JULY 28, 2013
The Prakash Lasrados, the Johnson Sequeiras, and the Dominic Dixons
The above is a strange title for a report from this ministry. The three individuals mentioned are very different from one another. But there are some traits of theirs which I shall highlight from a single letter written by a Catholic religious, Bro. Ignatius Mary OLSM, to a person named Michael Murphy in response to an attack by the latter on the ministry of the former. The full import of what I want to convey will be understood after reading the letter of Bro. Ignatius Mary, but first, a brief on the three persons who are named in the title.
Prakash Lasrado is an anonymous Internet stalker of this ministry. He writes to me under several email aliases, two positively identified by me as him, and at least three others which I suspect are his. He is also subscribed to a blog named ephesians511.net, neither owned nor operated by me. The blog is apparently dedicated to reproducing the reports and articles that are from time to time uploaded on this ministry’s web site. He posts comments at this blog, mainly condemning this ministry for its Catholic stand on the Hindu practice of yoga meditation. He does the same through an Internet campaign in which he marks copies to around one hundred people including a few Cardinals and Bishops. The mailing list has reduced in size by about twenty percent since it commenced because many recipients had enough of his unsolicited verbal diarrhoea and requested him to remove their names from the list. I myself have received possibly over 1000 emails from this man over the past three months. To say the least, they do not exhibit the minimum civility which even the most antagonistic Christian writers use in addressing those whom they might disagree with.
The circulated letters contain so many false allegations, otherwise called slander, that it necessitates a separate report to answer them since my ignoring him might lead some to think that the man is correct.
He believes that laity must not be allowed to preach [while himself engaging in it by email].
The man remains anonymous to all the recipients of his emails. The name that he most commonly uses to write to cardinals and bishops is apparently not even his real name but that does not stop them from taking his letters seriously and responding to them. Routinely pretending to be someone you are not is deception.
He believes that yoga is a harmless, neutral, non-religious, aspiritual physical exercise, “My sisters have learnt Bharatnatyam MINUS the Hindu prayers” and “My father is also a homeopathic practioner
[sic]“. Since a greater portion of my ministry is dedicated to exposing homoeopathy as a New Age alternative therapy and both yoga and Bharatanatyam dance as emanating from the Hindu Sanatana Dharma [see Bharatanatyam and Yoga
http://www.dhdi.free.fr/recherches/horizonsinterculturels/articles/bharatanatyamyoga.htm], it is no surprise that the man has made me the object of his bile and vitriol.
I have referred to/discussed/cited Prakash Lasrado so far in the following documents:
NEW COMMUNITY BIBLE 21-HALF-TRUTHS FROM CARDINAL OSWALD GRACIAS
http://ephesians-511.net/docs/NEW_COMMUNITY_BIBLE_21-HALF-TRUTHS_FROM_CARDINAL_OSWALD_GRACIAS.doc
THE RISEN CHRIST ON A CROSS
http://ephesians-511.net/docs/THE_RISEN_CHRIST_ON_A_CROSS.doc
YOGA AND THE BRAHMA KUMARIS AT A CATHOLIC COLLEGE IN THE ARCHDIOCESE OF BOMBAY
NEW AGE-BISHOP JULIAN PORTEOUS
http://ephesians-511.net/docs/NEW_AGE-BISHOP_JULIAN_PORTEOUS.doc
YOGA-2 [500-plus pages of collated information, forthcoming]
Johnson Sequeira claims to be a Catholic preacher. However, his teachings and praxis are very Evangelical.
His performances are typical of the Protestantism that infects much of the Catholic charismatic renewal.
Banned by bishops in India and overseas, he still has the support of others, like the Archbishop of Bangalore.
See
BRO. JOHNSON SEQUEIRA’S ‘WORD-FAITH’ THEOLOGY AND ‘PROSPERITY’ GOSPEL
http://ephesians-511.net/docs/BRO_JOHNSON_SEQUEIRAS_WORD-FAITH_THEOLOGY_AND_PROSPERITY_GOSPEL.doc
Dominic Dixon runs a Bangalore-based ministry named MoreLove in association with Aneel Aranha of HolySpiritInteractive [HSI] ministries of Dubai.
Details may be found in the following reports:
MORELOVE-HOLYSPIRITINTERACTIVE-SOUL TIES AND ETHOS INSTITUTE
http://ephesians-511.net/docs/MORELOVE-HOLYSPIRITINTERACTIVE-SOUL_TIES_AND_ETHOS_INSTITUTE.doc
HOLYSPIRITINTERACTIVE-WARNING ALERT ISSUED BY CATHOLICCULTURE.ORG
http://ephesians-511.net/docs/HOLYSPIRITINTERACTIVE-WARNING_ALERT_ISSUED_BY_CATHOLICCULTURE.ORG.doc
HOLYSPIRITINTERACTIVE ANEEL ARANHA AND NEW AGE
http://ephesians-511.net/docs/HOLYSPIRITINTERACTIVE_ANEEL_ARANHA_AND_NEW_AGE.doc
Dominic Dixon, like Johnson Sequeira, enjoys the confidence and support of the Archbishop of Bangalore.
The two also enjoy the patronage of Simon Rodrigues, the Chairman of the Bangalore Service Team of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal who is in turn closely associated with the said Archbishop by virtue of his profession as an auditor and therefore a confidante whose recommendations are accepted and implemented.
The Archbishop’s name has cropped up in a major land scam in Bangalore city — it is a scandal that was reported in the national media — as well as another in the Archdiocese of Bombay [as per reliable sources].
So, it’s all one big happy family [Sequeira and Aranha are banned in Mumbai] out there in Bangalore.
And, the Archbishop of Bangalore happens to be on the mailing list of Prakash Lasrado, the list with a number of false and uninformed allegations against this ministry’s reports and this ministry’s intentions.
This ministry, despite the urgings of many Catholics to include investigations and reports on such issues, has steered clear of writing on the Indian Church hierarchy’s moral imprudences and financial irregularities although there is no dearth of evidence if only one makes the littlest of enquiries. There are lay Catholic groups, and there is no dearth of them in this era of Internet social media, many of them with little knowledge of the Faith and even less concern for spiritual issues, to engage in that work. For instance, see
FORUM FOR CATHOLIC UNITY CONVENOR IS NOT CATHOLIC IN MADRAS-MYLAPORE ARCHDIOCESE
There have been a few exceptions such as
ARCHBISHOP OF MADRAS MYLAPORE-CORRUPTION CHARGES AGAINST THE
http://ephesians-511.net/docs/ARCHBISHOP_OF_MADRAS_MYLAPORE-CORRUPTION_CHARGES_AGAINST_THE.doc
ARCHBISHOP OF MADRAS MYLAPORE-MURDER ACCUSED IS CHANCELLOR
http://ephesians-511.net/docs/ARCHBISHOP_OF_MADRAS_MYLAPORE-MURDER_ACCUSED_IS_CHANCELLOR.doc
With particular emphasis on the Indian scene, we remain dedicated to exposing
-Liberals and dissenters in the Church
-Hinduisation of the Church in the guise of inculturation
-Liturgical abuses and aberrations
-Errors and abuses in the mainstream Catholic Charismatic Renewal and in major retreat centres
-Protestant- [and New Age-] influenced retreat preachers masquerading as Catholics
-New Age [alternative therapies, eastern meditations, psycho-spiritual counseling techniques, devices, etc.] promoted by Catholic laity, media and institutions
-Threats to the Catholic faithful from private unapproved/false revelations/mystics, etc.
Now we come to the letter from Michael Murphy to Bro. Ignatius Mary OLSM and his response which echoes my sentiments about the trio Prakash Lasrado, Johnson Sequeira and Dominic Dixon.
I trust the reader will be able to apply Bro. Ignatius Mary OLSM‘s words to the individuals that they concern.
On his religious Order’s web site, Bro. Ignatius Mary OLSM posted an article by Stephanie Block condemning former charismatic priest turned New Age retreat preacher Fr. Richard Rohr and his
Center For Action and Contemplation
. I reproduce brief extracts from the covering letter of Bro. Ignatius and Stephanie‘s article.
I follow that with the letter to Bro. Ignatius Mary from Michael Murphy and Bro. Ignatius Mary‘s response.
Dissident Groups and Priests
http://saint-mike.org/warfare/library/
By Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM, L. Th., Oblates and Missioners of St. Michael
Miss Block gives an excellent critique of Fr. Richard Rohr‘s organization, which promotes heterodox views against the Church on such issues as homosexuality, the agenda of Call to Action, radical feminism, and Liberation Theology, amongst many other views.
The
Center For Action and Contemplation
http://saint-mike.org/warfare/library/category/dissident-groups
EXTRACT
By Stephanie Block, The Wanderer, January 2011
The Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) is situated on the parish property of Holy Family Church in Albuquerque. From this site, retreats and workshops are made available to the city’s progressive Catholics. The center is New Mexico’s Call to Action hub, and well-known CTA personalities, such as radical feminist Rosemary Radford Ruether and ’60s war protester Daniel Berrigan, have been speakers at the center in the last several years; also offered are alternative spirituality programs, such as Dr. Ruben Habito’s annual retreat weekend at the center that includes “instruction in the elements of Zen practice.” CAC’s founder, Fr. Richard Rohr, is a prolific writer and retreat master. […]
Sir Knight Michael Murphy DGK says:
As a Catechist, Eucharistic Minister, Volunteer Chaplain to the sick and Director of Vocations in L.A’s Archdiocese, Also a conservative 4th degree Sir Grand Knight of Columbus, and Aerospace Engineer.
You know nothing of what you are saying or speaking. You so remind me of Saint John of The Cross’s ignorant and fearful captors, who thought this great Doctor of The Church’s teaching on the Dark Night and the levels of assent to Mount Carmel evil.
Needless to say, like Rohr, the Saint does not here mean that he will not write in conformity with moral standards, no writer is more particular in this respect, nor that he will deal with no delectable matters at all, but rather that he will go to the very roots of spiritual teaching and expound the “solid and substantial instruction,” which not only forms its basis but also leads the soul toward the most intimate union with God in love.
But I know you! You are small; you would have seen Saint Bonaventure’s seven step “Itinerarium” no doubt as heretical, pagan or demonic. As I am sure you probably did, or still do Thomas Merton’s 7-story mountain.
You squelch and choke the life out of our Mother Church. Backwards you go on your journey and backwards you shall remain. Not even Pharisees, you are the true heretics! You will be the ones who reduce our Church to your own pettiness till it is empty. And those who hear Rohr hear the voice of love, except you! Christ was 10 times more dissident! You miss interpret his whole teachings. You see only the differences and not the similarities, and for that I will pray for you.
Bro. Ignatius Mary says:
Since I highly doubted that a Vocations Director of a major diocese would post such a vitriolic comment, I looked this guy up to see if he really was the Vocations Director of the LA Diocese. Of course he is not. So I decided to find out who this guy really was. According to his Facebook page Mr. Murphy is the “Vocations Director for Blessed Sacraments Jesuit community and Parish”. This is quite a bit different than being the Vocations Director of the L.A. Diocese. On his Facebook page Mr. Murphy also identifies his political views as “Liberal / Ignatian Humanism / Liberation Theology /Catholic Workers Movement”.
He says of himself, “I don’t want realism. I want magic! So if I don’t tell truths, I tell what ought to be true! And my exaggerations are right, if they exaggerate the right things. People don’t deserve the restraint I show by not going into delirium in front of them.”
I confronted the man on his claims of being the Vocations Director. He cleared up the misunderstanding, but that was only part of the problem, which I explained in a comment I made on his Facebook Page:
I appreciate your clearing up your position. But, this is not what you said on your comments to an article about Fr. Rohr on our website. We can only go by what you tell us. You said, rather:
“As a Catechist, Eucharistic Minister, Volunteer Chaplain to the sick and Director of Vocations in L.A’s Archdiocese, Also a conservative 4th degree Sir Grand Knight of Columbus, and Aerospace Engineer.”
You are not “Director of Vocations in L.A’s Archdiocese“. Msgr. James Forsen holds that position. Is this not a “half-truth” that you so eloquently said “A half-truth is the most cowardly of lies, a half-truth is a whole lie!“
Also, unless you are a priest, you are not a “Eucharistic Minister.” Only a bishop, priest, or deacon is a Eucharistic Minister (Canon 910). All others are EXTRAordinary ministers. Also, you are not a Chaplain. Again, according to Canon Law a Chaplain must be a priest (Canon 564ff). Though now I see from your Facebook profile that your “chaplain” status is from a Protestant hospital. Nevertheless, prudence requires precise and considered language. Since the Catholic Church says that only priests can hold the title of Chaplain, prudence suggest that non-priests in conversation should not use the term, even it their service is in a Protestant hospital who gives them that title.
Now, in charity, I can give you the benefit of the doubt that you were just sloppy in your communication and misspoke. Thus, we can set-aside these issues. What remains, however, is that your comment to the article on Fr Father Rohr, a dissenting heterodox priest, in our library was uncharitable and vitriolic. Comments styled in such a way is not worthy of a “Vocations Director for Blessed Sacraments Jesuit community and Parish” or a Knights of Columbus. You do no favors to Fr. Rohr by acting like that.
And if you wish to consider yourself a good Catholic you need to abandon liberalism, which holds tenets contrary to Church teaching, Liberation Theology (a form of Marxism), which has been condemned by the Church, and all other views that are contrary to Church teaching.
In any event, if you desire to defend Fr. Rohr then you will help him by offering your defense with intelligence, not uncharitable vitriol.
Mr. Murphy’s response to this was more bile and vitriol as is the standard procedure of obfuscation that liberals do so well. The following was a comment left on this site, a copy of which I include here unedited rather than publish as a separate comment since I am dealing with this all in this current posting. Since the following is a copy of his comments and not the originally submitted comment, we add the standard “sic” to mark of errors in his writing to indicate that the error was in his original comment and not from our copy of the comment (this is a standard practice in publishing):
“Wow, Are you for real, I hope everyone reads this and I hope everyone out there goes to this sad mans (sic) HATE site. and (sic) how this Order lets there (sic) Brother spend there (sic) time hunting people down on facebook (sic) and making personal attacks on their home pages where their friends and loved ones can see them. Queensgate is Jesuit Chaplainry that works with our brother (sic) of the Presbyterian faith. yes (sic) I am a EXTRAordinary minister. And I have a wonderful day ahead of me (sic) now I will let you go and persecute more people who leave comments on your Hate site. Again I am just filled with sorrow for you my Brother and I will include you in our petition tomorrow off (sic) 2,000 Rosaries. Now, please stay away from me and my family or you shall be reported to Facebook, I can not believe you track people down as part of your spiritual life, Why not just delete my comment? If (sic) you didn’t like it. Hide behind robes, (sic) you need prayers, I sha;; (sic) ask my Jesuiits (sic) friends and brothers to all pray for you. Liberation Theology (a form of Marxism) you have a lot of nerve saying that, you poor poor man, are you cloistered? No (sic) sorry I want no dialoge (sic) with you!. Goodbye Brother Ignatius O’reilly.“
While we normally reserve our Hall of Shame to those with national or global significance, which this man has none at all, he does represent the type of cancer that is within the Church at local levels. As he claims to have some significance in his diocese even to the point of claiming that, to quote him, “I was summoned by his eminence Cardinal Mahoney to come up with a Vocations plan which I did…Well of the whole LA Archdiocese I was the only on who came up with a plan and presentation, it has been used by over 250 parishes for an outline”, we will include him in our Hall of Shame in the near future.
I do thank Mr. Murphy for placing me on the prayer lists of all his cohorts. I need all the prayers I can get. I also thank him for giving us all the opportunity to see close-up the cancer of liberalism, its fundamental hatred of truth, it typical cowardice in the face of being confronted with truth, and how it works among local leaders.
Note the grandiose, pompous self-description of “Sir Knight Michael Murphy DGK“, so reminiscent of Dominic Dixon, and the former’s Prakash Lasrado-like making to be a “conservative” Catholic to which Bro. Ignatius Mary retorts that he is a “liberal”. While Prakash Lasrado is free to reject and dispute this [or any] Catholic ministry’s stand and to contest its claims, it’s quite something else, as Bro. Ignatius Mary explains, to state half-truths and lies and to write uncivilly as does Prakash Lasrado a la “Sir Knight Michael Murphy DGK“.
As “Sir Knight Michael Murphy DGK“s post in defense of Fr. Richard Rohr did “no favors to Fr. Rohr“, to quote Bro. Ignatius Mary,
the letters that I receive from Johnson Sequeira‘s fans do not help his cause either
Finally, to understand the threat to Catholic faith and to genuine Catholic charismatic spirituality from persons like Dominic Dixon and Johnson Sequeira, I strongly recommend that every reader seriously study
Charism gifts building up the Church
http://www.saint-mike.org/warfare/library/wp-content/docs/spiritualgifts.pdf
(Excerpt from the Rule of St. Michael) 2004, Order of the Legion of St. Michael
especially if one is in leadership in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.
See also
SPIRITUAL WARFARE-BRO IGNATIUS MARY
http://ephesians-511.net/docs/SPIRITUAL_WARFARE-BRO_IGNATIUS_MARY.doc
NEW:
DOMINIC DIXON AND MORELOVE-MORE UNHOLINESS
http://ephesians-511.net/docs/DOMINIC_DIXON_AND_MORELOVE-MORE_UNHOLINESS.doc
