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About a year ago, the U.S. bishops' Committee on Doctrine declared that Reiki -- a Japanese healing technique -- is based on superstition and is incompatible with Christian faith.
We reported at the time that the declaration would force scores of U.S. congregations of women religious who run Catholic retreat centers to reevaluate programs that teach or use Reiki therapy.
Since then the declaration and the technique has been fiercely discussed.
The PBS-TV program "Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly" takes up the topic this weekend. Here's a video preview of the show. Interviewed in the program are Reiki practitioners Milwaukee Sr. Madeline Gianforte, a Sister of Saint Agnes, and Lauri Lumby Schmidt; and Capuchin Fr. Thomas Weinandy is executive director of the bishops’ doctrine committee.
Schmidt wrote about reiki for us last year: 'Reiki allows me to continue the healing ministry of Jesus'.
NCR readers may recognize Fr. Weinandy for his recent dustup with Fordham University theologian Terrence Tilley: Bishops' theologian critical of Fordham theologian