By Julia Seward
Culture and Media Institute
July 16, 2008

A self-styled Siberian messiah who claims to be Jesus Christ in the flesh.  A Florida ex-con who claims to possess divine healing powers.  And, sandwiched in the middle, an account about the healings at Lourdes, focusing as much on seedy gift shops as miracles.

Since the beginning of June Nightline has broadcast three episodes in its occasional “Faith Matters” series, and each episode appears designed to make religious faith seem ridiculous, at least to a secular mind. 

Two of the “Faith Matters” stories have focused on cultlike groups of religious people who follow men who make implausible claims.  The third story is a skeptical take on one of the most revered Catholic shrines.

On June 23, ABC News correspondent Clarissa Ward told about her journey to a remote area in Siberia to report on a community of about 5,000 people who follow a man named Vissarion, which means “he who gives new life.”  Vissarion claims to be Jesus Christ who has returned for his Second Coming.

Ward emphasized Vissarion’s self-glorification, reporting that portraits of the self-proclaimed messiah cover the walls of the community.  “Christmas here has been abolished and replaced by a new celebration on Vissarion’s birthday.  The biggest holiday of the year takes place on August 18^th, the anniversary of the teacher’s first sermon.  And a new calendar has been introduced, which dates from the year of his birth, making this year 48.”

In addition, she reported on the group’s radical take on illness and medicine: “The group eschews modern medicine, relying instead on holistic remedies.  One of the teacher’s 60 commandments declares, ‘In most cases, illness is punishment for an inability to keep one’s flesh in harmony with nature.’  In the 1990s, there were reports that some of his followers died after refusing medical attention.”

On July 9, Nightline correspondent Jeffrey Kofman reported on Todd Bentley, a tattooed, body-pierced preacher in Lakeland, Florida who claims to have miraculous healings powers.

Bentley is a felon, convicted of sexual assault, breaking into cars, and stealing.  He also used drugs, but now he claims to be born again and gifted with miraculous powers of healing.

Kofman showed copies of written testimonies, provided by the ministry, of people who claimed to have been healed by Bentley.  However, the ministry had removed contact information and blacked out doctors’ names.  According to Kofman, “not a single miracle claim of Bentley’s could be verified.”

Kofman continued by reporting that Bentley asked for offerings at every tent meeting.  As Kofman put it, “Before the long night is over, there is a blunt appeal for cash.”  According to Kofman, “Bentley told us that tens of thousands of dollars he collected each night are needed to cover his increasingly large staff and their outreach around the world.”

On July 1, correspondent Nick Watt reported on his trip to Lourdes, France, a location where a French girl reported seeing an apparition of the Virgin Mary, and where people reportedly have been healed miraculously.  Watt (see story on Watt’s contemptuous treatment of Roman Catholicism in a conflict between the church and Hollywood) accompanied a pilgrimage underwritten by a Dutch insurance company.  

Watt maintained a skeptical tone throughout, describing one man as “allegedly cured of multiple sclerosis” and saying a woman “claims” she was healed of bone cancer.  He devoted much of his report to financial matters, describing the Dutch company’s “apparent altruism” while suggesting the company hoped to save money on insurance claims.  He also described the bustling tourist industry at Lourdes, with “countless gift shops” sporting shelves filled with “stacks of Virgin Marys”

To his credit, Watt interviewed Father Martin Moran, identified as the chaplain of the Sanctuary of Lourdes, who believes healings have occurred.  Father Moran said, “To date, there’s only been 67, although people would say unofficially there have been far, far more than that.”

Julia Seward is an intern at the Culture and Media Institute, a division of the Media Research Center.