João de Deus (medium)

João Teixeira de Faria (born June 4, 1942—), better known by his alias João de Deus ("John of God"), is perhaps the most famous medium and psychic surgeon in Brazil today. He is based in Abadiânia, a small town in the state of Goiás, southwest of Brasília.

Biography

Early Life

João de Deus was born João Teixeira de Faria in Cachoeira da Fuaca, Goiás, in humble surroundings. Not much is known about João's early life. There are no records save those in the memories of his associates, and they differ widely. Even João himself is a poor source of precise details.His most widely known biography is The Miracle Man.[http://www.johnofgod.com/guide.htm Since the book's author, Robert Pellegrino-Estrich, runs tours to Abadiânia, he cannot be considered an unbiased source.

João completed only two years of education and spent many years travelling from village to village in the states of Goias and Minas Gerais healing people and administering the local herbs to whomever turned up wherever he stopped. He later spent a number of years living on the local army base in Brasilia, where he was given basic necessities in exchange for his healing work on members of the military.

The Casa

Eventually, João claims, he was told by his spirit guides that he must expand his work to reach more people, so he left the protected life at the army base. The late Chico Xavier, who was João's friend and one of Brazil's most celebrated healers, told him he should go to the small Goiás town of Abadiânia to fulfill his healing mission. Around 1978, when João first performed his healing work there, he just sat outdoors in a chair near the main road where people soon began to arrive seeking cures for their various illnesses and conditions. Gradually the numbers increased to thousands a day and slowly he developed his centre, The Casa de Dom Inácio.

Faith Healings

What is alleged

"It was not I who chose this mission of mine. It was God who entrusted it to me and I will see it through to the end. I do not cure anyone; it is God who cures. He is the way and the truth – and everywhere, for those who ask, this Supreme Being is present." (João de Deus)

João attracts thousands to the Casa de Dom Inacio, where many undergo either visible or invisible psychic operations. Every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday hundreds of people line up outside to pass before the medium, who prescribes a course of treatment or offers advice and answers to questions. The courses of treatment may include a prescription of pills or, in some cases, surgery.

When called for a surgical operation by João, patients are offered the choice of visible or invisible operations. If they select an invisible operation (or are younger than 18 or older than 45) they are directed to sit in a room in the Casa and meditate. João enters the room and pronounces them healed. Visible operations can take place in a closed room at the Casa or in the main public hall on a raised stage. The visible operations involve incisions, eye scraping and even placing a pair of forceps up a patient's nose.

When João performs consultations and surgeries, he claims to lose consiousness. The volunteers, staff and patients claim that while he is "in entity" he is taken over by the spirits of many different people, including famous doctors. While in entity João has claimed to be Inacio de Loyola (founder of the Jesuits), Dr Osvaldo Cruz, and the biblical King Solomon, among others.

According to sources from partisan websites, celebrities, politicians, doctors and other well known people have come for healing at the Casa de Dom Inácio. Shirley MacLaine is said to have had a large tumour removed from her stomach at the Casa after unsuccessful treatments by psychic surgeons in the Philippines. The actress Janet Leigh also visited the Casa for treatment. A president of Peru, in most sources stated as Alberto Fujimori, was allegedly healed of problems with his hands, and his son healed of another condition, when João made a visit to Peru some years ago. A certificate of thanks written by the president of Peru adorns a wall of a public room in the Casa. On a wall in a private unmarked room at the rear of the centre hangs a plaque bearing a Medal of Honour from the President. [http://www.johnofgod.com/article.htm

Surgeries are performed on a surrogate patient when the actual patient is unable to make the trip. Other patients are more interested in making money or solving problems in their personal life. One follower who organizes tours ^* asked the entitity of João if he would help him fill planes with people coming to the Casa. He was told to pursue the endeavor.

The ABC Documentary

On July 14, 2005 the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) ran a documentary on João in their Primetime live slot.Dismissed as an infomercial[http://www.randi.org/jr/021805a.html by skeptics, it has also been criticised by believers as well. The programme featured five people with various medical conditions, including chronic fatigue syndrome, Lou Gehrig's disease and an inoperable brain tumor. Each patient saw João and ABC claimed that in three of the cases there had been an improvement. Skeptics claim that any improvements are the result of natural spontaneous remission, a placebo effect, possibly caused by conventional medicine or wishful thinking on the part of the patient. James Randi, in particular, criticises ABC for not approaching the situation in a more scientific way.

ABC's update on the five people involved lacks detail; two are making either slow progress or none at all, one is worse, but one seems to have recovered to the extent that he assumes the tumor is gone.^*

The Skeptical viewpoint

James Randi is convinced that João is a fraud of the worst kind, making money from other people's suffering. He argues that no scientific evidence exists to back up claims of healing and that João performs sleight of hand and carnival tricks to convince people that they have been healed. He also claims that João makes money from selling herbal remedies, 'merchandise' and donations.

The Scientific evidence

Scientific evidence is sparse. In one study, thirty "operations" were followed, including six patients who were actually opened, and the extracted tissues were collected and submitted to exams. During these operations, the "surgeon" really incised the skin or the ocular epitelius, in addition to performing corneal scrapings without any anesthesia or identifiable anesthetic. Despite this, only one patient complained of moderate pain when she had her breast incised. The patients were examined three days later with no sign of infection. The histopathological exam showed that the tissues extracted were compatible with the site of origin, and, with the exception of a lipoma (adipose tumor) of 210 grams, were normal tissues, without pathological characteristics.(Portuguese 2000, English translation[http://www.friendsofthecasa.org/PsychicSurgeryArticle.htm)

Pellegrino-Estrich's The Miracle Man details further scientific studies, but the only reference to these are in the Casa archives. João has repeatedly asked for doctors and scientists to examine him up close. One of the reasons he performs visible operations on stage is so skeptics can assertain that the surgeries are real. Anyone is allowed to photograph and video his procedures at close range. The fact that he scrapes eyeballs and makes incisions is not in dispute even amongst his fierciest critics; however the white of an eyeball can be scraped without the recipient feeling any pain. Videos of João scraping the center of the eyeare more difficult to explain, but may be caused by sleight of hand or a temporary local anaesthetic substance on the knife blade.[http://www.randi.org/jr/021805a.html It is also claimed by supporters that no-one has suffered any infection from surgeries performed by João, but there is no evidence to support this claim, and testimonials indicate that some people may have suffered infection.

Money

Followers insist that João will take no money, but a concoction of herbs is always prescribed. The doses contain five bottles of pills each and are currently sold for 50 Brazilian Reais. These herbs can only be bought at the Casa. There is also a small shop where people are encoraged to buy goods such as blessed water, crystals, and books. Critics say João is the owner of a large cattle ranch near the town. João claims that any income he receives is put into the running costs of The Casa (a rather large complex of buildings with manicured grounds) and the costs of visiting and distributing healing to the poor areas of Brazil. He also claims that until the devaluation of the Brazillian Real, he never accepted donations.

Conclusion?

Either João is what he says he is, or he is an evil fraud. His claims are too far fetched for there to be any middle ground. Skeptics argue that his motives are greed and/or fame and that thousands of people in the most desperate throws of illness are conned out of money to see him. Believers argue that he hardly breaks even on The Casa and that his life is far too busy and arduous for there to be any reward for fame.

External links

Goiás | Faith Healers

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