Exorcist Stories---Wanted---I------Page No 03

hard to accept even for those of us who, as exorcists, experience them firsthand?

The truth is that Sacred Scripture is veryclear on the subject. We also have the witness of Christian praxis and teachings throughout the history of the Church. Finally, there is Canon Law. With few exceptions, a wall has
been erected between us and yesterday’s praxis and the teachings of the Church: an absence of exorcisms. And there is a wall of silence as regards Sacred Scripture and, worse, there is an incorrect interpretation of
Scripture by some theologians and biblical scholars. Priests, from whose ranks bishops are appointed, should be taught about this topic when they study the 3 branches of theology: dogmatic theology, spiritual theology, and moral theology.
Dogmatic theology speaks of God the Creator. It also covers the existence of angels and demons and should present Sacred Scripture and Church teaching on the subject. Spiritual theology, no matter how we structure it, incorporates both ordinary demonic activity—temptations—and extraordinary activity, which consists of all evil malefice up to and including diabolic possession. Exorcism and other remedies against demonic activity should be taught in
this context. The well-known manuals by Tanquerey and Royo Martin are 

still valid references. Unfortunately, spiritual theology has been neglected 

for many years. As a result, spiritual direction is almost nonexistent. 

Moral theology should teach about the sins against the First

Commandment, including superstition. It should enlighten the faithful 

about what is in conformity with God s will and what is against it, such as 

magic and necromancy. Sacred Scripture very clearly condemns 

superstition 

with particularly strong words. For instance, Deuteronomy's list 

(18:10-12) ends with a comprehensive condemnation of superstitious 

practices with the words: "Anyone who does such things is an abomination 

to the Lord." Unfortunately, many moral theologians today are no longer 

able to distinguish good from evil. They no longer teach what is a mortal sin

 and what is not. As a result, the faithful have never heard about these

 prohibitions. To verify this statement, all we have to do is look in the 

latest dictionaries of moral theology: superstition is no longer clearly defined. 

I have asked many priests, from theyoungest to the oldest, whether they learned about any of the topics I just mentioned in their theological studies; the answer was invariably negative. The only way to correct such a serious deficiency is to begin with programs of studies in seminaries and universities.When, to these deficiencies, we add thatcertain theologians and biblical scholarsdisseminate erroneous information concerning exorcism, plus a lack of practical experience with it, we can readily understand how we
reached this level of ignorance and disbelief.
Errors include serious doubts about the very
existence of demons and, even more so, about
the reality of demonic activity; the whole is
camouflaged under the guise of "up-to-date
interpretations". Some go so far as denying
that Jesus cast out demons, explaining that
the examples we find in the Gospel should be
interpreted simply as physical healings. The
voice of ecclesial authority has spoken loudly
and clearly against such errors in a document
on demonology. The document was published
in L'Osservatore Romano on June 26, 1975,
and has since been included in the official

documents of the Holy See. For more

information, refer to my book An Exorcist Tells
His Story.

In summary: our people turn to magicians,
and our clergy adopts an unbelieving attitude
toward exorcisms for 3 reasons:

• Lack of knowledge and of preaching

• Insufficient practice of exorcisms

• Doctrinal errors

I will never tire of repeating that today's
clergy face an objective condition, partially
through no fault of their own: the seminary
formation of our priests does not address the
existence of Satan, his activities, and the
means to counter them, nor does it teach
about the ways in which we can fall into the
evils of malefice. As I have just stated, the
reason is that theology classes neglect to
mention the arguments of dogmatic theology,
spiritual theology, and moral theology on the
subject.

The majority of priests have never performed
an exorcism or attended one. Often they have
been influenced by scholars of theology and
Sacred Scripture who no longer follow the
sound doctrine of the Church because they
believe that it is outdated, medieval, in its