Church concerned at yoga master's visit  

The Gibraltar Chronicle/August 16, 2002

Bishop Charles Caruana has expressed fears over the impact in Gibraltar of the Integral Yoga movement led by Master Sri Swami Satchidananda.

The guru will be in Gibraltar next week and speaking at the Hindu Temple on Friday.

As part of his teachings Sri Satchidananda advocates peace and unity regardless of denomination or religion, but press reports in the UK and USA have described the Integral Yoga movement as a cult, and challenge the activities at Satchidananda's 'Yogaville' centre in USA.

Several hundred Gibraltarians are known to have attended the locally based group sessions and there has been no reports of complaints or concerns to date. Satchidananda's talks are in high demand around the world, and even Pope John Paul II is reported to have acknowledged his interfaith activities.

Speaking to the Gibraltar Chronicle yesterday, Monsignor Caruana said he was unhappy that Satchidananda's visit would cause people to fall into the trap of leaving their own religions to join this movement.

Monsignor Caruana went on to say that if anyone sought the advice of the Catholic Church, they would be advised not to attend Satchidananda's talk on Friday.