Classification Roman Catholic | Leader Yvonne Trubert | |
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Region France, Europe, America, Africa, China Official website www.ivi-international.org/ | ||
Invitation to Life (often known as IVI) is a new religious movement with Catholic background, founded in Paris in 1983 by Yvonne Trubert. It defines itself as a "christic" movement and focuses on miraculous recoveries performed by Christ, but it is not recognized by the Catholic Church. Memberships reached a peak of 7,000 in late 1980s, but are currently on the decline, although the group is present in many European, American and African countries. The religious group was listed as a cult by in the 1995 and 1999 parliamentary reports in France, and also appeared in the list of groups examined by the Parliamentary Inquiry Commission in Belgium. It main criticism is related to its promises of miraculous healings, often considered as harmful for followers' health. Most of sociologists and researchers on new religious movements do not share this opinion (e.g. Régis Dericquebourg deemed the group as a "movement of spiritual regeneration").