The Devil is lurking in the very heart of the Roman Catholic Church, the Vatican's chief exorcist claimed on Wednesday.
Father Gabriele Amorth said people who are possessed by Satan vomit shards of glass and pieces of iron.
He added that the assault on Pope Benedict XVI on Christmas Eve by a mentally unstable woman and the sex abuse scandals which have engulfed the Church in the US, Ireland, Germany and other countries, were proof that the Anti-Christ was waging a war against the Holy See.
"The Devil resides in the Vatican and you can see the consequences," said Father Amorth, 85, who has been the Holy See's chief exorcist for 25 years.
"He can remain hidden, or speak in different languages, or even appear to be sympathetic. At times he makes fun of me. But I'm a man who is happy in his work."
While there was "resistance and mistrust" towards the concept of exorcism among some Catholics, Pope Benedict XVI has no such doubts, Father Amorth said. "His Holiness believes wholeheartedly in the practice of exorcism. He has encouraged and praised our work," he added.
The evil influence of Satan was evident in the highest ranks of the Catholic hierarchy, with "cardinals who do not believe in Jesus and bishops who are linked to the demon," Father Amorth said.
In a rare insight into the world of exorcism, the Italian priest told La Repubblica newspaper that the 1973 film The Exorcist gave a "substantially exact" impression of what it was like to be possessed by the Devil.
People possessed by evil sometimes had to be physically restrained by half a dozen people while they were exorcised. They would scream, utter blasphemies and spit out sharp objects, he said.
"From their mouths, anything can come out – pieces of iron as long as a finger, but also rose petals," said Father Amorth, who claims to have performed 70,000 exorcisms. "When the possessed dribble and slobber, and need cleaning up, I do that too. Seeing people vomit doesn't bother me. The exorcist has one principal duty - to free human beings from the fear of the Devil." ...
via Chief exorcist says Devil is in Vatican - Telegraph.
The Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy were also sighted by Father Amorth who is still in training to deal with those threats. Speaking off the record, Father Amorth said, "They represent an even worse threat than the Devil. Frankly, I fear they will team up and form an unstoppable force. Even the Devil fears them."
6 comments:
This is nuts! If there is a Devil or anti-Christ, the Catholic Church, or as matter of fact, entire Christian Church is, in my opinion, the best representation of it or him or her.
If you stop to think, if there was really a Jesus in Nazareth etc., and consider what made his (or His) teachings most unique, it was above all other world religions his (or His) emphasis on love. No other world religion emphasizes love to the extent that he (or He) did ... even your enemy (!), by turning your cheek etc. (This is according to Houston Smith, a foremost scholar on world religions, with which i concur.)
Instead, what has the Christian Church done? Christ! It has supported, or has remained silent about every damn war that has occurred since its inception (as well as causing a few wars of its own, not mention being responsible for the enslavement of entire race of people in the Americas).
Wow I love how incindiary this subject is! I like religion. And condemning an entire belief system is kind of silly.
Yes, you're correct "condemning an entire belief system is kind of silly." But, am I doing that? I don't think so. What I am condemning is a Christian Church and its earthly spokespeople. A church that is not following its own "belief system." That is, if being Christian means, at least, to follow the teachings of Christ, who is only heard in the New Testament. This is what Smith was referring to when he described Christianity as a religion of love, above all else.
It's a silly belief system; it deserves to be ridiculed and condemned.
The actions of the Catholic Church have been anything but silly. Evil is more like it. Although I have nothing against individual Catholics, their church has been a prime enabler for all kinds of crimes against children. Medieval views on women and sex have caused a huge paedophilia problem among the priesthood. The Catholic Church just covers it up, moves the aberrant priest, pays off the victim for silence and continues with its destructive policies.
The Catholic Church has a convenient escape clause.
"No true Catholic would commit such evil". So the Catholics who rape children are not true Catholics; true Catholics are kind and wise. The church hides the crime, and when discovered it ejects the paedophile, all the while saying "this person is not a true Catholic" and ignoring the obvious conclusion that Catholic mores, Catholic dogma, Catholic doctrine and Catholic rules are major causes of this aberrant behaviour among their priesthood.
I think you are totaly right. I am orthodox and I am going to die like this. I do believe in God, in Jesus, but I do not believe in what today's church means or what meant even a few hundred years after Jesus's death. I do not understand how could you believe in the church in the first place, which is supposed to have moral authority (where is that moral no one knows but some still look for it) and the second because it is a contradiction with the teachings of christianity. You, me, we should only believe in him and we then learned we all have a direct connection with God/Jesus. After that how could I trust in a church that talks about the punishment more than talks about love. If I seek for help I expect to see a resemblance even if little with the love and forgivness that Jesus was talking about, not receiving an answer like you will be punished for your sins. I refuse to believe that a man characterized like a lamb, like a serene, peaceful, loving creature that Jesus was supposed to be is now portrayed like the one that is going to send you in hell. That is just proposterous. There are oh so many contradictions in what the church preaches that it would take hundreds of pages to talk about all of them.
I believe that the Orthodox Church is cleaner than the Catholic Church is, which makes me say that I will die an orthodox and I do believe in some of the rituals, but I think this is just because the Orthodox Church had less political power in the world.
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