João Teixeira de Faria (born June 24, 1942), known also as
João de Deus ("John of God"), is a medium and according to himself, a
psychic surgeonPsychic surgery is a procedure typically involving the apparent creation of an incision using only the bare hands, the apparent removal of pathological matter, and the seemingly spontaneous healing of the incision....
in
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
. He is based in
AbadiâniaAbadiânia is a small town and municipality in the state of Goiás, Brazil. It is home to a famous Brazilian medium and "psychic surgeon" — João de Deus.-Location:Abadiânia is part of the Entorno de Brasília statistical micro-region...
, a small town in the state of
GoiásGoiás is a state of Brazil, located in the central part of the country. The most central of the Brazilian states and most populous of the region, Goiás is characterized by a landscape of chapadões...
, southwest of
BrasíliaBrasília is the capital of Brazil. The city and its District are located in the Central-West region of the country, along a plateau known as Planalto Central. It has a population of about 2,557,000 as of the 2008 IBGE estimate, making it the fourth largest city in Brazil, ahead of Belo Horizonte...
.
João de Deus was born João Teixeira de Faria in Cachoeira da Fumaça,
GoiásGoiás is a state of Brazil, located in the central part of the country. The most central of the Brazilian states and most populous of the region, Goiás is characterized by a landscape of chapadões...
(now
Cachoeira de GoiásCachoeira de Goiás is a small town and municipality in eastern Goiás state, Brazil.-Location:*Distance to the state capital: 172 km.*Distance to regional center : 77 km....
http://biblioteca.ibge.gov.br/visualizacao/dtbs/goias/cachoeiradegoias.pdf).
João Teixeira de Faria (born June 24, 1942), known also as
João de Deus ("John of God"), is a medium and according to himself, a
psychic surgeonPsychic surgery is a procedure typically involving the apparent creation of an incision using only the bare hands, the apparent removal of pathological matter, and the seemingly spontaneous healing of the incision....
in
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
. He is based in
AbadiâniaAbadiânia is a small town and municipality in the state of Goiás, Brazil. It is home to a famous Brazilian medium and "psychic surgeon" — João de Deus.-Location:Abadiânia is part of the Entorno de Brasília statistical micro-region...
, a small town in the state of
GoiásGoiás is a state of Brazil, located in the central part of the country. The most central of the Brazilian states and most populous of the region, Goiás is characterized by a landscape of chapadões...
, southwest of
BrasíliaBrasília is the capital of Brazil. The city and its District are located in the Central-West region of the country, along a plateau known as Planalto Central. It has a population of about 2,557,000 as of the 2008 IBGE estimate, making it the fourth largest city in Brazil, ahead of Belo Horizonte...
.
Early life
João de Deus was born João Teixeira de Faria in Cachoeira da Fumaça,
GoiásGoiás is a state of Brazil, located in the central part of the country. The most central of the Brazilian states and most populous of the region, Goiás is characterized by a landscape of chapadões...
(now
Cachoeira de GoiásCachoeira de Goiás is a small town and municipality in eastern Goiás state, Brazil.-Location:*Distance to the state capital: 172 km.*Distance to regional center : 77 km....
http://biblioteca.ibge.gov.br/visualizacao/dtbs/goias/cachoeiradegoias.pdf). 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, written by, Robert Pellegrino-Estrich, who runs tours to
AbadiâniaAbadiânia is a small town and municipality in the state of Goiás, Brazil. It is home to a famous Brazilian medium and "psychic surgeon" — João de Deus.-Location:Abadiânia is part of the Entorno de Brasília statistical micro-region...
and cannot be considered an unbiased source.
João has no medical training and describes himself as a "simple farmer."
João completed only two years of education and spent many years travelling from village to village in the states of Goias and
Minas GeraisMinas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, the second most populous and fourth largest by area in the federation. The capital is the city of Belo Horizonte, located near the central area...
healing people and administering local herbs to whoever turned up wherever he stopped.
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 XavierChico Xavier was a popular medium in Brazil´s spiritism movement. In his life he wrote more than 400 books in a process known as Automatic writing....
, 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, Casa de Dom Inácio de Loyola.
Faith healings
João and 30 of his "spirit doctors" claim to heal "
cancerCancer is a class of diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled growth , invasion , and sometimes metastasis...
s,
AIDSAcquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus ....
,
blindnessBlindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
,
asthmaAsthma is a predisposition to chronic inflammation of the lungs in which the airways are reversibly narrowed. Asthma affects 7% of the population of the United States, and 300 million worldwide...
,
drug addictionDrug addiction is a pathological condition which arises due to frequent drug use. The disorder of addiction involves the progression of acute drug use to the development of drug-seeking behavior, the vulnerability to relapse, and the decreased, slowed ability to respond to naturally rewarding stimuli...
,
alcohol abuseAlcohol abuse, as described in the DSM-IV, is a psychiatric diagnosis describing the recurring use of alcoholic beverages despite negative consequences. It is differentiated from alcohol dependence by the lack of symptoms such as tolerance and withdrawal. Alcohol abuse is sometimes referred to by...
,
tumorA tumor or tumour is the name for a swelling or lesion formed by an abnormal growth of cells . Tumor is not synonymous with cancer. A tumor can be benign, pre-malignant or malignant, whereas cancer is by definition malignant....
s, physical problems of any kind, debilitating psychological problems and/or spiritual desperation." He attracts thousands to the Casa de Dom Inacio, where many undergo what is claimed to be a "psychic operation." Many travel through an organized tour run in connection with João's group. 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 "In the name of Jesus Christ you are all cured. Let what needs to be done be done in the name of God." Surgeries are performed on a surrogate patient when the actual patient is unable to make the trip.
João tells people not to stop taking their medicine and says not everyone he serves will be cured.
When João performs consultations and surgeries, he says that he is in a state of sleep, trance and that he doesn't remember what has happened. The volunteers, staff and patients claim that while he is "in entity" he is taken over by the spirits of deceased famous doctors, psychiatrists and philosophers. Followers insist that João will take no money, but a concoction of herbs is always prescribed. Persons unable to pay can see the casa staff who will make special arrangements for them. Herbs prescribed by the entity cost 10 Brazilian
ReaisThe real is the present-day currency of Brazil and was also the currency during the period 1690 to 1942. When the first real circulated, the plural used was réis. The currently used plural form is reais, with the symbol R$ and ISO 4217 code BRL. The modern real is subdivided into 100 centavos...
per container. The usual prescription is 3-6 bottles.
Controversy and ABC News Report
While some suggest João de Deus performs 'faith healings,' others are skeptical. For example, on July 14, 2005 the
American Broadcasting CompanyThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
(ABC) ran a news report about João de Deus on
Primetime livePrimetime is a American news magazine show which debuted on ABC in 1989 with co-hosts Sam Donaldson and Diane Sawyer and originally had the title Primetime Live. Originally, the program was aired live on the ABC network and featured a live studio audience. The first interviews included Roseanne...
. The programme featured five people with various medical conditions, including
chronic fatigue syndromeChronic fatigue syndrome is the most common name given to a variably debilitating disorder or disorders characterized by persistent fatigue unrelated to exertion and not substantially relieved by rest...
, 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 improvements were possible via
spontaneous remissionSpontaneous healing, also called spontaneous remission or spontaneous regression, means an unexpected improvement or cure from a disease which usually is taking a different course. Both terms are mainly used for unexpected transient or final improvements in cancer. Spontaneous remissions concern...
, placebo effect, conventional medicine, or wishful thinking on the part of the patient.
ABC's update on the five subjects, while not mentioning one of the subjects, indicated that two are making either slow progress or none at all, one is worse, and one is much better. According to other sources, Matthew Ireland is now free of his brain tumor, which is physiologically possible and David has since died.
External links
Criticism (Concludes there is no medical effect.) ("strongly urges individuals who are ill not to seek treatment by psychic surgeon")
Media