---

---

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Item 2229 • Posted: Tuesday February 4, 2003  

---

Vatican Study on New Age Movement Says Some Aspects Positive, but Not Replacement for Religion
The Associated Press, Feb. 3, 2003
http://abcnews.go.com/

The Vatican weighed in Monday on the New Age movement, saying some aspects of the search for inner peace were positive but warning that they can’t replace true Christian religion.

In a 90-page booklet dotted with references to the “Magical Mystery Tour,” “Feng Shui” and the dawning of the “Age of Aquarius,” the Vatican addressed a topic usually reserved for the self-help sections of bookstores.

The Vatican said the book was the product of requests by bishops for guidance on determining whether practices embraced by New Agers, including yoga, channeling and healing by crystals, were compatible with Christianity.

The booklet doesn’t give a definitive answer. Rather, in setting out a study of the movement its terminology, history and cultural context the book stresses that the question comes down to one of individually discerning compatibility.

Monsignor Michael Fitzgerald, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, said at a news conference that many aspects of the New Age movement were viewed positively by the Church, including environmental preservation.

“But if one is brought to this by ascribing ‘divineness’ to the land, that’s another thing,” he said. “Music that relaxes you is good. But if this music empties prayer and prayer turns into just listening to music and falling asleep, it’s no longer prayer.”

The booklet said the popularity of the New Age movement, particularly in the Western world, was due to a “spiritual hunger of contemporary men and women” unsatisfied with existing religion, political institutions or science.

“If the Church is not to be accused of being deaf to people’s longings, her members need to do two things: to root themselves ever more firmly in the fundamentals of their faith, and to understand the often silent cry in people’s hearts, which leads them elsewhere if they are not satisfied by the Church,” the document said.

The booklet, “Jesus Christ the Bearer of the Water of Life: A Christian Reflection on the ‘New Age,’” was prepared by Fitzgerald’s council and the Pontifical Council for Culture, with help from the Vatican’s orthodoxy watchdog, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

It is not considered to be the Vatican’s final word on the New Age issue. A definitive document will be issued once the Vatican receives feedback from diocese to the provisional one issued Monday, papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said.

---

What You Can Do From Here

---

Read More Articles On These Topics Categories: New Age Share, Blog About, Bookmark, or Email This Article Subscribe Religion News Blog RSS feed [What is this?] RSS by topic: New Age Read Another Article Previous entry: Scientology wins German tax-free status Next entry: Harry Potter gets Vatican’s blessing RNB Homepage with latest headlines Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults Find Related Books New Age Most Popular Today Scientology’s feet held to the fire in Australia: Struggle between a church and the state

---

Share This Article

---

To share this page simply copy and paste one of these URL's:

• Post a link on your blog or website:
  
• Send in an email or IM:
  
• Post on a forum:
  

Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- CounterCultSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.

Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- ApologeticsSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.