A Christian priest with self-proclaimed supernatural powers to heal people was admitted to a hospital in Kerala’s Alappuzha on Monday (8 July) following complaint of viral fever.

The priest named Father V P Joseph Valiyaveettil runs a faith healing centre in the city named Kreupasanam Marian Retreat Centre which is patronised by various devotees from across the state, who come there to seek treatment for various diseases.

As per a director at the centre, the hospitalised father possesses supernatural powers and was providing his service to devotees without rest, which led to the hospitalisation. The director claimed that the father was prescribed an antibiotic course as part of the treatment.

“He was providing his service without taking rest. Though we have asked him to take rest, he was not ready for that. By the grace of God and supernatural power with him, he can give relief to devotees”, the director Thankachan Panackal was quoted as saying.

The faith healing centre had recently courted controversy when its newspaper promised miraculous cure for diseases using supernatural powers of the paper pages. The father had then asked his followers not to use the paper’s ashes to cure diseases but instead visit their centre for treatment.