USCCB issues document on Reiki

In past church documents on New Age practices, little has been mentioned about Reiki, an alternative medicine practice that originated in Japan in the late 1880s. But the USCCB has finally released its "Guidelines for Evaluating Reiki As An Alternative Therapy."

Reiki involves "energy forces" and touch therapy that the U.S. bishops are finally claiming "unscientific and inappropriate for Catholic institutions." Reiki has become a popular "ministry" of sorts with some parishes and religious orders around the country, leading some New Age critics to call for some sort of prohibition against it. These parishes and orders say they are merely utilizing the natural remedies that are part of the practice and do not incorporate the New Age aspects.

In these guidelines, dated last Wednesday, it points out red flags for Reiki such as its teachings that:

* Illness is caused by some kind of disruption or imbalance in one's "life energy."

* A Reiki practitioner effects healing by placing his or her hands in certain positions on the patient's body in order to facilitate the flow of Reiki, the "universal life energy," from the Reiki practitioner to the patient.

According to the USCCB guidelines:

* "For Christians the access to divine healing is by prayer to Christ as Lord and Savior, while the essence of Reiki is not a prayer but a technique that is passed down from the 'Reiki Master' to the pupil, a technique that once mastered will reliably produce the anticipated results."

* Reiki therapy "finds no support either in the findings of natural science or in Christian belief."

* "For a Catholic to believe in Reiki therapy presents insoluble problems. In terms of caring for one's physical health or the physical health of others, to employ a technique that has no scientific support (or even plausibility) is generally not prudent."

* "To use Reiki one would have to accept at least in an implicit way central elements of the worldview that undergirds Reiki theory, elements that belong neither to Christian faith nor to natural science. Without justification either from Christian faith or natural science, however, a Catholic who puts his or her trust in Reiki would be operating in the realm of superstition, the no-man's-land that is neither faith nor
science."

* "Superstition corrupts one's worship of God by turning one's religious feeling and practice in a false direction. While sometimes people fall into superstition through ignorance, it is the responsibility of all who teach in the name of the Church to eliminate such ignorance as much as possible. 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."