Q. I would like to know where St. Patrick is buried. — M.A., Pennsylvania.
A. St. Patrick, who died in AD 461, is thought to be buried next to Down Cathedral in Northern Ireland. Once a former Benedictine monastery that was built in 1163, the church now belongs to the Church of Ireland and is known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity.
Q. The bible refers to so many people under demonic possession in times long past. However, we do not hear very much of this curse in current times. The manifestations were extra strength, speaking in foreign tongues, cursing, etc. It is my thinking that this problem exists
in our current society, except the Devil has modified his battle plan so as to hide his evil in subtle ways, e.g., no outward manifestation of unusual actions. I do most definitely apply this approach to our current leaders in society, including the legislative and executive branches of our government, and, unfortunately, Church leaders. How does one live with the approval of sodomy and infanticide? God is so patient! — R.B.K., Virginia.
A. We may not hear so much about demonic possession these days, except in Hollywood films, but the Devil and his minions are very active in modern society. Recall, for example, the plan to hold a satanic “Black Mass” at Harvard in May 2014. The event was cancelled after an outpouring of opposition and a eucharistic procession through the streets of Cambridge, Mass.
A petition signed by 400 Harvard students and 100 alumni said that “this form of satanic worship not only ridicules the central practice of Catholicism, the Mass, but it also mocks and offends all who have faith in Christ. Far from being an event that promotes an understanding of ‘cultural practices,’ it, in fact, promotes contempt for the Catholic faith and religion generally.”
One bishop who takes the Devil seriously is Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Ill. At the USCCB’s general assembly in November 2010, he presided over a two-day closed-door meeting on the need for more dioceses in the United States to have qualified exorcists to respond to cases of possible demonic possession. More than 100 bishops and priests attended the session.
While it is important for dioceses to be able to conduct exorcisms when necessary, Bishop Paprocki said that people shouldn’t focus only on cases requiring exorcism because that is not “the only area where the Devil is active in our world. Quite the contrary. The Devil exists, and he functions in our everyday world in a very ordinary way” as people face choices between good and evil on a daily basis. He said that the remedy is not exorcism, but making use of the sacraments, prayer, and devotions.
Three years later, after the governor of Illinois signed a law redefining marriage to include same-sex couples, Bishop Paprocki held a ceremony in his cathedral that was called “Prayers of Supplication and Exorcism in Reparation for the Sin of Same-Sex Marriage.” In his homily, the bishop said he was not “saying that anyone involved in the redefinition of marriage is possessed by the Devil, but all of us are certainly subject to the Devil’s evil influences and in need of protection and deliverance from evil.”
He said that the prayer service was “intended to call attention to the diabolical influences of the Devil that have penetrated our culture, both in the state and in the Church. These demonic influences are not readily apparent to the undiscerning eye, which is why they are so deceptive.”
As for the guilt of those involved, Paprocki said that “those who contract civil same-sex marriage are culpable of serious sin. Politicians responsible for enacting civil same-sex marriage legislation are morally complicit as cooperators in facilitating this grave sin.” He said that both groups must repent by going to Confession and receiving God’s mercy and absolution, but reminded those in attendance that stressing God’s mercy does not mean “that sins are no longer sins. On the contrary, God’s mercy is a great gift of grace precisely because sins are sins and they call for repentance and forgiveness.”
The bishop also recalled that when similar legislation was proposed in Argentina in 2010, Jorge Cardinal Bergoglio, the future Pope Francis, said that this was not a “mere legislative project, but rather a ‘move’ of the Father of Lies who wishes to confuse and deceive the children of God.” So, said Paprocki, “Pope Francis is saying that same-sex marriage comes from the Devil and should be condemned as such.”
For those seeking more information about the “ordinary work of the Devil: deception, division, diversion, and discouragement,” the bishop recommended a book by Fr. Louis Cameli entitled The Devil You Don’t Know: Recognizing and Resisting Evil in Everyday Life.
Q. It is my understanding that the Church teaches that Lucifer was originally one of God’s wonderful heavenly angels who, due to rebellious pride, fell from Heaven, along with other rebellious angels, thus becoming our enemy. It is also my understanding that, while those in Heaven have free will, they never choose sin; Heaven is absolutely good and pure, and heavenly souls and angels only desire God, goodness itself. How could an angel in Heaven possibly sin and lose Heaven? If that happened once, it could happen repeatedly, and of course it never does. Were angels outside of Heaven at the point of this rebellion? — P.S., Indiana.
A. No, those in Heaven now, both angels and saints, can never rebel against God, nor were those who did rebel, Lucifer and his cohorts, outside of Heaven when they turned away from their Creator. We don’t have a complete answer to these questions, so we will turn to Fr. Gabriele Amorth, formerly the chief exorcist for Rome, who has written an excellent book about the power of Satan and possession by evil spirits. In the book, which is entitled An Exorcist Tells His Story, Fr. Amorth made the following comments:
“Satan was the most perfect being created by the hands of God. His God-given authority and superiority over the other angels are recognized by all, so he thought that he had the same authority over everything that God was creating. Satan tried to understand all of creation, but could not, because all the plan of creation was oriented toward Christ. Until Christ came into the world, God’s plan could not be revealed in its entirety. Hence Satan’s rebellion. He wanted to continue to be the absolute first, the center of creation, even if it meant opposing God’s design.
“This is why Satan continually tries to dominate the world (‘the whole world is in the power of the evil one’ — 1 John 5:19). Beginning with our forefathers, he seeks to enslave men by making them obey himself and disobey God. He was successful with our forefathers, Adam and Eve, and he hoped to continue with all men with the help of ‘a third of the angels,’ who, according to the Book of Revelation, followed him in rebellion against God” (p. 26).
Fr. Amorth said that “God never rejects his creatures. Therefore, even though they broke with God, Satan and his angels maintain their power and rank (thrones, dominions, principalities, powers, and so on) even if they use them for evil purposes. St. Augustine does not exaggerate when he claims that, if God gave Satan a free hand, ‘no man would be left alive.’ Since Satan cannot kill us, he tries to ‘make us into his followers in opposition to God, just as he is in opposition to God’” (ibid.).
The exorcist also said that “the truth of salvation is this: Jesus came ‘to destroy the works of the devil’ (1 John 3:8), to free man from Satan’s slavery, and to establish the kingdom of God after destroying the reign of Satan. However, between the first coming of Christ and the Parousia (the second, triumphal coming of Christ as judge), the Devil tries to entice as many people as possible to his side. It is a battle he wages with the desperation of one who knows he is already defeated, knowing ‘that his time is short’ (Rev. 12:12). Therefore, Paul tells us in all honesty that ‘we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places’ (Eph. 6:12)” (pp. 26-27).
Another helpful source would be the document Christian Faith and Demonology, which was issued by the Congregation for Divine Worship in 1975.
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