29/10: Pope Benedict XVI Revives the Practice of Exorcism
Category: Christian Belief
Posted by: an okie gardener
Story here from The Mail.
Vatican chiefs are concerned at what they see as an increased interest in the occult.
They have introduced courses for priests to combat what they call the most extreme form of "Godlessness."
Each bishop is to be told to have in his diocese a number of priests trained to fight demonic possession.
The initiative was revealed by 82-year-old Father Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican "exorcistinchief," to the online Catholic news service Petrus.
"Thanks be to God, we have a Pope who has decided to fight the Devil head-on," he said.
"Too many bishops are not taking this seriously and are not delegating their priests in the fight against the Devil. You have to hunt high and low for a properly trained exorcist.
"Thankfully, Benedict XVI believes in the existence and danger of evil . . .
"Exorcism" means the casting out of a demon or demons who are possessing a person. The belief in evil spirits who would harm humans, including by possessing human bodies, is an ancient and widespread belief, not confined to Christianity.
From its earliest days Christianity has believed that a personal devil, and hordes of lesser demons, sought to harm human beings as part of the rebellion of the fallen angels. In the Early Church casting out of demons was done by laypeople as well as church officers, but gradually the practice became restricted to the ordained.
While Modernity downplayed the supernatural, resulting in the loss of belief in demons and exorcisms among many Western Christians, the growth of Pentecostalism has revived the practice of casting out demons among conservative Protestants.
Traditionally, "possession" was distinguished from "oppression" and from the more general temptations and malicious work of demons. "Oppression" refers to the strong presence of demons in a person's life, perhaps resulting from willingly participating in sins. "Possession" refers to demons taking up residence in the person's body.
The Roman Catholic Church's position is that actual possession is rare, at least within Christendom. More common is Oppression, which can be handled by prayer, along with confession and repentence if needed. Possession, however, must be fought with Exorcism, the casting out of the demon through the work of an exorcist (involving prayers, rituals, sacred objects) and the willingness of the possessed to be delivered.
Raised within modern culture, I have tended not to think much about possession, or exorcism. Probably that is an area of my ministry I need to reconsider.
Vatican chiefs are concerned at what they see as an increased interest in the occult.
They have introduced courses for priests to combat what they call the most extreme form of "Godlessness."
Each bishop is to be told to have in his diocese a number of priests trained to fight demonic possession.
The initiative was revealed by 82-year-old Father Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican "exorcistinchief," to the online Catholic news service Petrus.
"Thanks be to God, we have a Pope who has decided to fight the Devil head-on," he said.
"Too many bishops are not taking this seriously and are not delegating their priests in the fight against the Devil. You have to hunt high and low for a properly trained exorcist.
"Thankfully, Benedict XVI believes in the existence and danger of evil . . .
"Exorcism" means the casting out of a demon or demons who are possessing a person. The belief in evil spirits who would harm humans, including by possessing human bodies, is an ancient and widespread belief, not confined to Christianity.
From its earliest days Christianity has believed that a personal devil, and hordes of lesser demons, sought to harm human beings as part of the rebellion of the fallen angels. In the Early Church casting out of demons was done by laypeople as well as church officers, but gradually the practice became restricted to the ordained.
While Modernity downplayed the supernatural, resulting in the loss of belief in demons and exorcisms among many Western Christians, the growth of Pentecostalism has revived the practice of casting out demons among conservative Protestants.
Traditionally, "possession" was distinguished from "oppression" and from the more general temptations and malicious work of demons. "Oppression" refers to the strong presence of demons in a person's life, perhaps resulting from willingly participating in sins. "Possession" refers to demons taking up residence in the person's body.
The Roman Catholic Church's position is that actual possession is rare, at least within Christendom. More common is Oppression, which can be handled by prayer, along with confession and repentence if needed. Possession, however, must be fought with Exorcism, the casting out of the demon through the work of an exorcist (involving prayers, rituals, sacred objects) and the willingness of the possessed to be delivered.
Raised within modern culture, I have tended not to think much about possession, or exorcism. Probably that is an area of my ministry I need to reconsider.
Robert wrote:
It was something to think about.