Today, I would like to address a topic of growing concern within our Catholic homes: family constellations. What at first glance may seem like a harmless therapeutic technique carries multiple risks that affect the faith, doctrine, and spiritual life of many.

So-called family constellations are a pseudo-therapy created by Bert Hellinger, a former German priest who, after leaving the Church, combined ideas from psychoanalysis, shamanism, and Eastern beliefs about “family system energies.” The theory proposes that many of our current ills originate in family disorders from past generations, which can supposedly be “healed” through theatrical performances, symbolic phrases, and group rituals.

But if this were truly effective and true, why did Christ, his apostles, or any authentic saint never teach it?

This practice has gained ground among some Catholics for three main reasons:

1. Because it touches real wounds: We all carry difficult stories—abandonment, loss, abuse—and we want to heal them.
2. Because it provokes intense emotions: The experience may be strong, but emotional is not the same as spiritual.
3. Because he uses language that seems Christian: He speaks of reconciliation, of honoring parents, of healing the lineage… but outside of Christ.

The major underlying problem is that this method is based on an anthropology that denies revealed truth. It focuses on “invisible energies” and “loyalties” instead of sin, grace, freedom, and the power of confession. It ignores original sin, which is a revealed truth and explains the moral disorder we carry within us from childhood.

It displaces personal responsibility and proposes a determinism disguised as therapy: “Since this happened to my great-grandfather, I’m already marked.” It doesn’t seek conversion, repentance, or Christ’s forgiveness. The sacrament is replaced by theatrical performances that often border on occult practices.

The great exorcists warn: these techniques can open doors to undue spiritual influences. They distance us from confession, from Mass, from the Gospel, from true conversion of heart. Today, many say, “I no longer confess, I do Reiki; I no longer go to Mass, I do constellations.” But where is Christ in that? Where is the redemptive power of the Cross?

The Catholic faith doesn’t need these methods because it has more than enough light in revelation. Healing of the soul doesn’t come from symbolic phrases addressed to a dead grandfather, but from a new life in Christ, with humility, forgiveness, and total surrender to his grace.

You want proof of original sin? You. Me. Everyone. We carry it inside. That’s why we need Christ, not constellations.

And if you still have doubts, ask yourself: Did the saints rely on these practices? The Curé of Ars, Padre Pio, Mother Teresa, Saint John Paul II, Saint Ignatius… Did they need family constellations? No. They relied on the sacraments, on prayer, on the truth revealed by God.

Don’t be confused. Return to the sources. To the Eucharist, to confession, to the Word of God. Not to modern practices wrapped in esotericism and emotionalism. The Church Christ founded is universal, catholic. It was not created by a former priest like Luther or by Bert Hellinger.

True healing is in the Blood of Christ. Not in invoking ancestors, but in confessing sins, forgiving from the heart, and allowing Christ to reign completely in your life.

Share it with those who need it. It’s not a question of fighting, but of enlightening. As Saint Albert Hurtado said:  “Let us do all the good we can“.

May God bless you always.