Posted on 08/29/2006 12:14:51 PM PDT by Al Simmons
Hitler and Stalin were possessed by the Devil, says Vatican exorcist
By NICK PISA Last updated at 17:32pm on 28th August 2006
Adolf Hitler and Russian leader Stalin were possessed by the Devil, the Vatican's chief exorcist has claimed.
Father Gabriele Amorth who is Pope Benedict XVI's 'caster out of demons' made his comments during an interview with Vatican Radio.
Father Amorth said: "Of course the Devil exists and he can not only possess a single person but also groups and entire populations.
"I am convinced that the Nazis were all possessed. All you have to do is think about what Hitler - and Stalin did. Almost certainly they were possessed by the Devil.
"You can tell by their behaviour and their actions, from the horrors they committed and the atrocities that were committed on their orders. That's why we need to defend society from demons."
According to secret Vatican documents recently released wartime pontiff Pope Pius XII attempted a "long distance" exorcism of Hitler which failed to have any effect.
Father Amorth said: "It's very rare that praying and attempting to carry out an exorcism from distance works.
"Of course you can pray for someone from a distance but in this case it would not have any effect.
"One of the key requirements for an exorcism is to be present in front of the possessed person and that person also has to be consenting and willing.
"Therefore trying to carry out an exorcism on someone who is not present, or consenting and willing would prove very difficult.
"However I have no doubt that Hitler was possessed and so it does not surprise me that Pope Pius XII tried a long distance exorcism."
In the past Father Amorth has also spoken out against the Harry Potter books, claiming that reading the novels of the teen wizard open children's minds to dabbling with the occult and black magic.
Father Amorth, who is president of the International Association of Exorcists, said of the JK Rowling books:"Behind Harry Potter hides the signature of the king of the darkness, the devil."
He said that Rowling's books contain innumerable positive references to magic, "the satanic art" and added the books attempt to make a false distinction between black and white magic, when in fact, the distinction "does not exist, because magic is always a turn to the devil."
Father Amorth is said to have carried out more than 30,000 exorcisms in his career and his favourite film is, according to Italian newspapers The Exorcist.
To that point, was the man in the region of the Garasenes someone who had entered into that sort of agreement? We're not told, but it certainly doesn't seem he was a willing victim. And neither were the pigs.
The evil daemon of effette, snobbish, self-assured LIBERALISM...
Sounds like SanFranciscoSpeak...
They weren't "Bad People"; they were the personification of EVIL on earth....
If anyone was ever possessed by satan, these two were....
How about the swine herd possessed by daemons? Or the many references to Jesus casting out (exorcising) demons out of various people?
I don't deny demon possession at all. In fact, I believe it was true in Scripture and I believe it still happens today. I just think we need to be careful about not being too quick to say, "Oh, he was definitely possessed," because we don't necessarily know.
What does one have to do with the other?
The even had UNIX back then? ;)
For a second there, I thought you were going to say that they were good people.
I suggest you look into People of the Lie by Scott Peck as a starting point for this subject (human and demonic evil). I think you will find you're are taking an unnecessarily narrow view of this matter.
Additionally, many things are invisible and lack direct scriptural support or linkage, but are still facts. BTW, not all of the people who assist in exorcism are believers. Often, the medical and psychiatric staff are atheists (or at least not devout believers), yet you are saying their direct experience has no value to someone studying this subject.
I think I am beginning to put little stock in your opinion.
George Washington and John Adams disagreed with the last sentiment on your FR page....no offense, but I think I'll take their word...
They also had slaves.
So? It was accepted at the time. And GW freed his.
It is amazing how little you know...particularly when compared to your voluble commentary.
The Church (I am not Catholic but I respect and support the Catholic Church) has teased this issue with success for almost 2,000 years.
Your comments remind me of that old commentary, "the only thing that stands between me and wisdom is...me."
I was trying to say that one should not put too much stock into people who do what is fashionable at the time. If one thing they did was later deemed incorrect, other things may follow. However, you would be right to trust the words of the founding fathers over mine; after all, I am an anonymous person of no great authority whereas they founded a country. But just because they did say something doesn't mean they are necessarily correct. So you can push for legislation based upon religion, and I will fight that.
Legislation based upon religion? WTH are you talking about? The only such legislation relevant today is legislation AGAINST religion, which is exactly what the First Amendment was set up to be a bulwark against.
And that opens the door to every California/San Francisco-style perversion to be 'normed', because a godless society quickly becomes one where, as Dostoyevski put it, "all things are permissible"...like secular gas chambers and secular gulags...
The last sentiment on my page is about how laws do not need to be based off of religion. My only guess is that you took the very last sentence out of context. Liberals love doing that, and I know how much you want to be better than the liberals.
BWAHAHAHAHA! Refer to my homepage if you want more info on just exactly what I believe.
I have NO use for 'born-again' fakers, and even LESS use for atheists who brought us the lovely "alternative religions" of communism and naziism, the combination of which destroyed my country of origin and largely my own family, spiritually and materially.
NONE.
ALL human beings have religious beliefs. Yours happen to be called "atheism", and, outside of Islamism today, that is the worst and most destructive quasi-religious ideology around today.
You think I really care what you think of me and atheism? As long as there are no laws requiring me or my family to acknowledge religion, I do not care what you do. The worst ideology that exists is the requirement of conformity.
As far as the fruits of atheism, 200 million human beings murdered by atheist regimes in the last century speaks for itself, don't you think?
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