In this podcast, CWCIT's Karen Kraft speaks with Sr. Dr. Maria Vasantha about her life as both a religious sister and medical doctor who is skilled in both Western and traditional Indian medicine. Sr. Dr. Vasantha discusses her involvement with the Sister Doctors Forum of India, her medical work in the impoverished Tamil Nadu state, and the Catholic Church in India's support and promotion of traditional Indian medicine, through the Catholic Health Association of India (CHAI), for example. Drawing on her own personal experience as well as what she has seen in her patients, she also describes specific instances in which Indian traditional medicine has succeeded where Western medicine has not.

Sr. Maria Vasantha, MD (or Sr. Dr. Maria Vasantha)belongs to the Congregation of the Sisters of the Cross of Chavanod, popularly known as the Holy Cross Sisters, and holds numerous positions at Leonard Hospital in the town of Batlagundu in India’s Tamil Nadu State including that of director, consultant, and surgeon within the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology. Proficient in the practice of contemplative and Zen meditation, she is also certified in Bach flower medicine, reflexology, and yoga. She follows an integrative approach to women’s health, using a balance of Western science and alternative and spiritual therapies of Eastern science. Her passion is to bring the healing touch of Christ to everyone she meets, particularly the indigenous poor.

Sr. Maria Vasantha, MD: Practicing Eastern and Western Medicine (and the Catholic Faith) in India

A CWCIT interview with Fr. Bernhard Udelhoven, MAfr, a longtime missionary in Zambia. Fr. Udelhoven holds an MA in social anthropology (SOAS University of London) and has 20 years' experience in mediating witchcraft-related disputes in Zambia. 

For CWCIT's 2018-19 Spiritual Works of Mercy lecture series, Fr. Udelhoven gave a talk at DePaul University on the topic of this podcast's title. In the West, witchcraft and demons are typically the stuff of fiction. But in Zambia, these are real issues that affect real people. Those who have occult experiences, feel afflicted by demons, or stand accused of witchcraft are ostracized, even by their own families, often with threats to their very lives. Fr. Udelhoven's "Fingers of Thomas" support group offers them comfort. Its culturally-sensitive approach takes seriously people's fears yet also pursues justice for those who are victims of moral panics and minority demonization.
(Learn more about the "Fingers of Thomas" here: https://www.fenza.org/fingers-of-thomas.html)

Comforting the Afflicted—Witchcraft & Demons in a World of Plural Beliefs (Bernhard Udelhoven, MAfr)

Conversations with journalists, pastoral leaders, activists, theologians, and scholars from across the globe who are working on the forefront of issues affecting the Catholic Church in the southern hemisphere—Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Based at DePaul University, the Center for World Catholicism & Intercultural Theology (CWCIT) is a leading center of research and reflection on the Church in the global South; it hosts visiting scholars each year, publishes the Studies in World Catholicism book series, and collaborates internationally with institutions such as the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, the St. Vincent School of Theology in Manila, and the Hekima Institute of Peace Studies and International Relations in Nairobi.

Sr. Maria Vasantha, MD: Practicing Eastern and Western Medicine (and the Catholic Faith) in India

Near and Far (a world Catholicism podcast series)

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