The universalization of spirituality as a health condition

For seven years, I have followed a growing and curious network that brings together the World Health Organization, neuroscientists, MRI machines, clinical protocols, and public policies. From this heterogeneous set of actors, documents, and machines, I have identified a common commitment: to affirm that religion and spirituality have an impact on human health. This presentation, based on a dialogue with the literature of social sciences, deals with the process of emergence and consolidation of the relevance of spirituality in the medical field. The questions arising from this phenomenon are broad and consequential both for thinking about health policies and for the debate carried out by researchers of religion. After all, it is worth provoking: if the main global health management body, the WHO, legitimizes the understanding that humans are invariably spiritual beings and medical-scientific research affirms that spirituality is a determining factor for health, I ask: should the State be responsible for providing care for the spirit? Or, even, would neglecting spirituality not, ultimately, be a neglect of public health? Furthermore, how can the State operationalize the provision of care with the spiritual dimension without violating principles such as secularism and religious freedom?

Rodrigo TONIOL is a Professor at the Department of Cultural Anthropology and the Graduate Program in Anthropology and Sociology (PPGSA) at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Coordinator of PASSAGENS research group. CNPq researcher. Member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences.

Conférence organisée par le GRIAL et le LAAP

Caroline SAPPIA, Rédactrice en chef, Social Compass
Thibault FONTANARI, Rédacteur en chef adjoint, Social Compass
Olivier SERVAIS, Directeur, Social Compass