Recently, a priest from the Portsmouth Diocese was vilified in the press for cancelling a contract with a Yoga instructor, for her to use the church hall for Yoga classes.
Fr John Chandler of St Edmund's Church stated that such activities were incompatible with Church teaching and, as such, could not be permitted on church premises.
It would appear as if there are two aspects to Yoga and that both aspects may be taught separately; that of exercise and that of spiritual meditation combined with exercise. It was the latter that was at stake in Fr Chandler's parish and he, quite rightly, called a halt.
But it appears as if the overall Church view on such issues is to leave it to the discretion of the parish priest. A spokesman for Portsmouth Diocese is reported to have said as much.
That is not good enough; it leaves priests vulnerable to charges of inconsistency, if nothing else.
It would seem to be a very black and white issue.
Any activity that might be construed as against the teaching of HMC should be proscribed.
That includes Yoga, Complementary Therapies (not all are bad but some such as Reiki are and it would be hard to be specific), Counselling and, of course, pro abort meetings. There may be others; it is necessary to be as specific as possible but it does need to come from the Archbishop of Westminster (for England and Wales Dioceses).
Leaving it to the individual PP is just a cop out and gives the media the chance of a field day.
Already they are claiming that there are many 'Catholic Yoga' classes taking place in church halls around the country.
The Church needs to take a position on this topic, but not a meditative one.
Fr John Chandler of St Edmund's Church stated that such activities were incompatible with Church teaching and, as such, could not be permitted on church premises.
It would appear as if there are two aspects to Yoga and that both aspects may be taught separately; that of exercise and that of spiritual meditation combined with exercise. It was the latter that was at stake in Fr Chandler's parish and he, quite rightly, called a halt.
But it appears as if the overall Church view on such issues is to leave it to the discretion of the parish priest. A spokesman for Portsmouth Diocese is reported to have said as much.
That is not good enough; it leaves priests vulnerable to charges of inconsistency, if nothing else.
It would seem to be a very black and white issue.
Any activity that might be construed as against the teaching of HMC should be proscribed.
That includes Yoga, Complementary Therapies (not all are bad but some such as Reiki are and it would be hard to be specific), Counselling and, of course, pro abort meetings. There may be others; it is necessary to be as specific as possible but it does need to come from the Archbishop of Westminster (for England and Wales Dioceses).
Leaving it to the individual PP is just a cop out and gives the media the chance of a field day.
Already they are claiming that there are many 'Catholic Yoga' classes taking place in church halls around the country.
The Church needs to take a position on this topic, but not a meditative one.
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