Author Topic: Vatican exorcist: "An exorcism won't cure you from being a pedo"  (Read 788 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Ichirou

  • Merry Christmas
  • Senior Member
Quote
Vatican City (CNN) -- "The devil tempts everyone -- people in politics, in economics, in sport. And naturally, he tempts, above all, the religious leaders, so you shouldn't be surprised if the devil tempts those in the Vatican. That's his job."

The Rev. Gabriele Amorth isn't speaking metaphorically when he says that. The 85-year-old priest means people can be tempted and literally possessed by Satan.

"It's not my opinion: I'm saying that if you believe in the Gospels, you believe in the existence of the devil, in the devil's power to possess people," he said in an interview with CNN.

The faithful believe "that there are people possessed by the devil, and ... in the power of exorcism to liberate from the devil," he said.

And as the Vatican's chief exorcist, it's his job to expel the devil when someone is possessed. He's performed more than 70,000 exorcisms in his career, he estimates.

But there is a difference between possession -- where the devil takes hold of someone's body and actions -- and temptation, where Satan lures a person into doing evil, he said.

As a child abuse scandal sweeps across Europe, with accusations being made against priests in Ireland, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands, Amorth said the pedophiles are tempted, not possessed.

He has never done an exorcism on a child molester, he said.

"I have carried out exorcisms on some priests who had been molested by the devil," he said, without going into details.

"But cases of pedophilia exorcised, no. ... Pedophiles are not possessed by the devil, they are tempted by the devil," he said.

"They don't need exorcism, they need to be converted, to be converted to God, that's what they need. They need to confess, they need true penitence, true repentance, that's what they need. They're not possessed."

But no one is too strong a believer to be possessed, Amorth said.

"Nothing occurs without the permission of God, and he allows even holy people, even saints, to be possessed by the devil," he said.

But, he added, he sees no evil in the Vatican today:

"I just see good people in the Vatican. People of prayer, holy people, I don't see any evil."

PS4

brawndolicious

  • Nylonhilist
  • Senior Member
Re: Vatican exorcist: "An exorcism won't cure you from being a pedo"
« Reply #1 on: March 17, 2010, 02:22:03 AM »
I can understand his position.  He knows that it's better for a child molester to feel "healed" after giving a huge commitment to the religion (eg: conversion) rather than thinking than just thinking that he's fine after getting an exorcism.  I would guess the exorcist probably doesn't have a lot of faith in exorcisms other than their emotional affect on catholic's having a crisis of faith.

Fresh Prince

  • a one-eyed cat peepin' in a seafood store
  • Senior Member
Re: Vatican exorcist: "An exorcism won't cure you from being a pedo"
« Reply #2 on: March 17, 2010, 02:45:35 AM »
So... this God fellow is allowing the Devil to tempt people and make other peoples lives miserable. Why is that again?
As the resident 'Catholic' I will attempt to answer. God gave us free will, we are supposed to exercise that free will. Though we may suffer now, we suffer just a moment compared to an eternity in hell.
888

Fresh Prince

  • a one-eyed cat peepin' in a seafood store
  • Senior Member
Re: Vatican exorcist: "An exorcism won't cure you from being a pedo"
« Reply #3 on: March 17, 2010, 03:14:25 AM »
Tha
God gave us free will... but he didn't want us to eat of the fruit of the tree of KNOWLEDGE?

spoiler (click to show/hide)
i was raised a Roman Catholic
[close]

That's what the Oephites and even Mormons tried to reconcile.
spoiler (click to show/hide)
I remember but I still know this shit for some reason  :-\
[close]

888

Ichirou

  • Merry Christmas
  • Senior Member
Re: Vatican exorcist: "An exorcism won't cure you from being a pedo"
« Reply #4 on: March 17, 2010, 03:35:37 AM »
I was raised Catholic too, but I just roll my eyes at this stupid shit.

I wonder if they're going to say Pope Ratzinger was possessed by the devil when he was archbishop in Germany and he covered for child-molesting priests?
PS4

Fresh Prince

  • a one-eyed cat peepin' in a seafood store
  • Senior Member
Re: Vatican exorcist: "An exorcism won't cure you from being a pedo"
« Reply #5 on: March 17, 2010, 03:39:50 AM »
Some parts of the Catholic Church are smart (Jesuits) others are dumb (opus Dei). It's about even.
888