I am pretty sure you can only be possessed if you are in the state of mortal sin because you have already turned your back on God and are thus susceptible to the power of the devil. So, basically if you are possessed you are already in trouble and although culpability might be less of a person who is possessed, it is their fault in the first place. Kind of like getting drunk and then getting in an accident? It was the beer that made me do it, so I am not held accountable. Wrong, you allowed yourself to get drunk.
I am not certain but, I think that is close to how it works.
Hi,
I’m sorry but this is not correct. People in a state of grace can be subjected to posession and / or other types of demonic influence. Otherwise how could you ever break free? The devil would simply need to posess everyone when they are in a state of mortal sin to take away their free will and… voilà, instant hell for everyone! You always retain the free will to return to God and repent, even when under posession by the devil. There always are respites during which you can freely act.
Father Amorth (a Catholic Exorcist) states that for an exorcism to work the person subject of the possession/influence must want to be liberated, you cannot exorcise someone who’d rather remain posessed. This would not be possible if after being in a stete of mortal sin they were possessed and all free will removed from them.
What can Satan do? well, I’d say pretty much anything if God allows it. many saints were physically beaten (Padre Pio for example). We must remember that we are never tempted or subject to temptation that is abouve our strengh to resist. God does not allow this, otherwise we could do nothing but succumb to Satan, and everyone would end up in hell. You always retain free will which would be absent if you were subject to a temptation that you cannot resist. Of course in the rare case of full demonic possession you are not responsible of your actions and sins when you are not in control. This I gather is a very very rare occurrence.
I don’t subscribe to the ideas of DavidKays; I don’t believe that either Judas or Hitler were possessed, they simply chose evil : “The worst case of possession is when the devil puts a thought in your head and you will carry it out without resistance”
This would not be a sin because you are forced to carry out something, you are not choosing to do it yourself. Satan can put ideas in your head, but you must choose to follow them, you are never forced and can always resist. otherwise we’d all be in hell, all that satan would need to to is put in our heads the irresistible idea of suicide, as DavidKays correctly said: “For instance if the devil was given 100% freedom we on earth will be dead in seconds.”
“If you are faithful and pray and attend to the sacraments, the devil cannot touch you.” again please explain then why saints were physically beaten if the devil could not touch them. The devil cannot change their faith, that’s for sure (unless they willingly let him), but he certainly can touch them. He can seriously tempt them. He even tempted Jesus himself, knowing who he was. I’d wager that the holier the person the stronger the temptation by the devil to make the person fall.
I’d like for a moderator to intervene with official teachings, as I currently am without my Cathechism and I see posts with correct teachings mixed with errors which are very dangerous if taken as correct without checking the facts, mine included (even though I never deliberately state something wrong I am still prone to mistakes!).
If you are interested in Satan and possession I can reccomed books by Father Amorth, he recounts many cases he has followed through the years. Some people, even though they go to daily mass, and lead exemplary lives are still under the devil’s influence after many years of exorcisms. This is probably a gift of God. Had they not been subject to this influence would they lead such religious lives? In many cases whold families and communities have changd lives to help a loved one to get free from the devil, a prime example of how God can turn a bad thing into a good one!
In the end remember that as DavidKays said; the sacraments and prayer (the rosary is especially powerful) are your best bet to stay away from satan.
Fred