一篇文章，权当猎奇。
不过因为是纯英文，所以可能比较伤眼。
转自catholic网
Interview with an Exorcist
Fr. Gary Thomas wrestles with the reality of Satan
By:Patrick Coffin
Editor’s note: Fr. Gary Thomas is the mandated exorcist for the Diocese of San Jose, California. In 2005, his bishop, Most Rev. Patrick Joseph McGrath, asked him to take training in Rome for the rite of exorcism. In Rome Fr. Thomas apprenticed himself to Fr. Carmine De Filippis, a veteran Italian exorcist, and his eyes were opened to the reality of evil as never before. His training was the subject of the 2010 bookThe Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcistby Matt Baglio and the 2011 Hollywood movie based on the book,The Ritestarring Anthony Hopkins.
In late 2012 Catholic Answers Live radio host Patrick Coffin conducted a phone interview with Fr. Thomas.
Patrick Coffin: Can Satan read our thoughts?
Fr. Gary Thomas: Satan can have some sense, I think, of our thoughts or our feelings, but Satan doesn’t know us as well as we know ourselves. He can’t predict the future.
Is satanic activity on the rise in recent years?
It would seem there are many more people today who have dabbled—or more than dabbled—in idolatry and paganism who are both Catholic and non-Catholic than twenty, twenty-five years ago. Benedict XVI said, “As faith diminishes, superstition increases.” And I would say, as a kind of corollary, “As faith diminishes, darkness increases.” Because we’re all spiritual beings, we’re all searching for meaning; and if we don’t find meaning in ways that the Church would promote, we’ll go search for ourselves. And because of our flawed nature, oftentimes we’re drawn to things that, down the road, can do more harm than good.
How did you first hear about the ministry of exorcism and decide to pursue it?
The ministry sought me out. The first priest who was asked by the bishop to take on this role happened to be in my priest support group, and we thought he was a superb candidate for it. But a month later he came back and said he had declined. And for whatever reason—I believe it was providence—I piped up and said, “I could do that. I could be the exorcist.” I was getting ready to go on sabbatical as it was, and Bishop McGrath said, “There’s a course you can take in Rome,” and the rest is in the book.
The grace of being in Rome was that I found a priest who does a lot of exorcisms, and I had the time. I had the time to read, to pray, to journal, and the time to spend with Fr. Carmine. So I was out three days a week in the afternoons for three and a half months. It was all meant to be. I could not do what I’m doing now without the kind of training, observation, and discernment that I had when I was in Rome.
Let’s talk about the different levels of demonic activity, starting with what is perhaps on a lower rung. What is infestation?
Aninfestationrefers more to a thing or object. For instance, a demon or even a disembodied spirit can attach itself a house. It could be because a satanic ritual was performed there, or a satanic cult existed there for a long time.
Segueing to the more intense degree of demonic activity, it would be oppression, which is a physical attack. The lives of the saints are rife with this kind of thing.
Yes, anoppressionwould really refer to a kind of depression, where the person is filled with anxiety and very often there’s a sense of despair or despondency. The other word isobsession, where the person is overcome with or obsessed with the idea of Satan being in their life. But in both those cases a person can function to where you wouldn’t necessarily be able to detect anything demonic going on unless they disclose certain things to you. . . .
The idea that a demon isinsomebody is a misnomer. Sometimes they can be attached to someone and work through someone and be around them in a sense but not actually in them.
Let’s move to the most extraordinary and the rarest degree, and that would be possession, sometimes known as involuntary possession. Does the devil take full control of the person’s will so that they’re a kind of puppet to Satan?
A demon can’t control a person’s soul; it can only control a person’s body. Now, the will thing is tricky, because to me the will has everything to do with the soul. However, I do think when a person is possessed their will can be compromised, because their functionality is limited. They may not even be able to take care of their own physical needs. A person who accepts the demon, we call thatintegration, whereas possession is involuntary. Nevertheless, a person who is fully possessed is not able to make decisions on their own.
Have you witnessed full possession?
Yes, a couple of them in Rome and one here [in the U.S.].
不过因为是纯英文，所以可能比较伤眼。
转自catholic网
Interview with an Exorcist
Fr. Gary Thomas wrestles with the reality of Satan
By:Patrick Coffin
Editor’s note: Fr. Gary Thomas is the mandated exorcist for the Diocese of San Jose, California. In 2005, his bishop, Most Rev. Patrick Joseph McGrath, asked him to take training in Rome for the rite of exorcism. In Rome Fr. Thomas apprenticed himself to Fr. Carmine De Filippis, a veteran Italian exorcist, and his eyes were opened to the reality of evil as never before. His training was the subject of the 2010 bookThe Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcistby Matt Baglio and the 2011 Hollywood movie based on the book,The Ritestarring Anthony Hopkins.
In late 2012 Catholic Answers Live radio host Patrick Coffin conducted a phone interview with Fr. Thomas.
Patrick Coffin: Can Satan read our thoughts?
Fr. Gary Thomas: Satan can have some sense, I think, of our thoughts or our feelings, but Satan doesn’t know us as well as we know ourselves. He can’t predict the future.
Is satanic activity on the rise in recent years?
It would seem there are many more people today who have dabbled—or more than dabbled—in idolatry and paganism who are both Catholic and non-Catholic than twenty, twenty-five years ago. Benedict XVI said, “As faith diminishes, superstition increases.” And I would say, as a kind of corollary, “As faith diminishes, darkness increases.” Because we’re all spiritual beings, we’re all searching for meaning; and if we don’t find meaning in ways that the Church would promote, we’ll go search for ourselves. And because of our flawed nature, oftentimes we’re drawn to things that, down the road, can do more harm than good.
How did you first hear about the ministry of exorcism and decide to pursue it?
The ministry sought me out. The first priest who was asked by the bishop to take on this role happened to be in my priest support group, and we thought he was a superb candidate for it. But a month later he came back and said he had declined. And for whatever reason—I believe it was providence—I piped up and said, “I could do that. I could be the exorcist.” I was getting ready to go on sabbatical as it was, and Bishop McGrath said, “There’s a course you can take in Rome,” and the rest is in the book.
The grace of being in Rome was that I found a priest who does a lot of exorcisms, and I had the time. I had the time to read, to pray, to journal, and the time to spend with Fr. Carmine. So I was out three days a week in the afternoons for three and a half months. It was all meant to be. I could not do what I’m doing now without the kind of training, observation, and discernment that I had when I was in Rome.
Let’s talk about the different levels of demonic activity, starting with what is perhaps on a lower rung. What is infestation?
Aninfestationrefers more to a thing or object. For instance, a demon or even a disembodied spirit can attach itself a house. It could be because a satanic ritual was performed there, or a satanic cult existed there for a long time.
Segueing to the more intense degree of demonic activity, it would be oppression, which is a physical attack. The lives of the saints are rife with this kind of thing.
Yes, anoppressionwould really refer to a kind of depression, where the person is filled with anxiety and very often there’s a sense of despair or despondency. The other word isobsession, where the person is overcome with or obsessed with the idea of Satan being in their life. But in both those cases a person can function to where you wouldn’t necessarily be able to detect anything demonic going on unless they disclose certain things to you. . . .
The idea that a demon isinsomebody is a misnomer. Sometimes they can be attached to someone and work through someone and be around them in a sense but not actually in them.
Let’s move to the most extraordinary and the rarest degree, and that would be possession, sometimes known as involuntary possession. Does the devil take full control of the person’s will so that they’re a kind of puppet to Satan?
A demon can’t control a person’s soul; it can only control a person’s body. Now, the will thing is tricky, because to me the will has everything to do with the soul. However, I do think when a person is possessed their will can be compromised, because their functionality is limited. They may not even be able to take care of their own physical needs. A person who accepts the demon, we call thatintegration, whereas possession is involuntary. Nevertheless, a person who is fully possessed is not able to make decisions on their own.
Have you witnessed full possession?
Yes, a couple of them in Rome and one here [in the U.S.].
