Transcendental Meditation
1984: His Eminence, Cardinal Jaime Sin, Archbishop of Manila, delivered his Pastoral Statement when TM, Transcendental Meditation, threatened to overrun the Philippines. TM is, as Randy England states in his book, Unicorn in the Sanctuary, “TM is the meditative system popularized by the famous Guru to the Beatles and others, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Called ‘Science […]
The Danger of Centering Prayer
Rev. John D. Dreher In order to see clearly that New Age practices, like Transcendental Meditation and centering prayer, depart from the Catholic tradition, Father Dreher outlines the differences between Christian spirituality and Eastern spirituality. In the mid-seventies, Trappist Abbot Thomas Keating asked the monks, “’Could we put the Christian tradition into a form that would […]
A Closer Look at Centering Prayer
Margaret A. Feaster The Centering Prayer Movement has become very popular in Catholic circles today. People sign up for it in retreat centers, in workshops, and sometimes in their own parish. These people believe it to be authentic Christian contemplative prayer practiced by the saints. Is it really Christian contemplation? In my research on the […]
New Age makes Hugh Inroads into Retreat Centers operated by Catholic Nuns
Michael H. Brown Towards the end of John Paul II’s pontificate, the Vatican issued a document about the New Age that was reviewed, one can assume, by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, even though his congregation was not redactor of the actual paper, which could be described as both a report and an […]
Crystal Ball Catholicism: Welcome to the Wacko World of New Age Theology
Donna Steichen As part of today’s religious revival, a so-called “New Age” movement is flourishing at the point where superstition, pop-psychology, and scientific speculation intersect. Factual reports about it tend to sound exaggerated if not apocalyptic. Evangelical Christian critics like Constance Cumbey and Dave Hunt think it signals the coming of the Anti-Christ. Carl Raschke […]
Catholics Don’t Do Crystals
Judy Roberts Can Catholics avail themselves of alternative health therapies without entering into the near occasion of New Age nonsense? Growing up in a family that ran a health-food business, Charlene Williams learned to eat well and heal naturally. Today the mother of four and grandmother of four raises some of her own vegetables and […]
Theosophy: Origin of the New Age
Fr. C. C. Martindale S.J. Part IThe Founders of Modern Theosophy Though both the word Theosophy and, in a sense, the thing, are (as modern Theosophists are the first to assert, and as we shall see below) far older than the movement which officially began on 17th November, 1875, what is popularly known among us […]
ANGELS OF THE NEW AGE KIND
by Mary Drahos Fifteen-year-old Tara carried a dog-eared angel book with her wherever she went. At home, school or alone in her room, she read and reread the pages of what had become a treasured possession. Family members observed Tara’s intense interest in angels. Once Tara asked her mother whether she thought people became angels […]
A Closer Look at the New Age Movement
Fra John Carlo Rosales, FFI The author, a deacon and theology student, writes us: “About a year ago, while I was in the waiting area of a subway station in Rome, I happened to get one of many pamphlets that were scattered around. I was surprised by its contents. It read something like this: “The […]
The New Age Movement: Highway to Hell
Author: A.L.L. CHAPTER 130 — THE “NEW AGE” MOVEMENT: HIGHWAY TO HELL American Life League And many false prophets will rise and deceive many … For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. Matthew […]