Praying for his patients

Switzerland sniffs and coughs. While many keep their heads above water with powders and medicines, some rely on spiritual help. For example, in French-speaking Switzerland, healers who need to help from afar with a secret prayer are called faiseurs de secret. It’s free because according to tradition they are not allowed to charge.

SonntagsBlick has asked more than 30 secret questions. Most reports: phone lines are getting hot – they currently receive up to 40 calls a day. “Since the pandemic, many elderly people have come forward, fearing their future health and living in complete isolation,” says Freiburg-based healer Marie-Christine Vaucher.
Unlike the free churches that currently advertise en masse on the streets with promises of healing (SonntagsBlick reported), the “secret” (secret) is a piece of cultural heritage listed on the Unesco list of living Swiss traditions.

Short blessing formula with religious content

The “secret” can only be passed on on the basis of trust, and only the initiates know what it consists of. It is a short formula of blessing, possibly of a religious nature, intended to alleviate and heal various diseases and injuries.

Although the application is not based on any scientific explanation, it is permanent in all social and age groups in French-speaking Switzerland. According to the principle: It can’t hurt. Even hospitals do not object. The Friborg hospital, the Lausanne VD and the Hirslanden clinics in Geneva, and the oncology department of the intercantonal hospital in Payerne VD provide patients with telephone numbers of healers, sorted by the ailments they treat. Lausanne University Hospital CHUV confirms that prayer healers are available for special occasions and on a case-by-case basis.

As spokesperson Célia Clavien reports, Wallis Hospital in Sion goes one step further and supports the integration of different forms of care and medication: “This can be a good option, especially in Long Covid cases where science has reached its limits.” Assistant doctor Florence Sierro-Müller accompanies her patients with healing spells, if they wish, in addition to traditional medicine. “The secret” is mostly used in palliative care and, depending on the situation, in pain or burns. He also uses it privately: “My mother-in-law accidentally snatched a tin in the hot oven with her bare hands. He put his hand under cold water and called me—not even a blister the next day.”

The placebo effect as an explanation

Sierro-Müller says the “secret” is in no way inconsistent with his PhD. He emphasizes that traditional medicine does not have an answer to all questions, and recommends prayer and healing as a supplement, never a substitute for treatment: “Even if I pray to relieve the pain, if necessary, I give the patient morphine.”
Proponents of the “Secret” suspect that prayer reading reduces the patient’s stress level, activating positive chemical and hormonal mechanisms. One possible explanation is the placebo effect, which can be demonstrated in the case of pain.

However, this side of Röstigraben is separated. Philippe Luchsinger, President of the Swiss Association of General Practitioners and Pediatricians, says: “There are many different ways to combat health problems. Since there are no studies on these alternative methods, we cannot decide whether they do more harm or more benefit.”