No Reiki for Catholic Nuns
Something is afoot in the Catholic Church.
As many of you know the USA Catholic Bishops wrote a paper in 2009 about the system of Reiki. They wrote that to practice the system of Reiki as a Catholic “would be operating in the realm of superstition” and went on to say that “Since Reiki therapy is not compatible with either Christian teaching or scientific evidence, it would be inappropriate for Catholic institutions, such as Catholic health care facilities and retreat centers, or persons representing the Church, such as Catholic chaplains, to promote or to provide support for Reiki therapy.”
In fact, we wrote a response to it here on Shibumi called Reiki and the Catholic Bishops.
I guess we didn’t expect it to end there.
To support their paper, according to the online New York Times, the Vatican is now “quietly conducting two sweeping investigations of American nuns, a development that has startled and dismayed nuns who fear they are the targets of a doctrinal inquisition”.
And, yes, the system of Reiki is mentioned in the article.
Read about it here US Nuns Facing Vatican Scrutiny and MOST IMPORTANTLY read the Readers’ Comments. To sum up the general sentiment of the Readers’ Comments - “Leave the nuns alone, they’re the ones doing the great work!”
One nun, Sister Sandra M. Schneiders, has requested that her fellow nuns not participate in these studies. In an open letter to the National Catholic Enquirer she wrote “I do not put any credence at all in the claim that this is friendly, transparent, aimed to be helpful, etc. It is a hostile move and the conclusions are already in. It is meant to be intimidating.” You can find out more about this particular Sister here: Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Find out more about the Apostolic Visitation of Institutes of Women Religious in the United States at their website.
