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American Exorcist Plies His Lonely Trade
AP via NewsOK ^ | 11/11/10 | Daniel Burke

Posted on 11/11/2010 8:38:52 PM PST by marshmallow

Pity the poor exorcist, caught between evil spirits eager to invade human bodies and a society skeptical that demons exist outside of Hollywood horror movies.

Even some church leaders look askance at exorcists as peddlers of a practice best left in the Middle Ages. Most American exorcists, particularly the handful of priests appointed by the Roman Catholic Church, keep a low profile, hesitating to open themselves — or their church — to ridicule and quacks.

But exorcists may soon be moving out of the shadows.

U.S. Catholic bishops are sponsoring a conference this week (Nov. 12-13) in Baltimore on the "liturgical and pastoral practice of exorcism." Fifty-six bishops and 66 priests have registered to hear about the shortage of trained exorcists and the growing interest in the mysterious rite, according to Catholic News Service.

That's good news for the Rev. Gary Thomas, a loquacious, Silicon Valley priest eager to dish about exorcism and the art of spiritual warfare.

Thomas is pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Saratoga, Calif., and the official exorcist for the Diocese of San Jose. According to Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield, Ill., who is helping organize the Baltimore conference, Thomas is one of only five or six active exorcists in the U.S.

Last year, Thomas wrote to 121 Catholic bishops and 41 seminary rectors, urging them to train more priests in demon de-possession. Included with the letters were copies of "The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist," a book by journalist Matt Baglio that details Thomas' three-year journey from California clergyman to university-trained "spiritual detective."

"I hope that you will take the time to read this book and become better informed about a subject that many Catholics priests deem superstitious and medieval," Thomas wrote in the letter to the bishops. These are apocalyptic times, the.........

(Excerpt) Read more at newsok.com ...


TOPICS: Catholic; Ministry/Outreach; Theology
KEYWORDS: demonic; exorcism; spiritualwarfare
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To: Abin Sur
If I was writing an article on a superstition such as astrology or witches having magic powers I would certainly try to be sophisticated about it;

You would try, and you would fail. Sophistication is something one either has or hasn't.

and as for being snarky and cynical...why not? Some beliefs deserve to be mocked.

Perhaps so, but not by someone who's attempting to be sophisticated about it.

61 posted on 11/12/2010 9:45:47 PM PST by Chunga (The Democratic Party Is A Criminal Enterprise)
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To: Quix
You guys call everything from a garden-variety sin to a bad hair day a "demon". I'm talking about the real thing.

Call me back when you have teenagers expelling a being who can curse them out in Aramaic, Latin, Greek, and Egyptian, and tell them all about what they do when nobody is looking -- in front of their mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters.

62 posted on 11/12/2010 9:49:43 PM PST by Campion
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To: Quix

Derek Prince is listed in a some Catholic charismatic online sites. I have several myself. Also ST. Joseph radio show once had a whole hour on pleading the blood of Christ or Jesus for spiritual warfare.


63 posted on 11/12/2010 11:28:46 PM PST by johngrace (God so loved the world so he gave his only son! Praise Jesus and Hail Mary!)
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To: Abin Sur

Along with 80% + of the general population—particularly the BETTER EDUCATED amongst them.


64 posted on 11/13/2010 4:07:09 AM PST by Quix (Times are a changin' INSURE you have believed in your heart & confessed Jesus as Lord Come NtheFlesh)
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To: Abin Sur

Ahhhhhhhhhhh . . .

I gather you are unwilling to share what it means

. . . to you.


65 posted on 11/13/2010 4:10:02 AM PST by Quix (Times are a changin' INSURE you have believed in your heart & confessed Jesus as Lord Come NtheFlesh)
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To: Alex Murphy

INDEED.


66 posted on 11/13/2010 4:11:04 AM PST by Quix (Times are a changin' INSURE you have believed in your heart & confessed Jesus as Lord Come NtheFlesh)
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To: Chunga

Some of us . . .

try to appreciate the full range of fitting mockery . . . from barnyard flippancy to C.S. Lewis finesse.


67 posted on 11/13/2010 4:12:46 AM PST by Quix (Times are a changin' INSURE you have believed in your heart & confessed Jesus as Lord Come NtheFlesh)
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To: Campion; Amityschild; Brad's Gramma; Captain Beyond; Cvengr; DvdMom; firebrand; ...

I gather you’ve not known such teens.

Pity.

The Vatican . . . locked into

. . . a form of Godliness but denying the power there of . . .

. . . Traditions of man and rituals of idolatry and blasphemy do NOT cut it in many situations with many demonic forces.

Persistent application of Blood of Jesus bought authority and anointing through Holy Spirit born child-like faith IN CHRIST is required.


68 posted on 11/13/2010 4:16:14 AM PST by Quix (Times are a changin' INSURE you have believed in your heart & confessed Jesus as Lord Come NtheFlesh)
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To: johngrace

PRAISE GOD.

He was the real deal. A powerful man of God.

His ministry facilitated deliverance and freedom in Christ to millions.


69 posted on 11/13/2010 4:17:39 AM PST by Quix (Times are a changin' INSURE you have believed in your heart & confessed Jesus as Lord Come NtheFlesh)
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To: Quix
I gather you are unwilling to share what it means

. . . to you.

On the contrary; Ungara is a fictional planet, as per the link I provided.

That's what it means to me. Why would you think it means anything else?

70 posted on 11/13/2010 5:50:50 AM PST by Abin Sur
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To: marshmallow

Demons are real. But it only takes one exorcist to rebuke and vanquish them...the Lord Jesus Christ.


71 posted on 11/13/2010 5:52:24 AM PST by DouglasKC
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To: Quix
Along with 80% + of the general population—particularly the BETTER EDUCATED amongst them.

"Only a third of adults, however, believe it's either very likely or somewhat likely that intelligent aliens from space have visited our planet, according to a survey of 1,003 adults conducted by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University."

http://www.reporternews.com/news/2008/jul/26/you-are-not-alone/

72 posted on 11/13/2010 6:02:44 AM PST by Abin Sur
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To: Alex Murphy
...who professes their belief in atheism

To say otherwise would be a lie.

and "capital L" Libertarianism,

Incorrect. "small L". I don't vote Libertarian because a) they can't win at the national level and b) they're isolationists who advocate cutting defense spending to an unacceptably low level.

who denies social conservatism,

I certainly deny that I'm a social conservative. And why not? It's true, after all.

and who posts opinions ridiculing others for having social, fiscal, political, and religiously conservative beliefs

If by "political" you mean defense and foreign policy, that's certainly not the case, nor is fiscal. As for social and religious beliefs, I will certainly mock certain absurdities such as creationism or faith healing now and then, but I try to restrict my attacks to the actual belief, not the person themselves. I don't always succeed, but no one's perfect...

73 posted on 11/13/2010 6:21:45 AM PST by Abin Sur
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To: Abin Sur; Religion Moderator
Well, what do you expect? If I was writing an article on a superstition such as astrology or witches having magic powers I would certainly try to be sophisticated about it; and as for being snarky and cynical...why not? Some beliefs deserve to be mocked.

So, you came on the Religion Forum with the intent to disrupt and mock the beliefs of others?

I see. That sure is interesting......

If you have such a low opinion of them, why didn't you just scroll past the thread? Why come on here and poke a stick in someone's eye?

74 posted on 11/13/2010 6:49:30 AM PST by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: Alex Murphy
When you see anyone who chooses the name of a comic book superhero alien, who comes onto a bulletin board that promotes social, fiscal, political, and religiously conservative opinions - who professes their belief in atheism and "capital L" Libertarianism, who denies social conservatism, and who posts opinions ridiculing others for having social, fiscal, political, and religiously conservative beliefs - the same beliefs that said bulletin board agrees with and promotes, mind you - ping me.

The irony abounds......

75 posted on 11/13/2010 6:51:14 AM PST by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: metmom
So, you came on the Religion Forum with the intent to disrupt and mock the beliefs of others?

I found this thread on the main forum page. How does one tell that a thread is on the Religion Forum?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't such beliefs as Islam and Mormonism regularly mocked on this very forum? Is the problem that it's your particular ox that's being gored?

If you have such a low opinion of them, why didn't you just scroll past the thread? Why come on here and poke a stick in someone's eye?

Again, please correct me if I'm wrong...but don't you on occasion comment on threads involving evolution, and mock those who believe in it? Why don't you just scroll past the thread?

76 posted on 11/13/2010 7:00:43 AM PST by Abin Sur
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To: Abin Sur

Still no answer.

Fascinating . . . this lack of articulating what it means to you.


77 posted on 11/13/2010 7:12:12 AM PST by Quix (Times are a changin' INSURE you have believed in your heart & confessed Jesus as Lord Come NtheFlesh)
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To: Abin Sur

I suppose I should have defined things better . . .

. . . that is, that UFO’s were real and not figments of people’s imaginations, swamp gas etc.


78 posted on 11/13/2010 7:14:16 AM PST by Quix (Times are a changin' INSURE you have believed in your heart & confessed Jesus as Lord Come NtheFlesh)
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To: Quix
Still no answer.

Um...I just did answer.

Fascinating . . . this lack of articulating what it means to you.

I'm collect comics, and I picked a screen name out of a hat (so to speak). Why should there be any deeper meaning?

79 posted on 11/13/2010 7:17:06 AM PST by Abin Sur
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To: Quix
. . . that is, that UFO’s were real and not figments of people’s imaginations, swamp gas etc.

UFOs are certainly "real" in the sense that they are optical phenomena or misidentified objects in the sky. They're just not Greys, Klingons, or Wookies...

80 posted on 11/13/2010 7:20:52 AM PST by Abin Sur
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