Healing — but by whose power?

Description

The laying on of hands, prayer, a religious sister or a Catholic centre may lead people to understand a gathering as a Christian healing ministry. Yet Reiki was also practised in some of these settings: the transmission of energy associated with initiations and instruction by masters of this method. This is documented in practitioners’ own statements and material published by religious institutions.

Reiki in a religious setting

On the official Sisters of Mercy website, Sister Elaine Pearton from South Africa wrote that she practises Reiki as a means of transmitting “God’s energy”. An announcement for Reiki I and II workshops with Canadian religious sister Eileen Curteis, scheduled in the United States in 2014, linked Reiki with the concept of Christ-conscious healing energy. The document was published on the Sisters of St. Anne website.

Reiki in Franciscan settings

Sister Mary Mebane, a Franciscan sister and chaplain at Marian Medical Center in California, described using Reiki in her work with the sick and recounted stories of improved health. In her account, Reiki practice was interwoven with prayer for healing and the laying on of hands. In a separate text, she compared distant Reiki with healings performed by Jesus, and objects “charged with Reiki” with Jesus’ garment and the cloths associated with Paul.

The official biography of Sister Celeste Crine, published by the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, states that she offered holistic retreats at the Franciscan Spiritual Center in Aston that included Reiki, massage, Traeger and Tai Chi Chih. This information was published by her own congregation.

The programme of the Portiuncula Center for Prayer and Poverello Holistic Center, run by the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart in Illinois, advertised “An Introduction to Reiki” for 5 May 2025, including short Reiki sessions for participants. The facilitators, Nancy Hoel and Sue Carter, were described as Reiki masters. The programme does not identify them as religious sisters.

The account of a papal blessing

In Poland, Sister Mariusza Jadwiga Bugaj was involved in promoting Reiki. According to the Wiara.pl website, her personal papal blessing was presented with additions referring to her status as a Reiki master and to her students. This created the impression that John Paul II supported the practice itself. The same article states that in 1995 her superiors instructed her to withdraw from Reiki and that she complied.

Relief and subsequent difficulties

Alongside accounts of relief and improved well-being, there are descriptions of later difficulties. In her testimony “My Healing Journey”, published by the ICRT, Michele R. Fritz described an initial sense of peace after training and attunement, followed by bouts of depression and crying that required her to leave work. She also mentioned headaches accompanying subsequent attunements. She regarded these experiences as part of the healing process. Her history also includes depression and numerous health problems predating her involvement in Reiki.

In the account “Byłem bioenergoterapeutą” (“I Was a Bioenergy Therapist”), Krzysztof Zielski spoke about Reiki courses, initiations and many years of giving treatments. He described relief from symptoms in some people that he attributed to the treatments, as well as later episodes of fainting, depression, suicidal thoughts and a marital crisis in his own life. This is a testimony of his experiences and interpretations.

The Reiki community uses the term “healing crisis”. In material published by the ICRT, difficult physical and emotional experiences are presented as purification and a stage in the recovery process. Within this teaching, both initial relief and subsequent deterioration can thus be explained in ways that affirm the value of continuing the practice.

These accounts describe individual life histories; they do not establish that Reiki caused all the problems mentioned. Depression, anxiety and other health problems require individual assessment.

Prayer to Christ and the transmission of energy

In a document dated 25 March 2009, the Committee on Doctrine of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops distinguished prayer to Christ for healing from the Reiki technique passed on through initiations. It stated that adding a prayer to Christ does not change the essential nature of Reiki. The same distinction is reiterated in material published by CHARIS for Catholic charismatic renewal communities.

The cases described show that, in some Catholic settings, the language of prayer and healing was combined with Reiki practice.

Sources

1. S. Mary Mebane, [Reiki at a Catholic Hospital](https://www.reiki.org/reiki-catholic-hospital).
2. S. Mary Mebane, [Sister Mary Mebane](https://www.reiki.org/sister-mary-mebane).
3. Sisters of Mercy, [Sr. Elaine Pearton — South Africa](https://sistersofmercy.ie/sr-elaine-pearton-south-africa/).
4. Sisters of St. Anne, [Reiki Workshop, 5–7 September 2014](https://www.sistersofsaintanne.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Reiki-Workshop.pdf).
5. Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart, [Calendar of Events, February–August 2025](https://www.portforprayer.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Feb-Aug-2025.pdf).
6. Wiara.pl, [Reiki: Biała magia](https://religie.wiara.pl/doc/471840.Reiki-Biala-magia).
7. Michele R. Fritz / ICRT, [My Healing Journey](https://www.reiki.org/articles/my-healing-journey).
8. Jarosław Dudała, interview with Krzysztof Zielski, [Byłem bioenergoterapeutą](https://kosciol.wiara.pl/doc/492418.Bylem-bioenergoterapeuta).
9. Diane Ruth Shewmaker / ICRT, [Reiki and the Healing Crisis](https://www.reiki.org/articles/reiki-and-healing-crisis).
10. USCCB, [Guidelines for Evaluating Reiki as an Alternative Therapy, 25.03.2009](https://www.usccb.org/upload/guidelines-evaluating-reiki-alternative-therapy-2009.pdf).
11. CHARIS, [Is Reiki compatible with Christianity?](https://www.charis.international/en/is-reiki-compatible-with-christianity/).
12. Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, [Meet Sister Celeste Crine](https://osfphila.org/meet-our-sisters/meet-sr-celeste-crine/).