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| Bishop Julian Porteous |
Father Gregory Jordan, S.J., 80, who was appointed as exorcist to the archdiocese of Brisbane about 10 years ago, said in his experience ouija boards and astrology posed a risk. He said the growth in demand for exorcisms in Western countries, albeit from a low base, was unquestionable: he had performed four this week.
The Jesuit priest, who was asked to preview The Exorcist in 1973, said the Catholic rite involving prayers to drive out the devil bore little resemblance to its depiction in popular culture. Most exorcisms dealt with ''oppression'' (feeling weighed down) or ''obsession'' (unusual, persistent negative thoughts) rather than possession,
Father Jordan said. ''After an exorcism I've had people say, 'I feel lighter.' They straighten their shoulders.'' A protocol in place stipulated that the subject of the rite was medically examined before undergoing it, he said.''When there's real doubt, I simply … give them the Sacrament of anointing, which is quite appropriate and [with] which generally speaking they're quite happy,'' he said.
4 comments:
My impression is that Catholic exorcists have never been exposed to serious evil.
I've probably read at least a dozen interviews with Catholic exorcists, and a few articles about them, and it seems that serious evil is being hidden from them. I've never really heard any of them describe the diverse techniques of Satan.
I have found that Jesuits over the age of 75,almost without exception, are true defenders of the faith. More importantly, they know Jesus Christ, having lived lives of intimate prayer with the Master.
Late Comment time: TonyD, perhaps that is a way of them avoiding leading people into obsession? The enemy is more powerful than most of us realise and it seems unwise to give him any leeway for 'credit', so to speak.
"that young people potentially risked a dangerous fascination with the occult, fuelled by the Twilight and Harry Potter series. He also warned an interest in the underlying spiritual beliefs of yoga, reiki massages and tai chi could lead people into the grip of ''demonic forces''."
It's very important to notice what he said, because people are obsessing over it on both sides. No one is gonna get possessed by reading HP, dangerous thing is when a kid gonna start looking for real magic and occult AFTER reading.
Same with yoga or tai chi (tai chi not so much, it's not that religious really, more of a physical tradition mastered by wise guys which happend to be tao philosophers), you won't get possessed by exercises, but researching, getting involved in spiritual practices of Yoga (which is religious practice, westerners' yoga is just an imitation) leads to syncretism, which is never good.
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