A spiritual newspaper in Kerala has become the subject of funny memes: Here’s why

The outrageous claims of Kreupasanam newspaper being put to miracle work resulted in many hilarious memes—one of them was about a lizard that metamorphosed into a dinosaur after it fell on it.
Collages of images with Kripasanam
Collages of images with Kripasanam
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Last week, social media users in Kerala were treated to a meme fest over a spiritual newspaper published by Kreupasanam Marian Shrine, a retreat centre under the Diocese of Alappuzha, known for faith healing. The source material for the rib-tickling memes were video testimonials by hundreds of people expounding the miracles wrought by the newspaper, when ingested in multiple forms, worn on the forehead after turning into ash or folded and kept under the pillow while sleeping.

While all kinds of faith healing, practised across religions, defies reasoning, the Kreupasanam (which translates as seat of mercy) testimonials were mocked mercilessly by many as they were considered to be preposterous. The outrageous claims of Kreupasanam newspaper being put to miracle work resulted in many hilarious memes. One of them was about a lizard that turned into a dinosaur after the hapless creature fell on the miracle newspaper. Another showed a humble dal vada that turned into a juicy burger after it was wrapped in a Kreupasanam paper.

In one of the videos, a school teacher claims that her former student who had depression was healed after eating a piece of the Kreupasanam newspaper. The boy was fed the piece of paper along with chutney by his mother on her advice and was ‘cured’, the woman claimed. Other videos give the credit for miracle work to statuettes of Virgin Mary, bottles of holy oil or honey from the Kreupasanam Marian Shrine.

The holy oil, according to a video testimony by a medical doctor, helped lower the temperature in a patient with kidney stones and ‘cured’ another one without having the need to undergo a surgical procedure. The honey from Kreupasanam ‘cured’ his youngest son who was suffering from stammering, the doctor claimed. In another testimony, a woman speaks about a battery swallowed by her son and was seen in an X-Ray image mysteriously disappearing from the intestine after Kreupasanam oil was applied.

Recently, a video of actor Dhanya Mary Varghese, in which she credits her brother’s wedding to Kreupasanam ‘udambadi’ surfaced resulting in criticism that celebrities are endorsing superstitions.These testimonials can be found on the YouTube channel of Fr VP Joseph, the director of the retreat centre, popularly known as VP Achan. Recently, he was in the news after being admitted to a hospital due to fever. The retreat centre however maintains that the newspaper Kreupasanam is being published to propagate Marian messages and they have never claimed that it has any miraculous powers.

At the retreat, the faithful are asked to enter into an ‘udambadi’ or agreement based on the myth of the Ark of the Covenant, considered to be a sacred relic of Israelites, so that their wishes are fulfilled.

Joseph, who is also the chief editor of the Kreupasanam paper, did not respond to TNM’s attempts to contact him over email. In a YouTube video uploaded on July 4, 2019, on the official channel of the priest, he said, "This newspaper was published with the intention of spreading god's deeds among people, as well as our cultural and welfare activities among our wellwishers. Nobody is allowed to use this paper for treatment. We will give this instruction in every paper from now on." He said that he hoped the disclaimer added to the papers will be a logical solution to the misunderstandings that had spread. 
 
He also claimed in the video that he was pained by allegations that the retreat centre was conducting evangelisation activities. “When someone approaches you with their sufferings, how do you turn them away on the basis of their religion? That is not suited to the Christian spirit that considers everyone as god’s children. So, my request to you is to please not misunderstand us. No evangelisation attempts are made here,” he said. 
 
Joseph had added that the video and other clarifications were made as per the advice of “my diocese head, legal advisor, and friends in the media to take steps to correct mistakes made knowingly or unknowingly by me.”

Faith healing testimonials are spreading superstitions

While Kerala has dozens of similar retreat centres across the state, the most popular among them include the Divine Retreat Centre in Muringoor, which has the blessing of the Catholic Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly, the Marian Retreat Centre in Anakkara under the Syro–Malabar Diocese of Kanjirappally and the Sehion Ministries in Attappady, Palakkad the official retreat centre of the Palakkad diocese. 

A catholic priest based in Ernakulam told TNM that many a times the faithful do not realise that they are spreading superstitions through these testimonies. “They believe strongly in their religion and consider other faiths as superstitions,” said the priest, who requested anonymity.

Attaining spirituality is not easy and commoners often require miracles to stick on to faith, he said. 

“The Church caters to their needs by supporting such claims. People expect miracles from spirituality which is not possible. Have you ever heard of a person's diabetes being cured or the symptoms of autism or down syndrome vanishing after attending a retreat? It's not possible,” says the priest who feels that concepts like spirituality and faith in Jesus, which help people face hardships in life, are above it.

Popular YouTuber Vivek Balachandran says these video testimonies are nothing but promoting superstitions. “In a video, a teacher is seen saying in her Public Service Commission test, she did not know any answers but a figurine in her hand helped her mark right answers. What will happen to the students whom she is going to teach? When teachers spread such superstitions it's more dangerous,” says Vivek.

Truth behind testimonies would emerge if they are probed

While some of these testimonies feel innocuous and an endless source of comic relief for non-believers they can have real world consequences. There are people who have stopped treatments for major life-threatening ailments like cancer placing their faith on the ‘miracles’ performed at these centres but lost their lives after the disease relapsed. 

“I have known cancer patients who gave testimonies of being cured but died within a year or two. Nobody knows what happens to people who give such testimonies in public. If we need to know the truth each and every case needs to be followed,” says Kit George, a medical doctor who is part of Essence, an atheist movement in Kerala.

Kit says he has known several nursing students who gave testimonies of getting jobs abroad or cleared tests after they took the Kreupasanam ‘udambadi’ or held Mary figurines in hand while writing exams. “My close friend claims the same, and gave testimony. She went abroad and came back as she couldn’t survive there. She would then renew the ‘udambadi’ and try another country but they will never reveal what happened to them previously while giving testimonials,” says Kit.

A person from Kasaragod district told TNM he gave a testimony at Sehion Ministries about his cancer being cured, but later there was recurrence of the disease. “It was a few years ago. I strongly believed that I was cured. A few months after the testimony it recurred. After that I underwent three surgeries, but I believe that I am still alive because of Mother Mary’s grace and blessings,” he said.

Laws not helpful

The Drugs and Magic Remedies Act, 1954 prohibits advertisement of magic remedies of treatment of certain diseases and disorders. While the definitions of the Act include announcements made orally, it is not clear whether testimonials by the faithful promoting magical remedies would come under its ambit as the centres themselves are not making such claims.

Law enforcement generally keeps away from faith healing because there are few complainants.  In 2021, it took the death of 11-year-old girl to expose a Muslim faith healer Uwais, who advised people not to visit hospitals and offered cure with water "blessed with Quranic verses". A post-mortem examination revealed the girl who was taken to Uwais after she fell ill died due to lung infection. This led to scrutiny regarding several other deaths of people who were under treatment of Uwais.

In 2019, the Kerala branch of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) sought an explanation from one of their members, Dr VK Sreenivasan, for endorsing a claim of miracle healing, which was used by the Church to uphold the eligibility of sainthood for Sister Mariam Theresa.

Kerala government is currently planning to enact a law against superstition, which criminalises attempts to deny medical treatment to people in the name of faith or religion.  

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