KOTTAYAM: The Catholic Church should introspect why the lay people are joining groups like the ‘Spirit in Jesus’ banned by the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC) recently, said Father Paul Thelakkat, former spokesperson of the Syro-Malabar Church and the chief editor of the ‘Light of Truth.’ The ‘Spirit in Jesus’ is a group known for calling down the souls of the dead people to earth and freeing them of their sins.
The group functions on the superstition that the sins of the parents and forefathers visit them and cause diseases and failures in life. “The charismatic group was working with the tacit approval of the Church. Now the relations have been broken for evident reasons enumerated in the document. It is not the first time such a group has been separated from the church. Many of them are fundamentalist Pentecostal sections working in the Catholic community with adjustments. Often they preach a gospel of health and wealth,” Father Thelakkat told DC.
The KCBC had officially issued a directive banning the activities of 'Spirit in Jesus' by maintaining that it was functioning against the Bible and the Christian faith. The directive signed by Cardinal Baselios Cleemis Catholica Bava had banned the activity of the movement in the Catholic Church.
“The group is pursuing the Pentecostal style by interpreting Biblical words by not perceiving them in whole. The Church found that the group was working against the tenets of the Bible and the traditions in the Church. Hence, it was banned,” the directive said. It warned the faithful that the diocesan courts may initiate punitive actions against those who associate with this movement.
