Once again the Te Deum Institute of Sacred Liturgy, in Tulsa, OK, is sponsoring a workshop for priests on Exorcism, Angelology, Demonology.
I will remind you that Tulsa is where the outstanding Bp. Edward Slattery reigns felicitously. He has done a great deal to help the cause of renewal of Holy Church’s liturgical worship.
From the flyer I received:
This conference is designed for priests who are currently engaged in the Church’s pastoral care of those afflicted by extraordinary demonic activity, as well as those priests who have been asked to begin this ministry in their diocese, their stable assistants and those clerics who are involved in various levels of deliverance ministry.
Speakers include Mr. Adam Blai, a peritus in the area of exorcism for Bishop Zubik of the Diocese of Pittsburgh and a member of the International Association of Exorcists and Fr. Basil Nortz, the author of Deliver Us From Evil, who will present and discuss a topic which has been overlooked in most Seminary formation programs, Catholic Angelology and Demonology.
The first presentation will be on Monday morning, January 28 and the conference will close on Wednesday afternoon, January 30 with a round table discussion. The Registration fee of $175 includes lunch all three days, and dinner on Monday and Tuesday. Special room rates of $89 a night are available for this conference from the the Hilton Garden Inn, Tulsa South, 8202 South 100th East Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74133 – (918) 392-2000. (Breakfast is included in the Hotel Rate)
Loading ...
Praise God for the turn of the Church in America regarding exorcism. Many dioceses do not have an exorcist and one I know personally covers seven dioceses and lower Canada. In Britain, the need is even more dire. Almost two years ago, I phoned the main exorcist in one of the largest dioceses to help a friend with a situation. The priest said he was so overwhelmed with cases he could not travel to another diocese. This is a direct result of the bad training for over forty years in seminaries regarding the reality of evil as a person, Satan, and as demons. The emphasis for years was that evil was merely the absence of good and not someone malevolent, against God and man. Now, we have a new generation of bishops and priests who are seeing the result of neglect.
In addition, the rise of the occult and the ease of porn have led to the enthrallment of many of our young to Satan. May I add that the lack of baptism and confirmation leads to the lack of protection and discernment for millions. God bless this good bishop and all the priests. I hope the awareness of the need means more training sessions in the future. Pray all, that priests want to become exorcists and that the bishops appoint good men in all dioceses, in America and in Britain.
By the way, someone here in Ireland told me recently that Ireland no longer has an appointed, exorcist priest. I hope this is not true.
I have long suspected that many of the problems people have that have been diagnosed as psychological problems are really problems of either demonic possession or obsession. Or at least problems of a spiritual nature vs. a real psychological nature.
It’s great that we’re getting more trained exorcists to help us all out! God bless ’em!
We’ve seen such invitations for the priest/exorcists before, and I’m glad to see one again. But I’ve never seen an informational “short course” for us civilians in the battle against Satan.
Are there any such that could enlighten us on the teachings of the Church in this regard? It would be helpful to gain a contemporary understanding that goes beyond, “Oh yeah. I saw that movie. Tubular Bells is awesome.”
[We won’t have much discussion of these things on this blog.]
Fr. Basil Nortz’ “Deliver Us From Evil” is available for $8.50 + $6.95 for Priority Mail shipping here:
http://www.mycatholicstore.com/delusfromev.html
It appears that the only “civilian” group that offers such workshops is the charismatic Catholic movement. I had never been exposed to the charismatics until I attended their deliverance conference in Los Angeles earlier this fall. I also attended a subsequent conference in Mundelein, IL on healing, deliverance and exorcism. I had attended both with an academic focus (I have a doctorate in psychology and the discernment aspect was my focus) however I was blown away by what I saw going on. I am concerned that there is some dangerous overlap into what should be solely the priest’s territory with some of these mininstries. However, there were dozens of priests in attendance and they embraced this charismatic ministry. It appeared that unless you are part of the charismatic movement you just can’t be part of this. I left horribly confused and felt to be a definite outsider since am unable to embrace the charismatic approach. But major US dioceses were represented as well as even more laity.
Father Z, I – and I am sure many others on this board – would benefit greatly from a discourse by you on these healing and deliverance ministries. Specifically, can a lay person address and “bind” a spirit of another? Shouldn’t only a priest be able to do so? I have wanted to write you about this for a while so I am glad this opportunity has arisen to make this request. This has caused me much confusion and my priest has not been able to clarify.
Thank you and God bless you. [We won’t get into these things on this blog right now.]
Cantor, only priests are officially designated exorcists. These priests may have trained lay people appointed by a bishop to help them, as in one Illinois diocese I now. However, the idea that lay people can do exorcisms outside the appointment of the bishop for a priest’s team is just plain wrong. Lay people, especially in the charismatic renewal, who insist on such a ministry are out of order and dangerous. We have the short St. Michael prayer for our daily needs.
An infant was baptized at my local Maronite parish at Sunday liturgy. Every Maronite baptism/chrismation is accompanied by an exorcism. Dates from when most people coming into the Church were converts from paganism. I mean, from the _previous_ period when most people coming into the Church were converts from paganism. That which is old is new again…
UnwaffledAnglican, the Tridentine Baptism has the exorcism rite. My son was baptized in the older form in Latin,
and racjax, I know about the conference to which you are referring. This happened at least two years in a row in Chicago I know people who were involved from certain dioceses as part of diocesan teams. I, too, am very concerned about the lack of vetting or discipline regarding charismatics in exorcism ministries. The Protestants, of course, do such things, as they do not have the type of hierarchical authority we have in the Catholic Church, but much damaged is being done by either deceived or deceiving persons involved in so-called deliverance ministries. There needs to be clarification from the bishops, indeed, but one can use reason and faith to see that these people are not in obedience. One of the biggest problems in England are these self-appointed lay exorcists working outside the structure of the Church. Stay away from such. I, too was confused by some of the people who attended the Mundelein conference a few years ago, as I knew they had new age ideas and charged for spiritual direction in their diocese. Confusion is not from God.
I can understand why lay people would be interested in such topics, but I think it’s very dangerous stuff for the average person to get involved in. I can understand why they limit the audience.
Bishop Slattery is such an outstanding man. It is no wonder, he is deeply devoted to prayer.
I would highly recommend Fr. Basil Nortz’s CD “Music and Morality” Academic and just superb.
http://store.casamaria.org/products/Music-and-Morality-CDs.html
http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/arts/al0221.html
Mamajen:
“I can understand why lay people would be interested in such topics, but I think it’s very dangerous stuff for the average person to get involved in. I can understand why they limit the audience.”
Agree absolutely. One of the good things about being a layperson is that we need not bother ourselves with the intricacies of dealing with the evil one. All we need to know is that a) he exists and b) we must stay away from him and all things that will allow him into our lives. All we need to do is keep close to the Church and the sacraments. The devil and his works can be too ‘attractive’ to us fallen souls, and can lead us to dark places. Best leave that kind of stuff to those whose responsibility it is to deal with it, that is to priests and bishops.
Well, laypeople shouldn’t be paralyzed by fear of demons, certainly; and certainly we can pray the Our Father and other prayers and quote Bible verses as defense against Bad Stuff for ourselves and our neighbors. But sallying out on purpose to do battle against demons isn’t really our business. St. Anthony of Egypt actually counselled people to treat demons like flies and mosquitoes — annoying, but not a big deal. (He wasn’t a big favorite with demons.)
Once we get more real exorcism by duly appointed exorcist priests, and once people start using the Sacraments more (especially Confession), we’ll see a lot less of this impromptu charismatic stuff.
Forgot to say that there’s a lot about this in St. Athanasius’ Life of St. Anthony, where St. Anthony recommends pretty simple stuff, like crossing yourself and prayer, and not paying any attention to demons, and for his monks just to continue to do what they do:
“So then we ought to fear God only, and despise the demons, and be in no fear of them. But the more they do these things the more let us intensify our discipline against them, for a good life and faith in God is a great weapon. At any rate they fear the fasting, the sleeplessness, the prayers, the meekness, the quietness, the contempt of money and vainglory, the humility, the love of the poor, the alms, the freedom from anger of the ascetics, and, chief of all, the piety towards Christ.”
I once asked a priest if he had been trained as an exorcist. He replied that he was not holy enough or humble enough to be one. Contrast that with some in the charismatic movement who seem to think that the Holy Spirit is a power to wield and fight the devil with, as opposed to a Divine person with His own will. Exorcisms are no place for amateurs. Not far from where I live in St. Louis is the cliff where a priest flung himself (or was flung?) to his death when he was out walking with the little boy who had to be exorcised. Again, not stuff for amateurs. Hopefully Bishops will make provisions for the souls in their care that might need to be delivered. I can’t imagine what is is like for people who are possessed to go to the Church, the one place that the wider society associates with exorcism, only to be told that there is no one to help them, or to be dismissed as a nutcase.
Supertradmum says: Many dioceses do not have an exorcist and one I know personally covers seven dioceses and lower Canada.
I thought every diocese has an exorcist, in the person of its bishop. Of course, if the bishop doesn’t see the need for the ministry and won’t exercise it or appoint a priest to exercise it, it doesn’t do much good.
I would always recommend St. Joseph “terror of demons”,also it is not only amateurs but even the well rehearsed who should wary . In the words of a charactor from Nemo ,”swim away!’,if you sense a real evil in anyone or anything.
The blessing of homes was quite common in Native American communities where I worked, including those in eastern Oklahoma. There is a belief that the spirits of the dead will affect those living on or near their burial place, and the blessing is to quiet the spirits of the dead (i.e. pray them out of purgatory or keep the diabolic ones out).
This is an old belief in many cultures, since my German Grandmother, confronted with doors and windows banging themselves open and shut, had a mass said for the spirits causing the problems.
Americans frown at such ideas, and most of the “diabolic” problems are imagination or psychiatric (as even Teresa of Avila pointed out), but sometimes these things happen, and we need to remember that Jesus gave us the tools to handle them.
@JKnott,
Thanks for posting the link to Fr. Nortz’ CD of three conferences.
@chantgirl, Amen!
The Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest has a link on their Resources section to a talk given by the Vicar General and Provincial Superior Monsignor Schmitz —
http://www.institute-christ-king.org/latin-mass-resources/traditional-latin-mass/
— it’s about 45 minutes.
+++
The Evil One, His Existence, His Being, and His Snares” — Conference by Msgr. Michael Schmitz at the St. Louis Marian Conference in January, 2006.
I took to heart Mgr. Schmitz’s warning, given to him by his teacher, “…do not tamper any more with the Evil One, do not develop any curiosity about his doings b/c the more you lead him into your life, the more he will be dangerous for you.”
Pingback: TULSA, OK – 28-30 January – What Does The Prayer Really Say? | Nail It To The Cross
Pingback: Exorcism Angelology Demonology Workshop | Big Pulpit