Kerala: Church cautions against joining Spirit in Jesus' group

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.