Don Amorth: I speak to you about reincarnation and New Age and its dangers

Question: I have often heard of New Age and reincarnation by people and magazines. What does the Church think of it?

Answer: The New Age is a bad syncretist movement, which has already triumphed in the United States and which is spreading with great force (because it is supported by powerful economic classes) also in Europe and believes in reincarnation. For this movement, between Buddha, Sai Baba and Jesus Christ, everything is fine, everyone is praised. As a doctrinal basis it is founded on Eastern religions and theories and philosophies. Unfortunately it is taking a huge step and therefore there is a lot to beware of this movement! How? what is the cure? The cure for all mistakes is religious education. Let's say it with the Pope's words: it is the new evangelization. And I take this opportunity to advise you to first read the Bible as a basic book; the New Catechism of the Catholic Church and, more recently, the Pope's book, Beyond the threshold of hope, especially if you read it several times.

It is truly a great catechesis done in a modern form, because it is almost an answer to an interview: to the provocative questions of the journalist Vittorio Messori the Pope gives answers so profound that they would not seem such at first reading; but if one then rereads them, he sees their depth ... And he also fights these false doctrines. Reincarnation is believing that after death the soul reincarnates into another body more noble or less noble than what it has left, based on how one has lived. It is shared by all Eastern religions and beliefs and is spreading widely also in the West for the interest that our people today, so scarce of faith and ignorant of catechism, demonstrate for Eastern cults. Just think that in Italy it is estimated that at least a quarter of the population believes in reincarnation.

You already know that reincarnation is against all biblical teaching and is absolutely incompatible with God's judgment and resurrection. In reality, reincarnation is only a human invention, perhaps suggested by the desire or intuition that the soul is immortal. But we know with certainty from Divine Revelation that souls after death go either to Heaven or to Hell or to Purgatory, according to their works. Jesus says: The hour will come when all those who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of man: those who did good for a resurrection of life and those who did bad, for a resurrection of condemnation (Jn 5,28:XNUMX) . We know that the resurrection of Christ deserved the resurrection of the flesh, that is, of our bodies, which will take place at the end of the world. Therefore there is absolute incompatibility between reincarnation and Christian doctrine. Either you believe in resurrection or you believe in reincarnation. Those who believe that one can be a Christian and believe in reincarnation are wrong.