Is there such things as ghosts?

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graceandglory

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My dear daughter wants to know.
I don’t know the Catholic answer.
 
Is there any evidence that ghosts exist?

I’m not aware of any, are you?
 
We don’t know for sure. Some people claim to have seen or experienced them. But if they do exist, we could not test for them with physical means. So we’ll probably never know.

The Church has no official stance on them, so you can believe in them if you want to. But you don’t have to.
 
graceandglory said:
My dear daughter wants to know.
I don’t know the Catholic answer.
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VeritasLuxMea said:
Is there any evidence that ghosts exist?

I’m not aware of any, are you?
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Yes, ghosts exist. All souls that have passed out of this world are “ghosts,” per se, and to deny the fact would be to suggest that they somehow cease to exist after death, which is false.

Just as an added side note, the Church teaches that it is a sin to attempt communication with any ghosts or try to force one to appear or speak in anything resembling a seance.
 
You have never been in England, or for that matter in Virginia. In both places, there is a ghost in every other house.
There are also several American Civil War battlefields that are supposedly haunted; notably, Malvern Hill in Virginia, Antietam (Sharpsburg), West Virginia, and of course, Gettysburg, Pa. In all of these places the death toll was horrendous.
I have visited all three and have experienced a cold chill while walking across the land - and that was in the dead heat and humidity of August! It was enough for me to stop and say a prayer for the souls of those who died.
 
George_Stegmeir said:
You have never been in England, or for that matter in Virginia. In both places, there is a ghost in every other house.
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Oh, that’s interesting! Then evidence should be easy to come by, and we should not have to rely on sensationalistic TV shows! Please point me in the right direction.
I have visited all three and have experienced a cold chill while walking across the land - and that was in the dead heat and humidity of August! It was enough for me to stop and say a prayer for the souls of those who died.
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  1. You believe you have experienced a cold shiver in otherwise warm whether.
  2. ???
Therefore,
  1. Ghosts.
:confused:
 
graceandglory said:
My dear daughter wants to know.
I don’t know the Catholic answer.
Click to expand...
There are two kinds of creatures that have come forth from the hands of the Almighty: those who are both flesh and soul, and the pure spirits (angels, some of which rebelled).

Besides the pure spirits, members of the Church Penitent (the holy souls of Purgatory) and of the Church Triumphant (the saints in Heaven) can sometimes manifest themselves although they are solely spiritual for the time being (their body awaiting the final resurrection to be reunited to their soul, exception made for Our Lady).

The most important thing, perhaps, is that unless God specifically allows it, we cannot see invisible spiritual beings. If it actually happens, it means God specifically authorized it, and thus it is good for us but nothing to fear or be worried about.

Depending on how old she is, you may take it a step further and add that on some rare occasions (I do not know how often) the Lord allows poor souls in Purgatory to somewhat manifest themselves to us to ask for special prayer on their behalf 🤷

Edit: I’d add that there are no “ghosts” as in the common usage of the word 🤷
 
If ghosts exist and are seen, they should be scientifically detectable, as if they refract light they are a fortiori physical.

If they exist and are not seen, there would be no subculture surrounding them, as we have.

Centuries of reports of them and decades of investigation have uncovered no definite trace of them.

There is as such no reason to reject the null hypothesis (no ghosts).

However , the null hypothesis cannot be proven, either.
ICXC NIKA
 
Then of course there may be the demon mimicking the ghost of deceased loved ones…
 
I have a very good looking confederate man that comes around here from time to time. I first noticed him when I had a party here and some of my guests brought their instruments and were playing music in the very room where I am typing this actually. I was in the other room taking picture of everyone and I lifted the camera to take picturs of the band and there he was. In my shock I said, “Who in the heck is that” and two of my nguests looked through the lense and saw him too. We could not see him without the camera. He was motioning to the lead singer as if trying to ask her something. He was very handsome. LOL! This is not the only weird thing to happen here or at my other farm and others have experienced the same at both locations.

Are they ghosts? Spirits? Visitors from Purgatory? I don’t know. I pay little attention whenever something is seen/happens. Whatever they are they cause no harm. I say prayers for all those in Purgatory on a regular basis so maybe they are from there.
 
You have a spirit. We all do. There is also the Holy Spirit. Spirits are very real.
 
VeritasLuxMea said:
Oh, that’s interesting! Then evidence should be easy to come by, and we should not have to rely on sensationalistic TV shows! Please point me in the right direction.
  1. You believe you have experienced a cold shiver in otherwise warm whether.
  2. ???
Therefore,
  1. Ghosts.
:confused:
Click to expand...
I believe that I know what George is talking about. Many times as I sit at my computer, I get a cold–a **bitter ** cold–rush of air which I cannot explain. It has happened in warm weather. It has happened when storm windows are down and things are sealed up. I do not know where it emanates from. As swiftly as it begins, it goes. I can’t say it’s a “ghost” but I assume that it’s a soul requesting prayers, so that’s what I do. Doesn’t hurt anyone and it may help. I will refrain from telling other incidents that have occurred to me.
 
Yes, ghosts are real. They are mentioned in the Bible. They are associated with “cold spots” in houses. I have experienced one of these cold spots. It’s just like stepping into a walk-in freezer. This was in a known haunted house, the Whaley House in San Diego.

My husband once saw his deceased grandfather right in the middle of his living room in broad daylight. It shocked the you-know-what out of him. His grandfather smiled, then disappeared.

No one knows for sure what they are. I believe they are either: 1) souls in purgatory wanting our prayers, 2) souls from heaven that are allowed to come back briefly to comfort us, or 3) they are demons. I don’t think the church has an opinion on ghosts.
 
From personal experience I can say that ghosts most certainly do exist. I think some are souls in purgatory who need prayers, and others are demons.

The Bible seems to say that ghosts exist. (For example, in chapter 24 of St.Luke’s gospel, after seeing the resurrected Christ, the disciples “were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.”)

Saints have had ghostly experiences. St. John Bosco, along with twenty other theology students who had gathered in the same room, had the ghost of a fellow seminarian who had died appear to them. “For a long time afterwards,” St. John said in his recollection, “there was no other subject of conversation in the seminary.”

The Catechism forbids any attempts to seek out communication with the dead. Why would this be forbidden if the Church did not believe ghosts exist?!
 
aloe said:
You have a spirit. We all do. There is also the Holy Spirit. Spirits are very real.
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Exactly!
Fiery_One said:
From personal experience I can say that ghosts most certainly do exist. I think some are souls in purgatory who need prayers, and others are demons.

The Bible seems to say that ghosts exist. (For example, in chapter 24 of St.Luke’s gospel, after seeing the resurrected Christ, the disciples “were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.”)

Saints have had ghostly experiences. St. John Bosco, along with twenty other theology students who had gathered in the same room, had the ghost of a fellow seminarian who had died appear to them. “For a long time afterwards,” St. John said in his recollection, “there was no other subject of conversation in the seminary.”

The Catechism forbids any attempts to seek out communication with the dead. Why would this be forbidden if the Church did not believe ghosts exist?!
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And all of this too. Spirits most certainly exist. I thought as Catholics we were MORE tuned into that fact but I’m just a lil ole convert who may be mistaken. If it were a conversation with a child of mine I would tell them as my mom and grandma told me. Yes spirits exist, no they are not something to be scared of. If you see/feel them acknowledge them and move on.
 
horselvr said:
I have a very good looking confederate man that comes around here from time to time. I first noticed him when I had a party here and some of my guests brought their instruments and were playing music in the very room where I am typing this actually. I was in the other room taking picture of everyone and I lifted the camera to take picturs of the band and there he was. In my shock I said, “Who in the heck is that” and two of my nguests looked through the lense and saw him too. We could not see him without the camera. He was motioning to the lead singer as if trying to ask her something. He was very handsome. LOL! This is not the only weird thing to happen here or at my other farm and others have experienced the same at both locations.

Are they ghosts? Spirits? Visitors from Purgatory? I don’t know. I pay little attention whenever something is seen/happens. Whatever they are they cause no harm. I say prayers for all those in Purgatory on a regular basis so maybe they are from there.
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boomerang said:
Yes, ghosts are real. They are mentioned in the Bible. They are associated with “cold spots” in houses. I have experienced one of these cold spots. It’s just like stepping into a walk-in freezer. This was in a known haunted house, the Whaley House in San Diego.

My husband once saw his deceased grandfather right in the middle of his living room in broad daylight. It shocked the you-know-what out of him. His grandfather smiled, then disappeared.

No one knows for sure what they are. I believe they are either: 1) souls in purgatory wanting our prayers, 2) souls from heaven that are allowed to come back briefly to comfort us, or 3) they are demons. I don’t think the church has an opinion on ghosts.
Click to expand...
When events like this happen, this is usually because the soul is asking for prayers, because he/she is in Purgatory. If possible, arrange to have masses said for that soul (if you do not know the name, simply offer the intention for “the soul or souls who inhabit ___ place” or “who manifested themselves to me in ___ place.”) and if you can, try to obtain some plenary indulgences for them.

My family had some particularly bizarre situations occur after my grandfather died. After his death, the family became used to hearing his footsteps walk into the bathroom at 6, just as he had when living, and also seeing his shadow cross the front window multiple times per day. We thought nothing of it.

Then, one day, my mother left her purse on the kitchen table, after Sunday mass, and everyone went into their rooms to relax for a short while. When we returned, about 2 hours later, the purse was not there. We spent the next few hours in a panic, and ended up calling the bank and canceling her cards, as we were absolutely sure the purse had been left somewhere and might have been stolen.

The next morning, someone went into the garage, and lo and behold, there is the purse, sitting on a crate!
  • No one else had been in our house but us.
  • No one, in that entire day, before or after the moving of the purse, had gone into the garage.
  • No one had even touched the purse before going into our rooms, and it was already gone when we came out.
  • Even if a person had gone into the garage, the purse was placed in a location where NONE of us would have thought to place it, nor would it have been a likely location to place it if we had been distracted and placed it in haste.
When we brought this to our priest, he suggested that we offer a few masses for my grandfather, because of the signs I mentioned before.

We did so, and none of the signs: footsteps, shadows, or moving purses, have ever been witnessed again.

Ghosts aren’t out to scare you; they are just begging for prayers.
 
Whether the ghost or spirit is from purgatory or is a demon may be difficult to decipher so it is best to pray because if the spirit is from purgatory it will help that soul, if the spirit is demonic it will push that demon away. Prayer is a win-win in such situations.

On a side note, my husband enjoys the show Ghost Adventures. I have watched quite a few with him. One thing I have noticed is that I believe many of the interactions they have are with demons. These “haunted” places I believe do not wish to get rid of such spirits because they make money off of the “hauntings”. It’s quite sad actually that money comes before peace and serenity.
 
George_Stegmeir said:
You have never been in England, or for that matter in Virginia. In both places, there is a ghost in every other house.
There are also several American Civil War battlefields that are supposedly haunted; notably, Malvern Hill in Virginia, Antietam (Sharpsburg), West Virginia, and of course, Gettysburg, Pa. In all of these places the death toll was horrendous.
I have visited all three and have experienced a cold chill while walking across the land - and that was in the dead heat and humidity of August! It was enough for me to stop and say a prayer for the souls of those who died.
Click to expand...
I live in Virginia. No ghosts in our neighborhood, so I guess we are very lucky!
 
I think all souls go to heaven or hell upon their death, so I don’t think that ghosts are “real” as in they are actually that person’s disembodied spirit. However, I think there is signifigant evidence to suggest that people have really seen ghosts. The question is, are they an illusion in their mind, a demon playing tricks on them, or some sort of message from a soul in heaven or purgatory. Since most ghost sightings seem to be just a disturbing sound and image, with no message attached, I rather think the third possibility is the most unlikely.
 
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