Friday, December 03, 2010

"Exorcism" (part I)

“Jesus and Burritos” tonight, 6 pm, followed by Christmas decorating and raffle for $50-$100 Visa gift cards. Should be fun!

--------------------------
I just finished a fascinating and powerful book by Fr. Thomas Euteneuer, “Exorcism and the Church Militant”. Strap on your salvation gear for this one! It is hard hitting. Fr Euteneuer is very active in pro-life ministry and is also an exorcist. He tells some stories from exorcisms that tell the “real story” as opposed to what Hollywood tries to depict. For some, the real deal is scarier. For all, exorcisms are so intriguing because they are real…evil really exists and Christ’s power over it exists. We will try to get Fr. Euteneuer or some other exorcist to speak here next semester. I would appreciate comments from GW Catholics about the following excerpts from the book:

“Once, in an exorcism, a demon used the person’s actual voice to attempt to throw me off the track. The person said to me in her natural voice, ‘I think he’s gone, Father. No, I am sure he is gone, I feel so much better. ‘ I suspected that it might be the demon speaking, so I commanded the person to recite the Hail Mary, and when the person refused, I knew whose the voice was. There are many other ways demons attempt to deceive the exorcist: half truths, mumbling, vague or symbolic answers, etc. Demons are like the most inveterate criminals under interrogation who will not give information except under the greatest duress.” (p.84)

“In a recent deliverance I conducted, the unclean spirit yelled out, “I hate priests!” but he had no power to harm me or the two other priests in attendance. The devil cannot effectively harm the exorcist who endeavors to live in a state of grace and fortifies himself against the wiles of the devil, as both St. Paul and St. Peter admonish in their writings. A priest can be harmed, however, if he is imprudent or inattentive to his enemy. For example, the first exorcism done on the boy whose case formed the basis of the movie, The Exorcist, was performed by a young priest whose arm was gashed from the shoulder to the wrist by the demon wielding a sharp piece of metal he had pulled out of the bed spring. The wound required more than one hundred stitches. This was the case of an inexperienced priest attempting to exorcise a very powerful demon. The exorcism was unsuccessful, and the priest eventually handed the case on to another priest.” (p.88)

“Pope John Paul II in fact performed three exorcisms during his tenure as pope. The first was in 1978, the second in 1982 and the third one was in September of the year 2000 at the end of a papal audience. Apparently, the latter occurred when a 19-year-old Italian woman who had a history of demonic problems and had had an exorcism the previous day was in the papal audience and began to scream with a demonic voice as the Pope left the audience. The Holy Father prayed over her for half an hour and ordered the devil to leave, unsuccessfully. Another priest spent two more hours with her that day, also unsuccessfully, but of course, as has been noted many times in this book, an exorcism is not an “event” – even if a pope is performing it. It is always a process. Allegedly, the young woman continues under the care of an exorcist in Rome.” (p.90)

“Some years ago I was asked by a particular diocese to investigate the case of a woman who was asking for an exorcism. Hers was a very advanced state of possession when I met her, and this is the story of her exorcism. I used the 1614 Rite of Exorcism in its English translation to conduct the exorcism sessions.” (p.188) …

The incredible, dramatic story to be continued…

Here is Fr Euteneuer on TV years ago performing a spiritual work of mercy (admonishing the sinner). From what I understand, he tried to reach out privately to Mr. Hannity to admonish him before doing it publicly. I don’t know if he handled the whole situation perfectly, but he does an excellent job in articulately and courageously defending the Church in a hostile interview. Go Father!


11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fr. Euteneur's experiences certainly seem powerful, and I like how he patiently and intelligently explains what happened to the reader. I think it would be well worth it to have an exorcist come to GW to talk about his experiences and their effects on his faith and ministry.

Unknown said...

Those excerpts make me want to read the book! It would be great if Fr. Euteneur (or other) could come speak to us about this aspect of the Church.

Liesl said...

I agree it would be cool to have him come talk!

Does a priest have to be in a state of grace to perform an exorcism, or is it just he should try hard to do? (from the second quote)

Liesl said...

Hannity also needs to do some research. A majority of abortions occur because their method of birth control failed... so people using birth control probably does not lower the amount of abortions. I'm trying to find the source for where I read this....

Liesl said...

... and he just gave the stat - 60%. Next time I'll listen to the whole video before commenting!

Anonymous said...

Also, one hopes that a man who claims to have studied in the seminary would be more versed on the reasons for the stances of the Church, and would not act as ignorantly as many who have never set foot into one.

Anonymous said...

This guy is an exorcist? Or out to sell books? I thought it was generally policy not to reveal who an exorcist is. Is there an exorcist in this archdiocese? Is that public knowledge?


Father - are you really going to cheer this guy on? Hannity surely isn't perfect, but this guy took a very condescending holier than thou approach to calling him out. I can't blame Hannity one bit for sounding as p.o'ed as he did.

Anonymous said...

I'd have to see it to believe it. And I'm in pretty good company, such as St. Thomas.

Anonymous said...

I'd like to know the TRUE statistics of successful exorcisms done by priests ordained before 1968 (Vatican II), or done by priests ordained by Bishops whom were conferred the Episcopacy PRE-1968/Vatican II Rite versus unsuccessful exorcisms attempted by priests ordained after 1968 by Bishops whom conferred the Episcopacy of the Vatican II Rite. It is peculiar that Pope John Paul II was ineffective in expelling the demon from the lady (in attendance) immediately following Mass. This makes the foregoing questions even more critical!

~ Searcher (and praying) for Truth

Anonymous said...

A question....for the people that have demonic possession...how does this happen? I have been told you have to "invite" this to happen. We allow this by participating in various games and movies. So my question is..how does this happen to people.

Anonymous said...

Wow and to think I liked Hannity. Goes to show you, you can spit out scripture without even having a clue about your faith. He didn't give Fr. E a chance to explain anything!