Thiruvananthapuram: The Syro-Malabar Church has broken its silence on what it calls the Sangh Parivar agenda to make political capital out of yoga and cautioned the faithful against practising it as a spiritual exercise to reach God. The Catholic Church has always viewed with suspicion the various eastern systems like yoga, zen and transcendental meditation. It is feared that the controversial report on yoga prepared by the doctrinal committee headed by Pala diocese bishop Mar Joseph Kallarangattu of the Syro-Malabar Church may provide enough ammunition to rabid elements to create a communal divide. The report refers to yoga's theological as well as political aspects and equates it to a Hindu religious practice while warning the faithful to be wary of it.
The report said that yoga cannot be considered as a way to experience God. Theologically, it will not bring about any improvement in any person, it pointed out and faulted the RSS and other Sangh Parivar groups for trying to promote yoga for political gains. However, it admitted that yoga has an important place in the culture of the country, but insisted that it should be considered only as a physical exercise to concentrate or meditate.
The Catholic Church has never approved of the spirituality of yoga. In 1999, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger who later became Pope Benedict XVI warned Roman Catholics of the dangers of "eastern" practices which could "degenerate into the cult of the body" and debase Christian prayer. More recently, Pope Francis declared yoga to be pagan and incapable of leading one to God. Syro-Malabar Church spokesperson Fr Jimmy Poochakkattu, however, told Deccan Chronicle that the report only pointed out that yoga cannot be seen as a way to realise God. The report had only looked into this aspect and nothing else, he said.
Even while the Church officially did not approve of the spiritual aspects of yoga, there are Church-run institutions that promote its therapeutic aspects. These include Bethany Nature Cure Centre at Nalanchira, Thiruvananthapuram, under the Syro-Malankara Church, and Cardinal Padiyara Nature Cure and Yoga Ashramam at Kakkanad under the Syro- Malabar Church. Mr Indu, a retired central excise officer, a Hindu by faith, had availed of the services of both the centres to recoup after a disease resulting in the hardening of the heart muscles. Mr Indu, a former athlete, said, "both of them are among the best yoga centres in the state as they do not fleece people. I have come across a large number of Christians who practise yoga and some of them are the best in the profession. The doctrinal committee report on yoga would only help the Sangh Parivar to further their political goal," he said.
Fr Philip Neri, who heads the Bethany Yoga Centre, said that he did not wish to cross swords with the bishop who said that yoga is anathema to Christian beliefs. "We founded the centre at Nalanchira in 1976 with a commitment to the science behind yoga. As there was no facility here to study yoga, I went to Hyderabad to learn the basics. Many people, including religious, have undergone the therapeutic and wellness sessions at the centre and one of them was the late Cardinal Antony Padiyara. Let's focus on the positives of a great inheritance and ignore the negatives associated with those trying to misappropriate it," said Fr Neri. Sr Sudeepa, who holds a PhD in yoga therapy attached to the Bethany centre, said that she did not want to respond to the doctrinal committee report. However, she was sure about the therapeutic aspects of yoga. "My own experience proved that yoga has many therapeutic benefits," she said.
