be that both priests here have special graces. I just prayed the entire time for all those around me and that there were no other “spirits” involved. A lot of the reactions I saw were most likely emotional releases; a climax to the anticipation of encountering the priest and being “healed.”

Are these Masses and priests truly allowed by the Church?

#12

Unfortunately, they are. They’ve been doing this sort of thing since the 70’s. I had the same reservations as you did when going to one of those services. At that time, I was looking for something more spiritually tangible (even from outside the Church), so I had also been to a Pentecostal church service that seemed to be the same sort of thing as Father DiOrio’s. People were spontaneously yelling in complete gibberish, crying, screaming, falling over when the ‘minister’ touched them, and other strange things that I had never seen or heard before. All of that stuff made me feel very uneasy.

When he (Fr. D) touched me, I experienced a very strange energy go through me, that made me feel like I was no longer in control of my own body. It was not what I would call a ‘good’ feeling at all. The whole service was not what I would call reverent in the least, nor did it make me feel very peaceful. I left both of those types of services feeling extremely agitated, with nothing like the feelings of peace and love that I usually got from Mass. Needless to say, I never went back, but it did give me all the more reason to go back to Mass and stop looking for a more ‘novel’ approach to spirituality. It actually scared the hell out of me… literally.

#13

Yes, I just saw that video myself (youtube.com/watch?v=OiHFSdLGwa0).

DiOrio is playing the same game the fake psychics play. As he announces the secret message he’s getting, notice first he says four girls, not women; notice one dress he describes as “blue or white”, another “red or orange”, and he can’t decide if it’s a sweater or not. In the end only one of those four is even in the audience, her dress is a plaid of blues and greens, her ailment had to do with her shins and her back, not her breasts, and she is no girl. Wrong on all counts.

Oh I’m sure someone will point out that a woman can be called a girl or that DiOrio’s “blue or white” corresponds to her plaid dress which is mostly blue after all and seems to have a little white in it, but come on, that is not what he said, and that is not what he meant. And in a crowd that size, there is an almost 100% chance there will be a lumpy breast somewhere in the house.

Another way to know he’s a fake is to compare his secret messages with scripture. When God arranged the meeting between Saul-Paul and Ananias, Ananias was given the name of the street, the name of the house, and the name of Saul, and Saul was given the name of Ananias, with decisive clarity all around. Not “A man, name starting with an A, or a C, Chris maybe, or John…”, etc. like the talk-show psychics. When Jesus told his disciples to go into town to set up for the Last Supper, he told them to look for a man carrying a pitcher, not a man carrying something with a handle, or maybe a rake.

DiOrio’s sloppy, ambiguous grandstanding is par for the course among faith-healing charlatans. Consequently I think he is a fake, testimonials or not. Transubstantiation, however, takes place in his hands, so he’s still a miracleworker :smiley:

#14

I’m not surprised. In another video (youtube.com/watch?v=1Qm8XrnFGpQ) he says “I can no longer pray over people individually”, and I think it means his ordinary barred him from carrying out certain practices.

#15

Hi im new to this entire forum and this is one of the first few posts ive came to since joining, so please dont exclude my comment strictly based on my new status…but i have to throw my opinion into the mix. let me start by sayin im NOTHING and in NO way to do with fr. Ralphs church or ministry. but i was blessed last spring with an oppurtunity to travel on a 10 day pilgrimage to paris and lourdes. My mom and sister were goin so i thought ok why not?
unknown to me ,the main priest and spiritual director of this group was fr. Ralph (fr.diorio) i didnt know what to expect. im 26 , currently content and healthy in most aspects of my life so I wasnt sure what my experience would be but i was open to the oppurtunity. I am 100% a skeptic, i cant help, i have faith but my flesh makes me question certain things (like healings) , i guess i should re-phrase and say i WAS a skeptic.
While on this pilgrimage fr.ralph was with us breakfast lunch dinner , bus rides, trains, planes, 90% of the time all day each day, he preformed daily mass at several AMAZING churches, chapels and cathedrals. one was the shrine of the miraculous medal in paris and also once at the church of sacre couer and the chapel at the grotto (just to name a few) the catholic church gave him complete clearence to these churches and altars. This is not something i assume they do lightly since these churches are also very historic and some are almost even touristy-like , althought reverant and beautiful. he also said mass in the st. Therese shrine in liseux,france and also at the convent in nevers over st.bernadettes incorrupt body (completely amazing!)
so in my experience with him it was completely LIFE changing, he held mass each day and also did prayer services, healing services, etc in other timeframes.
I can tell you 100% and you can believe what im saying or not, i watched with my own 2 eyes a club footed womans leg GROW, again i do not blame you one bit if you dont believe me , i probably wouldnt believe it completely myself if i hadnt seen it with my own eyes, and even after seeing i still think ok r u sure you seen it?? IM SURE !. She was about 3 feet from me and this was a small room with only about 25 ppl at this private service. NO one was obstructing my view and i didnt take my eyes off of her legs and feet. her shorter clubbed leg Grew about 2-3 inches, believe this or not is up to you but since i seen i am a true believer and no one could change my mind now. After this service i said father you said “you” have no actual power the only power u have is when god n the holy spirit gives it to u for u to use to heal others , n u cant heal anyone unless god chooses them to be healed and fr. i do believe in your healing gift because i just witnessed it but why would god use you if he coud have just healed her hisself , and he said to give the rest of you more faith! …he said how much more faith do you have now than you did before you witnessed it? …every time he said or spoke about anything he always said “do it only if it brings you closer to god the father n son”

I could actually tell you and speak of the feelings n life changing stories all day long, and i could tell you of my own personal renewal (thru him) and thru lourdes ! If youd like to pm me i will rave on all day :slight_smile: … i dont blame anyone that felt his services were over the top or the ppl over come with the spirit “falling on the floor” i witnessed one man from the street attend our private mass (it wasnt closed door private just designated for our group) but anyone could come and he couldnt even speak english and when he went to receive communion he collapsed on his knees and then almost coma-esque or in a trance someone else from communion line actually stepped on his fingers (again i witnessed this with my own eyes) and this man didnt flinch or move a muscle he remained in this transfixed state in the holy spirit. I do not think thats something you can fake, i was one pew behind where he fell and anyone would have at least flinched but his stare was straight and fixed. these storys are endless and maybe witnessing it first hand with such an intimate group of only about 30 of us gave me a better inside grasp on this then i would have got to see at a service of 500+ ppl or maybe not , but i know what i saw! And if its some “other spirit” healing these ppl then hes doing a really good job of “only if it brings you closer to god the father and the son” and creating amazing faith thru these healings.

My last and final thing (sorry for such a long post) fr. Diorio is being considered for saint hood. Im not sure what of this is public or not but I do know the catholic church, bishops and other people that direct that part of the church have documented SEVERAL of his miracles and they have been medically documented as a healing. He has all the healings and miracles accredited to him thru the catholic church that he needs (while still alive) to be considered for saint good. he needs 2 miracles accredited to him after he dies for the ball to really get rolling, he is 81 right now so i guess soon
we will see in time!

#16

Sorry i also wanted to add The Apostolate for Divine Mercy and Healing has the approval of the Bishop of Worcester, Massachusetts, and, Father DiOrio also received approval from the late John Paul II and recently, Pope Benedict XVI.

Again i apologize for such a long post, i know every person in the church has had doubters at least one time in their “natural” or fleshly lifes. I hate that their are fakes that cause doubt upon ones that could be real. i hope and wish the best for you and your Grandmother

#17

I’m a new member here, but just saw these posts asking about Fr. Diorio. He most certainly is legit–a very spirit-filled priest. I have attended several of his healing Masses. And, surprisingly, my back was healed–I went for someone else and 2 days later realized my back pain was gone–that was 30 years ago. I also saw Fr. Diorio pray over a little boy with leg bone cancer–and the boy was healed. I found out some time later. Also–his healing was confirmed by Rome and used for the canonization process of a saint. If you ever have the opportunity to hear him, attend one of his healing Masses–his teachings are inspiring.

#18

I’ve met Father Diorio a few times before and he’s definitely legit. I’ve never felt anything when I attended the Healing Masses but then again, I’ve never feel anything when I attend Mass in general.

There’s nothing false about him and I’ve never felt creeped out. He’s truly sincere and devoted to the Faith. He has met Bl. John Paul II and received approval from him. And if I’m correct, our Holy Father also approves of him.

So no, he’s *not *a fake.

#19

I attended several of Fr Diorio’s healing services, when he first began at a parish in Massachusetts. I saw a five year old girl healed of cerebral palsy who later, unbeknown to me until she revealed who she was, was a 16 year old student of mine.

Fr Driorio received approval from the Bishop of Worcester Dioceses and Pope John Paul II.

He has brought many people into or back to the Church.

Thankfully, my friend who had not been living a good life, when he discovered he had terminal cancer, went to Fr Diorio’s services. My friend repented in confession and worked for Fr Diorio’s ministry, until the cancer finally took his life.

Fr Diorio, is legit, have no doubt about it.

BTW, his first name is Ralph, and he was named after the angel Ralphael, which means God’s healer.

Jim

#20

My experience with father Ralph Diorio were outside the church. he was an art lover and customer of mine. While a Christian and being of Italian heritage,Father Ralph and I understood each other. I have not seen or communicated with him since the early nineties,but have fond memories of the man and the help…solicited and unsolicited that he freely gave to me. I am thrilled to see his website and schedule and look forward to getting in touch with him soon.