Ghosts and the Catholic Church

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So, there I was watching ABC’s Scariest Places On Earth, and I suddenly began wondering if Catholics believed in ghosts. What’s your take on the subject? Is it possible for ghosts for exist or would any dead person’s spirit automatically go on to wherever God determines. What about all the other things that go bump in the night? What sort of supernatural creepie-crawlies do Catholics believe in? Also, do you think watching things like Scariest Places on Earth, or Most Haunted, or reading books on things like ghosts and various bogeymen opens you up to unpleasant influences? I’ve always been fascinated by the that stuff (why, I don’t know, because it creeps the heck out of me), and a friend once commented that it’s a bad idea as that makes you more succeptible (sp?) to evil things getting at you. What do Catholics think about this subject? (Sorry if that was a long and babbling question:) )
 
I am Catholic and I do not believe in Ghosts (except for the Holy Ghost! 🙂 )

When we die, we either go to Heaven (via purgatory probably) or Hell. There is no roaming the earth.
 
The souls of the departed are under the control of God, and are either in Heaven, Purgatory, or Hell.
Of course, God can permit such a departed soul to appear to a living person on earth for a particular purpose.
But I believe, on the authority of Scripture and of the Church, that most of what are called “ghosts” (such as poltergeists, spirits who make furniture fly across the room, and entities who show up at seances) are demonic entities impersonating the departed, especially if such entities are deliberately conjured up thru, say, a seance or the use of a Ouija Board.
Haunted houses, if genuine, need to be exorcised by a Priest and then Blessed by a priest.
God bless,
Jaypeeto4 (aka Jaypeeto3)
 
I don’t believe there is any specific teaching from the Church about believing in ghosts or not. I think the general answer you would receive is that if ghosts do exist, which the post before me already says, it is possible that God allows departed souls to appear for a particular purpose that we are not aware of in this life. And the second point, already mentioned, is that most spirits that people report seeing are probably demonic.
 
Hi,

I just came back from Cape May NJ and apparently they have alot of “ghosts”:rolleyes: We could have gone on a ghost tour.:eek: As a matter of fact, our B&B had a resident ghost.:eek: I do not believe in them as being from God. I do believe that fortune tellers and those other people do see and are told things, but I believe it is from the devil so as to lead people away from God and Jesus Christ. It does talk in the bible about not listening to or participating in any such things.👍
 
Apparently belief in ghosts has been around for a long time.

Matthew 14: 22-33 is the story of Jesus walking on the water. In verse 26, the disciples are frightened and say, “It is a ghost!”

Luke 24: 36-40 is an account of Jesus appearing to the disciples after He rose from the dead. They were frightened and thought they were seeing a spirit. But Jesus shows them His hands and feet and says, “a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”

Interestingly, it is not recorded in either situation that Jesus scolded them and told them that ghosts are demons and that they shouldn’t believe in ghosts. On the contrary, He described the traits of a spirit (Luke 24: 39).

I agree, most “ghosts” are probably demons impersonating people.

And I do think that occasionally, God allows a manifestation of a human to appear to living humans.

I don’t think we should close our minds. Jesus allowed His disciples to speculate about ghosts without scolding them.

I think we should trust God in all things, hold onto His Hand and ask Him for help if we encounter something spooky, and plead His Blood over all the powers of evil.
 
The departed have been known to appear to the living by the will of God, such as the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 28:12-19) and Moses (Matthew 17:3; Mark 9:4; Luke 9:30). On the other hand Satan can appear in disguise, even as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14).
 
Todd_Easton said:
The departed have been known to appear to the living by the will of God, such as the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 28:12-19) and Moses (Matthew 17:3; Mark 9:4; Luke 9:30). On the other hand Satan can appear in disguise, even as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14).
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Point well made and who is to say that God doesnt allow for appearances for the consolation of those who are dying. My wife has had a couple of experiences already and they are very comforting to her.
 
I don’t think the spirits of the dead roam the earth. Probably ghosts are really demons, especially when conjured up by seances and ouija boards and the like. If you dabble in the occult in order to contact the dead, you may contact something, but it won’t be the dead.

As earlier posters have commented, God can allow our dearly departed to appear to us if it’s His will. Even if He doesn’t, though, they are closer to us than ever, thanks to the Communion of the Saints – even though we can’t see them or hear their voices anymore.
 
You might be interested in this previous discussion

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?p=1319267#post1319267

I had a priest tell me that we do not know what purgatory is and it is quite possible tha a so called haunting is purgatory.
In the autobiography, The Hunted Priest ( I don’t remember the priest name) the priest tells of seeing a light that came to a widow. After saying mass for a week, the light appeared with two other lights and raised up to heaven. That priest believed it was the husband of the women who was in purgatory and needed prayer to be released. When I read this I was fascinated because the priest described the same thing that my mother said she saw as a young adult.
 
Elizabeth Kubler Ross has written about spirits, if you will, who visit very ill people. There was one story about a sick child who was very close to death and to whom a little boy came, stood at the foot of his bed and told him it was not time to come yet. He recovered although the doctors told his family he would not. Her book is full of stories like that and she believes they are from Heaven which she believes in herself.
 
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