‘Superstition’ must not be the basis: Kerala IMA secretary day after Mariam Thresia’s sainthood

Mangalore Today News Network

Kerala, Oct 15, 2019 : A day after a Kerala-based nun Mariam Thresia was elevated to sainthood by Pope Francis at a Canonisation ceremony at the Vatican City, the Secretary of the Indian Medical Association, Kerala, has questioned the move arguing that there should not be any superstion attached to it. Speaking to CNN News 18 on Monday, a day after Thresia was elevated to sainthood, Sulphi Noohu, a doctor by profession, said even while nobody is against beliefs, there must be some evidence of the basis of which an illness has been cured , Yahoo reported.

 

"We are not against beliefs. We respect all religious sentiments. What we are saying his we need evidence that somebody’s illness was cured by some kind of medical procedure or whatever thing. So if somebody claims that I have cured somebody’s illness by doing something, that is what we are saying. We are not against any beliefs," he said.

The doctor further observed that the church must avoid unscientific things that have no rationale, while declaring somebody a saint and advised a change in the current process of according sainthood upon someone.

When asked about a Facebook post he had allegedly written saying that he too deserves to be declared a saint as he also cured several patients, Noohu said that it was just a satire written on social media in February 2019 and has nothing to do with the latest sainthood.

He went on to say that not only him, but lakhs of doctors are treating patients everyday. Referring to nuns and priests, he observed that one should appreciate the work done by them.

Nun Mariam Thresia was declared as a saint on Sunday by the Pope at the Vatican City along with four others. She is credited to have founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family in Thrissur in May 1914. She raised to the highest position in the institution during the ceremony that was held at the St Peter’s Square.

Sister Thresia, who was declared Blessed by Pope Saint John Paul II on April 9, 2000, died on June 8, 1926 at the age of 50.