Centering Prayer was created by Trappists monks in the 1970’s. To this day, many parishes host Centering Prayer retreats or prayer groups, usually sponsored by Contemplative Outreach. For many people, these retreats introduce them to the idea of deep prayer, especially contemplation, for the first time.

However, Centering Prayer always has been and remains controversial. Critics say that it is closer to New Age or Eastern meditation than to Christian prayer. They also find the theology underpinning Centering Prayer to be troubling.

On this site I have gathered together blog posts by different authors who have studied the issue. I also create new posts on the issue myself. All of us write and teach on Catholic spirituality, especially the universal call to contemplation.

We have found that Centering Prayer is a distortion of true contemplation. The leaders of the Centering Prayer movement teach religious indifferentism, minimizing the role of Jesus and making Him into a mere example or teacher, rather than Our Savior. One prominent Centering Prayer teacher has recently said that practitioners find more in common with contemplatives from other religious traditions than they do with Catholics who are more focused on vocal prayer or meditation on Scripture and “theological and doctrinal differences” ( Kess Frey, Bridge Across Troubled Waters, 91).

The best place to start in your investigation of the controversy is on my “Quick Questions” page. I briefly hit on all the most disputed points. I encourage you to share the page with friends or family who practice Centering Prayer. If a Centering Prayer group meets at your parish, please share this site with your pastor.

God calls us to a union with Himself that is beyond our imagining. This union begins in the will, as we follow the teachings of the Church and the guidance of the Holy Spirit (always in submission to the Church). Counterfeit methods of contemplation will lead you astray, perhaps even to the loss of your Catholic Faith. True contemplation will lead you to an intimate love relationship with the Holy Trinity through Jesus Christ, Our Savior and Redeemer. My goal is to help you discern the difference, so you can fulfill your God-given destiny.

In Jesus through Mary,

Connie Rossini