By: Santosh Digal

Mumbai: Over the last 30 years, a priest from the Archdiocese of Bombay has revolutionized the entire concept of rehabilitation and in turn transformed the lives of thousands of individuals who were formerly drug and alcoholic addicts and their families.

Fr. Joseph Hilary Pereira is the founder and managing trustee of Kripa (grace) Foundation, an organization battling addiction and HIV/AIDS.It is the largest NGO working in the field of Rehabilitation of Chemical Dependency and HIV/AIDS with 65 facilities, in 11 states in India and in six countries.

An ardent student of Padmabhushan Guruji B.K.S.Iyengar Yoga, since August 1968, he structured specific sequences of postures/Asanas and pranayam with meditation (Dhyana) in the Kripa Module of recovery for addicts and people living with HIV/ AIDS.  KRIPA-AIDS, a Kripa Foundation initiative, was started by him in 1992 for the sero-positive injecting drug users.

Today, various programs of prevention and care and support are being implemented through KRIPA-AIDS nationwide.

Fr. Pereira is the only senior teacher of Iyengar Yoga to be granted by Guruji B.K.S. Iyengar to design a special protocol of asanas in addiction treatment which is trademarked and called Kripa foundation Iyengar Yoga.

Born on September 6, 1942 in Vasai, Maharashtra, he was ordained as a Catholic priest on Sept 21, 1967. He has a Master’s degree in Philosophy with Licentiate in Theology. Later he was appointed parish priest at Mount Carmel’s Church, Bandra, Mumbai.

It was here that he came in contact with numerous victims of alcohol abuse. A Catholic priest and a follower of Mahatma Gandhi (Father of the nation), he dedicated his life to these people and the results of his labour of love can be seen in the thousands of alcoholics and drug addicts who have “gone on to become productive members of society.”

Fr. Pereira has meticulously designed and implemented the Kripa Module of rehabilitation, which consists of a diverse set of principles, and addresses every dimension of the disease, such as physical, mental, spiritual, and psycho-social.

“Kripa has become a source of … inspiration and grace to the marginalized all over the world,” Fr. Pereira said.

According to him, the practice of Yoga in Kripa is not just restricted to addiction recovery. “We pay attention to people of multiple needs for one’s better health.

Drawing insights from Iyengar’s dream, Kripa has blended it with the inspiration of St Teresa of Kolkata, that is, “God brings us to where we belong.”

Apart from his vocation within a vocation, Fr. Pereira has been invited by numerous organizations across the globe as a resource person at major conferences in Canada, the United States of America, Latin America and Far East. One of the significant, among his numerous paper presentations, was, “The effectiveness of a specialized Yoga module for recovering substance abusers: A comparative study,” in London at the 7th International Dharam Hinduja Institute of Indic Research in 2002.

He has been Member of the High Level Committee of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and National Council for Drug Abuse Prevention, Government of India and is presently appointed to the Bureau of Social Defence for  prevention of alcoholism and substance (drugs) abuse.

His work has not gone unnoticed and has been acclaimed both in India and abroad.  He received the Award for Anti Drug Abuse at Reach in 1989,  Priyadarshini National Award for work in Anti Drug Abuse, 1990, Perestroika Sanjeevani Award for Anti Drug Abuse in Bombay also in 1990, Sahayog Foundation Award for outstanding work in the Field of Drug and Alcohol Abuse in 1995, Ati Param Visisht Sewa Medal for Social Sciences – Association of  College of Chest Physicians, New Delhi, 1997, the International Yoga Journal Karmayogi of the Year Award 2003,  the Christian Chamber of Commerce Award for excellence in the field of social work in 2007 and  the Mother Theresa III National Award  in 2008.

He also received the Padma Shree Award for 2009 in Social work and the CPCI (Catholic Priests Conference of India) National Excellence Award in 2011. The latest being The National Award 2014 for a professional in the field addiction treatment from the President of India, Pranab Mukerjee.

“While all that happens in Kripa is all about the external face of Kripa, we are witnessing God’ action within the human being all the time,” Fr. Pereira said.

According to him “Nothing speaks more powerfully than a story of a person’s journey from brokenness to wholeness.”