Catholic and hauntings?

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There is lore amongst some Protestants that Catholics have more weird stuff happen to them like house being haunted…etc. What does the Church feel about hauntings and supernatural stuff?

Kat
 
As far as I know, there are not any official documents of the Church that concern hauntings or ghosts. However, I have read that ghosts are either the souls of Purgatory asking for our prayers or demons that are either pretending to be a dead person or are simply haunting a house. My family has so many ghost stories that I can’t keep track, while my Protestant friends have nothing.
 
My husband’s Protestant family has numerous tales of hauntings, poltergeist activity, etc., some personally witnessed by my now-deceased mother-in-law. They lived deep in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia, and unusual things were apparently not uncommon.
I do not think my MIL was prone to making up things, she never was superstitious, she was in her right mind, not prone to exaggeration or tale-telling, but she had some weird things happen in her sight, mostly poltergeist activity, which was also witnessed by other family members. Strange. But just about everyone down there is Protestant. Her father was a circuit preacher. I don’t think Catholics are more prone to hauntings. We are just more effective at dealing with such things.
 
A lady at work said, “If you don’t believe in ghosts, you will never see any.”

She may be right because if you don’t believe in ghosts, you will not look for any. Ignoring any evidence could keep them from being around because they want attention.

That goes for both kinds of ghosts. Human spirits may want attention and prayers. Demonic spirits may want to make a person’s life difficult and infest their homes.

Infestation is a good name for it because demons are like cockroaches. They are dirty, smell bad, and take away your peace if you let them.
 
Confiteor_Deo said:
As far as I know, there are not any official documents of the Church that concern hauntings or ghosts. However, I have read that ghosts are either the souls of Purgatory asking for our prayers or demons that are either pretending to be a dead person or are simply haunting a house. My family has so many ghost stories that I can’t keep track, while my Protestant friends have nothing.
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IN some regards I do believe ghosts are demons, trying to masquerade as ‘something else’ in order to trick people, thats their goal after all, but some cases Ive read, the activity seems anything but demonic, plus a blessing by a priest should be able to rid the demon from the location, but I dont think this has worked in many cases.

Ive seen one twice and the last one was over 20 yrs ago, both times, I did not have feelings of dread or fright, it was more neutral, and the first one I saw, I cant even say it was an actual ghost, I was lying in bed and could see down the hallway into the stairwell, I saw a grayish transparent ‘ball’ about the size of a beach ball just floating around in the area. It was very defined and clear, but I could see thru it too. It didnt do anything other than move around in the stairwell.

I think some ghosts may be something we just dont understand yet, they may not be demons, former people, souls in purgatory, etc. maybe they are something else entirely?
 
Father Gary Thomas of San Jose, the priest documented in Matt Baglio’s book The Rite: the Making of a Modern Exorcist, says that an exorcist “has to be the ultimate skeptic”. Some people are obviously charlatans seeking fame or fortune, while others have experienced something truly terrifying, and deserve to be taken seriously.

One has to guard against confirmation bias in these. I like to watch videos on YouTube of alleged haunting just for the thrills. Personally, I take them on a case-by-case basis; for example, the victim seems more credible if they are open to alternate explanations.

Anyone who knows the Church well knows that her skepticism towards supernatural or paranormal makes most self-proclaimed “skeptics” look superstitious.
 
JackVk said:
Father Gary Thomas of San Jose, the priest documented in Matt Baglio’s book The Rite: the Making of a Modern Exorcist, says that an exorcist “has to be the ultimate skeptic”. Some people are obviously charlatans seeking fame or fortune, while others have experienced something truly terrifying, and deserve to be taken seriously.

One has to guard against confirmation bias in these. I like to watch videos on YouTube of alleged haunting just for the thrills. Personally, I take them on a case-by-case basis; for example, the victim seems more credible if they are open to alternate explanations.

Anyone who knows the Church well knows that her skepticism towards supernatural or paranormal makes most self-proclaimed “skeptics” look superstitious.
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Why would the CC be so skeptical of the paranormal or supernatural? Of anyone they should be the first to recognize how prevalent this sort of thing is in our world?
 
mikekle said:
IN some regards I do believe ghosts are demons, trying to masquerade as ‘something else’ in order to trick people, thats their goal after all, but some cases Ive read, the activity seems anything but demonic, plus a blessing by a priest should be able to rid the demon from the location, but I dont think this has worked in many cases.

Ive seen one twice and the last one was over 20 yrs ago, both times, I did not have feelings of dread or fright, it was more neutral, and the first one I saw, I cant even say it was an actual ghost, I was lying in bed and could see down the hallway into the stairwell, I saw a grayish transparent ‘ball’ about the size of a beach ball just floating around in the area. It was very defined and clear, but I could see thru it too. It didnt do anything other than move around in the stairwell.

I think some ghosts may be something we just dont understand yet, they may not be demons, former people, souls in purgatory, etc. maybe they are something else entirely?
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As I said, not all hauntings are necessarily demons. Some may be holy souls of purgatory, so a blessing would not affect them. Still, some houses need multiple or regular blessings to keep the demonic ghost from coming back, so a blessing that doesn’t seem to do much doesn’t mean it is a holy soul.

What else could hauntings possibly be? Some hauntings may just be delusions or misinterpretations.
 
mikekle said:
Why would the CC be so skeptical of the paranormal or supernatural? Of anyone they should be the first to recognize how prevalent this sort of thing is in our world?
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Because people imagine things, exaggerate things, misinterpret things and outright lie. Supernatural claims need investigated and verified to be sure there is none of the above going one. It’s only common sense to check things out before any official recognition is given.
 
mikekle said:
Why would the CC be so skeptical of the paranormal or supernatural? Of anyone they should be the first to recognize how prevalent this sort of thing is in our world?
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Oh, they do recognize the existence of the supernatural. They also acknowledge the existence of the natural and it makes sense to look for a natural cause first.
 
CB_Catholic said:
Because people imagine things, exaggerate things, misinterpret things and outright lie. Supernatural claims need investigated and verified to be sure there is none of the above going one. It’s only common sense to check things out before any official recognition is given.
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This is correct. Its not good to just assume its a ghost making noise when it could be the heater making a noise or a window making the room cold.
 
Casilda said:
We have learned this is true.
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That doesnt make sense to me, ‘commanding’ an entity, whether it be a demon, ghost, whatever to leave permanently in the name of Jesus Christ…really that should be powerful enough…right?

If they were still able to continue or come back, would that mean the name of God does not hold enough influence over them, or…?
 
mikekle said:
That doesnt make sense to me, ‘commanding’ an entity, whether it be a demon, ghost, whatever to leave permanently in the name of Jesus Christ…really that should be powerful enough…right?

If they were still able to continue or come back, would that mean the name of God does not hold enough influence over them, or…?
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Matthew 17
14 And when he was come to the multitude, there came to him a man falling down on his knees before him, saying: Lord, have pity on my son, for he is a lunatic, and suffereth much: for he falleth often into the fire, and often into the water.
15 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
16 Then Jesus answered and said: O unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
17 And Jesus rebuked him, and the devil went out of him, and the child was cured from that hour.
18 Then came the disciples to Jesus secretly, and said: Why could not we cast him out?
19 Jesus said to them: Because of your unbelief. For, amen I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Remove from hence hither, and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you.
20 But this kind is not cast out but by prayer and fasting.
 
Casilda said:
Matthew 17
14 And when he was come to the multitude, there came to him a man falling down on his knees before him, saying: Lord, have pity on my son, for he is a lunatic, and suffereth much: for he falleth often into the fire, and often into the water.
15 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
16 Then Jesus answered and said: O unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
17 And Jesus rebuked him, and the devil went out of him, and the child was cured from that hour.
18 Then came the disciples to Jesus secretly, and said: Why could not we cast him out?
19 Jesus said to them: Because of your unbelief. For, amen I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Remove from hence hither, and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you.
20 But this kind is not cast out but by prayer and fasting.
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Yes, that last one has always interested me, I wonder what the different types are and how they came to be so powerful?

That is saying something too, if even the disciples could not cast it out, that demon must have been pretty close to Satan himself in terms of power.
 
mikekle said:
Why would the CC be so skeptical of the paranormal or supernatural? Of anyone they should be the first to recognize how prevalent this sort of thing is in our world?
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Skepticism doesn’t mean categorically denying that such things could exist, it means evaluating the evidence without jumping to conclusions either way. Pretty much by definition, natural phenomena (including psychological ones like people being mistaken or lying for attention) are far more common than supernatural ones. The Church’s investigators would be making a huge mistake if they went into every case presuming that some heavenly or infernal power was directly involved.

Usagi
 
I mentioned about being haunted by demons in confession before, but Father told me to just get some holy water. Nothing particularly spectacular. Topics like this are always quite interesting though, but it’s not that healthy. Hoping to grow out of it soon enough.
 
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