Catholic bishops say no to Reiki treatment

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Catholic Bishops said Thursday (March 26) that Catholic chaplains, health care facilities and retreat centers should not promote or support Reiki therapy, a Japanese alternative healing practice.

Reiki "finds no support either in the findings of natural science or in Christian belief," the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Doctrine said in six pages of guidelines.

"For a Catholic to believe in Reiki therapy presents insoluble problems," said the committee, which is chaired by Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, Conn.

http://ncronline.org/news/spirituality/catholic-bishops-say-no-reiki-treatment

And a couple of responses:

http://www.spiritualone.com/Online/May09/MayNL09.htm#R

http://reikidigest.blogspot.com/2009/03/breaking-news-blogger-outage.html

I would like to comment on this but everything comes out too rude, and i don't want to offend any who might be of this faith. Enough said.

science minded those Bishops are! :sarcasm: (condoms and HIV)

"has not been accepted by the scientific and medical communities as an effective therapy."

"A Catholic who puts his or her trust in Reiki would be operating in the realm of superstition," the bishops said, "the no-man's-land that is neither faith nor science."

AND, they never deal in superstition! more :sarcasm:

This doesn't surprise me because I realize other mainline fundamentalists would have issues with Reiki also.
I don't intend to offend anyone either, but I usually do the OPPOSITE of whatever the RCC recommends.
"By their fruit you will know them..."

I agree completely with this (from one of your response sites):

The Nature of Reiki Healing
One of the first things I noticed after I took my first Reiki class and began to practice Reiki is that Reiki healing energy directs itself. I was unable to direct it with my mind or will and realized this wasn’t necessary as Reiki had its own form of guidance that was superior to my own. This experience has been verified by other professional Reiki practitioners and forms the basis of one of the important keys to using Reiki: If you want Reiki to provide the best healing experience, it’s necessary for the practitioner to set their own desire, will and ego aside, and allow the Reiki energy to guide itself. (...)

I was in a healing circle once upon a, and one of the guys was a Huna healer. He became exhausted, said it took a lot out of him. Reiki doesn't do that. It also turns on by itself a lot when my cat is near me and almost every time another energy healer works on me. (My stomach always starts gurgling too. That even happened when my dad did reflexology on me one time, even though he wasn't trained.)

IT is a wonderful complimentary technique that has done me and people I know a lot of good :(

I don't think the Bishop has investigated this well but even if he had I suppose he would still denounce it.

Most Churches feel the same. In the nineties, I was invited to speak at a church after I had worked on one of the parishioners. I lent them some books on Reiki and never heard from them again. They not only canceled my visit, they kept my books and refused to acknowledge I had even given any to them.

http://www.spiritualone.com/Online/May09/MayNL09.htm#R Here is the link to the letter.

I am sure it is a threat to their power. Nothing they do is based on anything but maintaining their power base.

I have a "recovering Catholic" friend who has been helped tremendously by a Reiki practitioner; the lady once detected some problems and advised my friend to seek out another medical professional, which potentially saved her life. I am sure she will be amused by her former Churches stand, though not amazed.

But the bishops said "Reiki lacks scientific credibility" and "has not been accepted by the scientific and medical communities as an effective therapy."
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

"A Catholic who puts his or her trust in Reiki would be operating in the realm of superstition," the bishops said, "the no-man's-land that is neither faith nor science."
Again, I say :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Er, it wasn't so long ago that these people burned "witches" because the poor women knew how to heal with herbs--they once considered that the work of the devil. So pardon me while I :eyes: at official announcements by the Church.

And what is this?

The Japanese practice differs from Christian faith healing because "the healing power is at human disposal," the bishops said. In contrast, "for Christians the access to divine healing is by prayer to Christ as Lord and Savior."

That doesn't even make any sense! (Oh no that darned Catholicism's got MG wound up again!) I have NEVER understood the contradictory Catholic viewpoint (and I was raised Catholic) that although we are made in God's image (and therefore contain the divine), nothing about us could possibly be divine in origin (with God working through a healer, for instance). I mean, I understand they're big on humility, lose-the-ego and all that, but heck, most of religion's problems arise from the institutions insisting that we are separate from the God they refer to. Not to mention the fact that this statement appears to condone the big-haired healers on TV because they shout "CHEE-ZUS" before smacking someone on the forehead, yet reiki practitioners go about their work in a much less demonstrative way (and that's bad?)
:banghead:

And besides, they're wrong in assuming that reiki practitioners don't communicate with God first. When we learn reiki, we're taught that the healing is NOT coming from us, but we are merely a channel for the divine energy to reach the person who needs healing. If they'd only take a minute to learn about a subject before denouncing it, they'd get a lot further.

:rant:

Sigh. I always mean to be more respectful of Christianity, and then the political-entity-the-Church goes and says something stupid...

I have a (gay and out) friend who writes for the Catholic Review in DC and I forwarded him William Rand's response in case the paper wanted to cover it. Here's his response (which heartened me):



It's so much about fear and control, don't you think? If people start understanding the concept that the Divine is within them and there's no need to attend a service in order to communicate with God, who will go to church?? Who will contribute to their collection plates? While I don't attend mass (raised Catholic but left a long time ago), I am sure there are reasons to go for those who want to be in that sacred space. Fear shouldn't enter the picture (but what a powerful motivator it is!).

I'm glad William Rand put out that response. At the very least, it might bring someone to a healing modality they hadn't considered before.

to Rands statement. I wish I had read all of your links before I responded the first time! Sorry about that. :(

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

I so despise that "church." Sorry to practitioners for my offense. But, seriously, how does anyone deal with such blatant hypocrisy. :eyes:

And there are so many other platforms on which we agree with the Catholic Bishops... not! The bishops and really the entire leadership are anachronistic, obselete, irrelevant. As a former Catholic, I think the lay congregations would do well to break away from the patriarchal authority that cares for itself first before it cares for the people they supposedly protect and lead.

Sorry if there are any Catholics here - not meant toward the individuals but toward the leadership only.

So they punished Copernicus, but now they're the champions of science? The irony is just too delicious.

So surprised to hear about this re: 'Christian Belief.'

is a Catholic nun. So many of the nuns are far more progressive than those severely repressed men in dresses. I really don't know how anyone can treat them seriously, they are no different than some of what they call cults. I'm still trying to be polite.