Vatican exorcist Amorth speaks on Satan's smoke

[GloriaPatri4]

Vatican exorcist Amorth speaks on Satan’s smoke
**Spero News publishes “The Smoke of Satan in the House of the Lord…and deliver us from the evil one,” an interview with the Vatican’s chief excorcist, Father Gabriele Amorth by Stefano Maria Paci **
by
Stefano Maria Paci

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**

Twenty-nine years have passed since that day, June 29 1972. It was the Feast of Saint Peter, Prince of the Apostles. It was the Feast of Saint Paul who brought the Gospel of Christ to the extreme corners of the West. On that day, June 29, Feast of the Patron Saints of Rome, Peter’s successor who had taken the name of Paul issued a dramatic warning. Paul VI spoke of God’s enemy supreme, that enemy of man called Satan, enemy of the Church. “The smoke of Satan”, warned Paul VI, “has found its way into the Church through the fissures”. It was an anguished warning that caused great shock and scandal, even within the Catholic world. **

From article

But wasn’t it compiled by experts?

AMORTH: By no means, no. In these past ten years, two commissions have worked on the Rite – the Commission of Cardinals who edited the Prenotanda, or the initial dispositions, and the Commission in charge of the prayers. I can say with certainty that no member of either commission has ever performed an exorcism or witnessed one. No member has even the faintest idea of what an exorcism is. There lies the error, the original sin of this Rite. No one who assisted with it was an expert on exorcism.

How can that be?

AMORTH: Don’t ask me. During the Second Ecumenical Vatican Council, every commission was assisted by a group of experts who worked alongside the bishops. This custom continued even after the Council every time parts of the Rite were reworked. But not in this case. And if ever there was an area where experts were needed it was this one.

So what happened then? AMORTH: What happened was that we exorcists were never consulted. Furthermore, the suggestions we gave were received with a certain irritation on the part of the commissions. The whole thing really was paradoxical. Would you like me to tell you about it?

speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=2879

The new Rite, by contrast, categorically states that it is prohibited to perform exorcisms in these cases. That is just absurd. This evildoing is by far the most frequent cause of demonic possession and other evils procured by the Devil – no fewer than 90 per cent. It’s like telling exorcists to retire. Then, Point 16 solemnly states that exorcisms must not be carried out unless the presence of the Devil is ascertained. This is a masterpiece of incompetence because we can only ascertain if the Devil is possessing a person by performing an exorcism. Moreover, the editors did not realize that, on both points, they were contradicting the Catechism of the Catholic Church which advises exorcism both in the case of demonic possession and of evils caused by the Devil

 

[Dandelion_Wine]

I only got through half of it, but interesting read.

 

[MJE]

Fascinating. I read both his books.

 

[Goldy]

And yet another reason why I feel Vatican II has actually HURT the Church rather than helped Her. Great interview. I think he’s right on when he says that Satan has done a masterful job of getting many people to believe that he doesn’t exist. It goes back to our whole society’s attitude: Everyone is really pretty good, and we’ll all go to Heaven no matter what lives we led here on earth.

 

[bones_IV]

Goldy, I think problem lies in the way the Council was implemented and there’s been a lot of confusion following a council. Hopefully in time, the Holy Spirit will correct these errors.

 

[Eileen_T]

I agree with Bones_IV to a large extent that the "problem lies in the way the Council was implemented and there’s been a lot of confusion following a council."

For the rest, I believe the Church had arrived at a ‘tipping point’ where the dissenters and liberals used V II to gather their forces and agree where and when and how to strike.

Maybe it was seeing ang hearing this faction that led Paul VI to make the remark "The smoke of Satan has found its way into the Church through the fissures”.

After V II, these forces for change stopped undermining the foundations of the Church in secret and came out of the closet so to speak. That alerted many of the faithful to things they had not been aware were going on. It is easier to recognise an enemy who attacks in the light of day than one who does so in the dark.

I think V II has helped the laity to realise that we have just as much a mission and duty to spread the Word of God and protect and defend the Church as the ordained clergy.

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

Wow, thanks for that timely article…

Wait…

Originally published June 2001 30DAYS, No. 6 - 2001.

Not that timely after all.

Does a reprint of a 5 year old article really qualify as news?

 

[Jim]

“June 29, 1972” - Yikes, that’s exactly 9 months and one day before I was born! The smoke of Satan entered the Church the day I was conceived! Maybe I should go rent THE OMEN again, and check my scalp for any suspicious birthmarks. . .

 

[Georgess]

Interesting how our desire to be rid of influence of the evil can be a unifying theme between persons of all cultures and faiths - even though diablo’s mission is to divide!

www.oswc.org has some interesting articles ( and prayers) on this topic ; www.ewtn.com also gives The Church’s guidelines( under exorcism, doc.lib)- for the lay persons, in reciting deliverance prayers and the need to use prudence!

 

[Dominica33]

ByzCath:

Wow, thanks for that timely article…

Wait…

Not that timely after all.

Does a reprint of a 5 year old article really qualify as news?

Yet another post unbecoming a man in formation for the Carmelites.

St. John of the Cross, pray for us! St. Teresa of Avila, pray for us!

 

[contemplative]

Dominica33:

Yet another post unbecoming a man in formation for the Carmelites.

St. John of the Cross, pray for us! St. Teresa of Avila, pray for us!

I second this thought. Pray for Byzcath…

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

Dominica33:

Yet another post unbecoming a man in formation for the Carmelites.

St. John of the Cross, pray for us! St. Teresa of Avila, pray for us!

contemplative:

I second this thought. Pray for Byzcath…

Very uncharitable. I will remember both of you at Mass today.

Please explain how pointing out that this article is 5 years old is unbecoming anyone, let alone someone in formation.

I would also like to point out that this is just the opinion of one priest but then I am sure you will judge me for that too.

 

[H_Opey]

Does anyone know how you would contact Fr. Gabriel Amorth?

 

[JSmitty2005]

Vatican exorcist Amorth speaks on Satan’s smoke

 

[havemercy]

Thank you. That was an interesting read. This was the best part of the whole article:

creme of the clergy

 

[Lazerlike42]

I really think Fr. Amorth is a guy we have to be careful with. He may be alright, but he may be a little… too caught up in his work, to put it diplomatically. There are some major problems with some of his claims.

For instance, he claimed on two occassions to have performed 30,000 exorcisms over 9 years. That works out to over 9 per day, every day, for the entire 9 years. This is simply not possible, especially when one considers that most exorcisms take more than one attempt, many lasting weeks or months. The fact is that it would be unusual to have 9 exorcisms in a year in any given diocese.

If you want a deeper critique, see here: bringyou.to/apologetics/a15.htm

Basically, I think that Fr. Amorth hsa either succumbed to pride, or has simply spent so much time thinking about exorcisms that he has lost perspective.

That all being said, I certainly do not discount the probability that some members of the clergy are under demonic influence. However, coming from Fr. Amorth, the statement simply sounds like the boy crying wolf.

 

[JSmitty2005]

Lazerlike42:

I really think Fr. Amorth is a guy we have to be careful with. He may be alright, but he may be a little… too caught up in his work, to put it diplomatically. There are some major problems with some of his claims.

For instance, he claimed on two occassions to have performed 30,000 exorcisms over 9 years. That works out to over 9 per day, every day, for the entire 9 years. This is simply not possible, especially when one considers that most exorcisms take more than one attempt, many lasting weeks or months. The fact is that it would be unusual to have 9 exorcisms in a year in any given diocese.

If you want a deeper critique, see here: bringyou.to/apologetics/a15.htm

Basically, I think that Fr. Amorth hsa either succumbed to pride, or has simply spent so much time thinking about exorcisms that he has lost perspective.

That all being said, I certainly do not discount the probability that some members of the clergy are under demonic influence. However, coming from Fr. Amorth, the statement simply sounds like the boy crying wolf.

I don’t think your math adds up consdiering that Fr. Amorth stated at the end of the article that there may be as many as 30 demons possessing one individual. So, maybe he’s using the number of demons and not exorcism ceremonies. Just a thought.

 

[Lazerlike42]

JSmitty2005:

I don’t think your math adds up consdiering that Fr. Amorth stated at the end of the article that there may be as many as 30 demons possessing one individual. So, maybe he’s using the number of demons and not exorcism ceremonies. Just a thought.

He doesn’t… I have read a lot about this guy. Catholic Answers wrote an article critcizing the man, that ought to tell you all you need to know.

 

[havemercy]

So no one else found “creme of the clergy” funny? At all? Shucks…

 

[hurst]

Lazerlike42:

I really think Fr. Amorth is a guy we have to be careful with. He may be alright, but he may be a little… too caught up in his work, to put it diplomatically. There are some major problems with some of his claims.

For instance, he claimed on two occassions to have performed 30,000 exorcisms over 9 years. That works out to over 9 per day, every day, for the entire 9 years. This is simply not possible, especially when one considers that most exorcisms take more than one attempt, many lasting weeks or months. The fact is that it would be unusual to have 9 exorcisms in a year in any given diocese.

If you want a deeper critique, see here: bringyou.to/apologetics/a15.htm

Ok, I read that.

I am not sure why a lay person (Edward Peters) is criticizing a priest, though. He didn’t seem to show any mark of respect in his book review.

“He makes the claim to have performed 30,000 exorcisms over nine years”.

I see no problem with this statement, because an imprecatory prayer (commanding the enemy directly) is also considered to be a solemn exorcism. Fr. Amorth did say that some of them only took minutes. He was obviously not performing public formal exorcisms.

So, I can’t give the other statements Peters makes about Fr. Amorth much credence, either. He is obviously painting a grim picture and seems to be looking to interpret things in an unfavorable light.

Besides, I would think that the Pope would be making sure his own exorcist was in line.

hurst