The hardest part of the journey

"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature... And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils."

- Mark 16:15,17

Because it occurred to me today that not every Catholic knows and fully understands the implications of the Church's new decision regarding the practice of casting out evil spirits, I need to post this article.
First, I want to say that this document both infuriates me and convinces me that The End is nearer than ever.
It will also be a very interesting read for any practicing Catholics who watch shows like Paranormal State and see episcopal or Catholic priests and laypeople interacting with alleged demonic entities.

I submit that it completely changes the teachings of Our Lord Jesus Christ to his disciples, and further, that it binds and ties the hands of the faithful, who at one point HAD the authority, in the name of the Church of Christ, to cast out evil spirits. I submit that this decision is unscriptural and is fully malicious (read: not for the good of our souls.) I recognize that this means that I am utterly disapproving of an action of a Pope I love very, very much. This disheartens me to the extreme.

For a long while I let my disgust with this action and decision govern my reactions and my ministry. I have, in the past, directly disobeyed this document and thus directly disobeyed the Holy Father. Most of the traditional Catholics I know also disregard this completely, regularly using exorcisms such as the simple exorcism of Pope Leo XIII, which a POPE told us to use regularly. Further, scripture itself is full of commands to the Demons. When we pray certain scriptures over people and situations, we command evil spirits. Surely this is what we are SUPPOSED to do.

And yet, I recently learned the hard way a lesson that I don't think many readers will understand.... at least not many non-Catholics.

I learned the importance of Obedience, even to a flawed system or governance. The pope is NOT perfect, nor does the Church teach that he is. Further, it seems to me that if the man is as wise and holy as I believe he is, somehow, some way, he must have been FORCED by the hand of darkness to sign this document and further, that it will serve a purpose for good. The thing I have learned to accept is that GOD ALLOWED THIS TO HAPPEN.

Just as He allowed Vatican II, or rather the misinterpretation of Vatican II to happen. Just as He allows Satanic Black Masses to take place. And in allowing these things to happen, our humility is tested to the extreme degree, because those of us who are convinced (as I am) that a very evil spirit lurked and presided over the events at Vatican II, and yet recognize that we must remain with the faith til The End, that we cannot leave now but rather must continue to pray, pray without ceasing and strive for holiness unaided and amid endless obstacles to our spiritual growth....the ultimate lesson here, for me, and it has been LONG in coming, is that obedience in these atrocities serves to perfect my soul, to provide the "challenge" that God's grace will overcome, and that I MUST, must must must acknowledge that if the Church is true, which I believe it is, every time the Church makes a poor decision (which is has obviously begun to do-- just look at what pathetic states our parishes have fallen into. Observe how a holy non-modernist priest who actually BELIEVES in good and evil is one in a million these days. Sit through another round of KUMBAFREAKINGYA during Communion.) GOD HAS ALLOWED IT, and if I set myself up to say: "No, this cannot be so!" then am I not playing God? Am I not telling God what His own Church may and may not do??

I do not understand, not in the slightest, how these things are allowed to happen in the Church each and every day. Why the Pope doesn't just SLAM down his mighty fist and say "BASTA!"
But just because I don't understand doesn't change the fact that it IS happening, that it HAS happened, and that while it appears that every direction I turn the Catholic Faith is in shambles and crumbling it IS STILL THERE. The proof is that there are hundreds of thousands of us wandering around going "What the heck is going on here???"
Where there is ONE person who has retained the faith, there is the Church. And just like the kingdom of God-- we must accept that it IS among us. The Church will NOT fail, and the gates of hell will not prevail against her, although they are certainly doing their darnedest. My obedience to the Church, in this matter, is destined to sanctify me, to give me much needed grace for the journey, even if it's WRONG, even if it's bad, even if it's a concession to the Evil One.
God's mercy trumps everything, and His merciful heart is pleased when we ACCEPT His divine will. I now think of the Church as if she were Job, knowing that She will be restored from this naked mess to Her perfect Glory, knowing that THIS is the struggle between good and evil that has been prophesied in scripture and through the ages by the saints and by visions from heaven. THIS. IS. OBEDIENCE.... to do the will of God, and to suffer, and to see Him in His GLORY.

So, without further ado, I give you the document that breaks my heart and yet fills me with hope. I can attest from personal experience that direct disobedience to this teaching can, and will, put you at risk. Sometimes, we learn the hard way. Even if we think we are right. When the Church teaches us something, Heaven and the Church are in agreement. Peter holds the keys. Whatever he binds on earth will be bound in heaven. Whether we cooperate with heaven on this issue or not will decide our spiritual fate, and will expose our pride and our sinfulness -- well, in much the same way as it has mine. The very first sin, which Lucifer, God's most precious and glorious angel committed was pride. It was his setting himself up to BE Lord.
Everytime we disobey the Church, even when she is WRONG, (and again-- what I'm about to show you is simply a recommendation of the magesterium, it is NOT a doctrine or dogma... do not be confused)we are making the decision to act as our Enemy did... we are losing the war.

Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.


Inde Ab Aliquot Annis

On The Current Norms Governing Exorcisms

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
September 29, 1985

Translated by Father Gabriele Amorth, Exorcist of Diocese of Rome



Also see:
Comments from Father Amorth about the Document
Latin Edition of Inde Ab Aliquot Annis
Instruction on Prayers for Healing

Prot. no. 291/70; ASS 77 (1985): 1169-70; EnchVat 9, nn. 1663-67

Excellentissime Domine

For some years there has been an increase in the number of ecclesial gatherings which seek liberation from demonic influences, even though they are not properly and truly exorcisms. These groups, even when a priest is present, are led by lay persons.

Since the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has been asked what ought to be thought about this, this dicastry is of the opinion that all other ordinaries should have the following response:

1. Canon 1172 of the Code of Canon Law declares that no one is able to legitimately undertake exorcisms of the possessed unless expressed and individual permission has been obtained from the ordinary of the place (section 1). The canon also establishes that this permission ought to be conceded by the ordinary of the place only to priests who are distinguished in piety, knowledge, prudence, and integrity of life (section 2). Bishops are, therefore, strongly urged to see to the observance of these norms.


2. From these prescriptions it follows, therefore, that no member of the Christian faithful can use the formula of exorcism against Satan and fallen angels, extracted from that which was made law by Leo XIII, and even less are the able to use the entire text for exorcism. Bishops are to bring this to the attention of the faithful as it is deemed necessary.


3. Finally, for the same reasons, bishops are asked to be vigilant that -- for even cases in which true diabolical possession is excluded, diabolical influence nevertheless seems in some way to be revealed -- those who do not have the required faculty not serve in the leading of meeting where, in order to gain freedom, prayers are used which dignify demons by directly questioning them and in searching to make known their identity.

The announcement of these norm, however, ought not to keep the faithful from praying that, as Jesus taught us, they might be delivered from evil (cf. Mt 6:13). Finally, pastors ought to avail themselves of this occasion to recall what the tradition of the Church teaches about the proper function of sacraments and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the angels and the saints in the spiritual fight of Christians against evil spirits.

May I take this occasion to convey my great feelings of esteem for you,
remaining your servant in the Lord,
Joseph Card. Ratzinger, Prefect

Translated to Italian by Father Gabriele Amorth, Exorcist to the Diocese of Rome in his Exorcist Tells His Story, [American Edition], Ignatius Press, San Francisco (1999), (translated into English by Nicoletta V. MacKenzie), pp. 189-90

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Comments from Father Amorth Concerning Inde Ab Aliquot Annis

from Exorcist Tells His Story, Ibid, pp.190-91

The above-cited letter warns against any direct dealings with demons and states that their name should not be asked by those who have not been granted the specific faculty to do so. The Acts of the Apostles report a particularly fitting event ... (of the consequences of acting without faculty to do so in the story of the Seven Brothers --Acts 19:11-20).

from An Exorcist: More Stories, [American Edition], Ignatius Press, San Francisco: (2002), (translated into English by Nicoletta V. MacKenzie), pp. 189-90

I will now explain some of that is forbidden and what is required, according to these guidelines (of Inde Ab Aliquot Annis).

* First, official exorcisms are not allowed; they are reserved exclusively for the exorcist. The same holds true for the exorcism of Leo XIII, even though it is now part of the public domain. The private use of such exorcisms is another matter; at least, this is how I understand the above-cited document.

* We must avoid addressing the demon directly and to find out his name and -- I add -- anything else. All other considerations aside, a direct dialogue with the demon can be dangerous to anyone who dares to initiate it without the due authorization of the Church, and therefor without her protection.

At the end, the document reminds of of the importance of prayer, the sacraments, and the intercession of the Virgin Mary, the angels, and the saints....


Latin Version

INDE AB ALIQUOT

ACTA CONGREGATIONUM CONGREGATIO PRO DOCTRINA FIDEI

Epistula Ordinariis locorum missa: in mentem normae vigentes de exorcismis revocantur [Die 29 m. Septembris a. 1985 (AAS p. 1169-70)]Excellentissime domine, inde ab aliquot annis, apud quosdam coetus ecclesiales, conventus ad precationes faciendas multiplicantur hoc quidem proposito, ut liberatio obtineatur ab influxu daemonum, etiamsi non de exorcismis proprie dictis agatur; qui conventus peraguntur sub ductu laicorum, etiam praesente sacerdote.

Cum a Congregatione pro doctrina fidei quaesitum sit quid sentiendum de hisce factis, hoc dicasterium necessarium putat omnes ordinarios certiores facere de responsione quae sequitur:

1. Canon 1172 Codicis Iuris Canonici declarat neminem exorcismos in obsessos proferre legitime posse, nisi ab ordinario loci peculiarem et expressam licentiam obtinuerit (1), ac determinat hanc licentiam ab ordinario loci concedendam esse tantummodo presbytero pietate, scientia, prudentia ac vitae integritate praedito (2). Episcopi igitur enixe invitantur, ut observantiam urgeant horum praescriptorum.
2. Ex hisce praescriptionibus sequitur ut christifidelibus etiam non liceat adhibere formulam exorcismi contra satanam et angelos apostaticos, excerptam ex illa quae publici iuris facta est iussu summi pontificis Leonis XIII, ac multo minus adhibere textum integrum huius exorcismi. Episcopi hac de re fideles admonere curent in casu necessitatis.
3. Denique, ob easdem rationes, episcopi rogantur ut vigilent ne -- etiam in casibus qui, licet veram possessionem diabolicam excludant, diabolicum tamen influxum aliqualiter revelare videntur -- ii qui debita potestate carent conventus moderentur, in quibus ad liberationem obtinendam precationes adhibentur, quarum decursu daemones directe interpellantur et eorum identitas cognoscere studetur.

Harum normarum tamen enuntiatio minime christifideles abducere debet a precando ut, quemadmodum Iesus nos docuit, liberentur a malo (cf. Mt 6,13). Insuper pastores has oblata opportunitate uti poterunt, ut in mentem revocent quid Ecclesiae traditio doceat circa munus quod proprie ad sacramenta et ad Beatissimae Virginis Mariae, Angelorum Sanctorumque intercessionem spectat in christianorum etiam contra spiritus malignos spirituali certamine.

Hanc occasionem nactus impensos aestimationis meae sunsus tibi obtestor permanens

add.mus in Domino

Iosephus Card. Ratzinger, Praefectus
Albertus Bovone, a Secretis
L. S. In Congr. pro Doctrina Fidei tab., n. 291/70


I fully expect that most people who have read this far are thinking it's time to call the white coats. And that's OK. God and I have an understanding here. :)

An interview with an exorcist

An interview with Fr Gabriele Amorth, Diocesan Exorcist of Rome.
Satanic Alarm

STEFANO M. PACI

"Catholic hierarchy should say a fervent mea culpa. For, it is also their fault if devil worship and esoteric practices are becoming more widespread"

Fr Gabrielle Amorth
Diocesan Exorcist of Rome (1996)



You are in a unique position to form a general opinion of the whole question and you have direct-experience. Is it true that more people today are "associating" with the Devil?

GABRIELE AMORTH: Unfortunately, it is. In these past ten years of exorcisms I have witnessed a progressive increase in the number of people coming to me. Of course, more information circulates today. In the past, a lot of people who might have needed the help of an exorcist wouldn't have known how to go about finding one and may not even have known that they exist. But I think this increase is owing to an explosion proper of maleficence and evil and this is the Devil's work.

What are the causes?

AMORTH: More and more people are practising spiritism or joining Satanic sects. It's like a fashion, almost. Sometimes they just join without thinking about what they might come up against. Then they find themselves facing the consequences in terror. For the Devil is not an impersonal entity. This is not just a name psychoanalysts use for the abstract ills that exist in society. He is a real person and, as Saint Peter says in his first letter, 'like a roaring lion he is on the prowl for someone to devour'. Unfortunately, a poor form of theology has also spread this abstract concept of the Devil within the Catholic Church. Yet this is the exact opposite of Gospel teaching, of the Magisterium and of the feelings of the Christian people. Many bishops don't believe that he exists either. So if more and more people are recurring to esoteric practices and joining Satanic sects it is also because the Church has stopped teaching the proper doctrine about the Devil taught to us by Scripture and transmitted to us by Tradition. So I would say that Catholic hierarchy is also greatly responsible for the spread of this phenomenon.

Who else is to blame?

AMORTH: The press which has paid the worst kind of service by amplifying the phenomenon and nearly always failing to publish proper information. By so doing they are proclaiming and propagating evil. And so today we are seeing vast numbers of people turn to witches, card-readers and Satanic sects and the consequences are alarming even public authorities.

What are the evils and maleficence you mentioned earlier?

AMORTH: There are two types: demonic infestation and demonic possession. Infestation is provoked by a demon 'outside' the person and every now and then it assails the person causing physical and mental disturbances totally immune to medical treatment. Possession, which is very rare, happens 'inside' the person who is penetrated by a demon which sometimes acts using the person's own faculties. I would stress that cases of authentic demonic possession are very rare and cannot be compared with the cases of people in need of psychiatric help, which are 999 out of a thousand. The majority of cases I treat are cases of demonic infestation.

What is the cause of either of these conditions?

AMORTH: There are four causes. Firstly, seances and membership of Satanic sects. These practices, which expose people to maleficence and evils and even possession, are booming today, playing into the Devil's hands. Today, people no longer go to seances conducted by mediums who enter into a trance and claim to conjure up the dead - the truth is that if someone does intervene it is the Devil because the dead are in Paradise, Hell or Purgatory. They put questions to a 'spirit' and received the answers by placing a glass in a circle made of letters of the alphabet, or else they leave a tape recorder on in an empty room to record messages. Some thoughtless priests have been known to suggest this particular practice to parents who have lost children so that they can enter into contact with them. In short, seances are 'played' as if they were a game. According to one reliable survey, 36 per cent of schoolchildren have held seances of this type.

What else is behind the phenomenon?

AMORTH: The second cause is that some forms of grave sins are being persistently committed and so they become more rooted. The third cause is Evil itself. 'Evil' is a general word meaning something bad done to another person through the Devil. The victim is innocent but God allows it because he respects man's freedom. Just as someone might pay to have another person killed, people go to witches in association with Satan to have something evil done against another person. Evil can be done in various ways - the evil eye, curses or by Macumba or Voodoo rites. These rites, in my experience, are the hardest to combat. But if the person to whom the evil is done lives in the grace of God, if he is 'armed' by a normal life of prayer and communion with the Lord, the evil rarely sticks or else it sticks in a weaker form. The fourth cause is an assault by the Devil himself which, in defiance of human explanation, makes a person a victim of maleficent evil. And God allows this. In the Bible and history of the Church there are many such cases - Job, Saint Angela da Foligno, the Cure of Ars. More recent cases include the Blessed John Calabria and Saint John Bosco who was tormented with the Devil's afflictions for two years. Saint Paul, too, tells us that he was tormented by a messenger of Satan. It clearly transpires from his Letters that he was suffering from a physical ill of maleficent origin and it stayed with him until he died. He writes: 'So that I should not get above myself, I was given a thorn in the flesh, a messenger from Satan to batter me'.

What is an exorcism?

AMORTH: It is a 'sacramental'. Canon 1166 of the Code of Canon Law defines sacramentals as sacred signs by which, in imitation of the sacraments, come the principally spiritual effects obtained by the supplication of the Church. Whereas the sacraments were instituted by Jesus Christ and are the same gestures as Jesus Christ performed, the sacramentals are proposed by the Church. The Church instituted the sacramental of exorcism to make the power, conferred by Christ to all believers, more effective. In fact, every believer or community can offer prayers of deliverance following the example of Christ's teaching reported in the 16th chapter of the Gospel of Mark: 'Whoever believes,.. in my name will cast out devils.' But only bishops and priests - never the laity - who have received an express license from a bishop may perform an exorcism. This is established by Canon 1167 of the Code stating that exorcisms must be performed in strict observance of the rites and formulas approved by the Church.

Was this rite also reformed after the Second Vatican Council?

AMORTH: You must be joking. It is the only text of all the texts due to be published after the last Council that has still to come out, even though 30 years have passed since Vatican II closed. The book of exorcisms currently in use is still the Roman Rite version dated 1614. This is another sign of the remarkable disinterest within the Catholic Church towards the Devil's concrete actions. In contrast to the Orthodox Church and to many Protestant confessions, the Catholic Church has almost abandoned the use of exorcisms, retaining this practice to be a throwback to the 'dark ages.' Catholic hierarchy must say a fervent mea culpa for it is also their fault if esoteric practices and Satanic sects are more widespread. All too often, the Church has been guilty of omission in its teaching on the Devil and in providing remedies for the faithful under attack by him. The Congregation of Divine Worship once formed an ad hoc commission to draft the new rite for exorcisms. But the temporary rite they recently drafted reflects a total lack of preparation on the part of the commission's members. They were liturgists who had never performed or seen exorcisms and who hadn't the slightest idea how they took place. We protested and the new rite has now been shelved [see 2002 POSTSCRIPT below - Ed.]. It's better for us to keep to the Roman Rite of over three centuries ago.

Has the Italian Episcopal Conference improved matters by appointing exorcists to the various dioceses, as the press often reports?

AMORTH: When they intervene in this field, bishops often say the wrong things. This is seriously counter-productive. It all depends on the awareness and goodwill of local bishops. Some bishops realize that they have more need today of exorcists on hand in their dioceses and so they appoint them. This is also a reflection of growing express demand from faithful with the increase in witches, card-readers, Satanic sects and spiritists. Some bishops are excessive. Tarcisio Carboni, Bishop of Macerata, was killed in a car accident recently on his way to the Italian Church convention in Palermo. He had just appointed 22 exorcists all in one go. Other dioceses have none at all, their bishops refusing to appoint any.

Acknowledgements to 30 Days



POSTSCRIPT

February 2002

Blunting the Sword of Exorcism

AS Harry Potter trivialises the occult on the outside, Father Gabriele Amorth, Founder and Honorary President of the International Association of Exorcists, complains of Vatican efforts to stymie the power of exorcists on the inside. In a recent interview published in the Italian monthly 30 Days [No. 6, 2001], he spoke out about the new rite of exorcism being developed by the Congregation of Divine Worship:

"All of us exorcists in trying out the prayers of the new ad interim Rite have proved that they are totally ineffective. But then again, the rite of baptism of children came off worse too. It was totally re-worked so that exorcism against Satan has been all but eliminated... Their intention was to arm us with a blunt sword. Some effective prayers were cancelled, prayers with 12 centuries of history. New ineffective prayers were written in."

His only lifeline, he explained, was that permission can still be obtained to use the traditional rite. He further bitterly complained that 150 trained and canonically appointed exorcists were "barred from taking part in a public Papal Audience in Saint Peter's Square. (This) says much of how the exorcists of the Church are obstructed in their ministry, how much they are frowned upon by so many of the ecclesiastical authorities."

Asked: "You are locked in daily battle with the Devil. What do you see as Satan's greatest success?" the highly respected cleric replied:

"The fact that he has managed to convince people that he does not exist. He has almost managed it, even within the Church. We have a clergy and an Episcopate who no longer believe in the Devil, in exorcism, in the exceptional evil the Devil can instill, or even the power that Jesus bestowed to cast out demons."

Commenting on the above exclusion of the 150 exorcists, he added:

"The smoke of Satan gets in everywhere, everywhere. Perhaps we were kept out of the Papal audience because they were afraid that all those exorcists might have cast out the legions of demons that have installed themselves in the Vatican."

"You're joking aren't you?" returned the startled interviewer, to which Father Amorth replied:

"It might sound like it, but I don't think that it is a joke. I have no doubt whatever the Devil is tempting the upper levels of the Church, above all, just as he tempts every upper level."

* * * * *

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church

2851. Evil is not an abstraction, but refers to a person, Satan, the Evil One, the angel who opposes God. The devil (dia-bolos) is the one who 'throws himself across' God's plan and his work of salvation accomplished in Christ.

1673. When the Church asks publicly and authoritatively in the name of Jesus Christ that a person or object be protected against the power of the Evil One and withdrawn from his dominion, it is called exorcism. Jesus performed exorcisms (Mark 1: 25) and from him the Church has received the power and office of exorcising. In a simple form, exorcism is performed at the celebration of Baptism. The solemn exorcism, called 'a major exorcism', can be performed only by a priest and with the permission of the bishop. The priest must proceed with prudence, strictly observing the rules established by the Church. Exorcism is directed at the expulsion of demons or the liberation from demonic possession through the spiritual authority which Jesus entrusted to his Church. Illness, especially psychological illness, is a very different matter; treating this is the concern of medical science. Therefore, before an exorcism is performed, it is important to ascertain that one is dealing with the presence of the Evil One, and not an illness.

2116. All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to 'unveil' the future. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honour, respect and loving fear that we owe to God alone.

2117. All practices of magic or sorcery by which one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to place them at one's service and have a supernatural power over others - even if this were for the sake of restoring their health are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion. These practices are even more to be condemned when accompanied by the intention of harming someone, or when they have recourse to the intervention of demons. Wearing charms is also reprehensible. Spiritism often implies divination or magic practices: the Church for her part warns the faithful against it.


From the June/July 1996 feature in Christian Order Magazine, found here:
http://www.christianorder.com/features/features_1996/features_june-july96_2.html