Categories: Need to know

Devil: Can "speak in different languages, transform himself"

Vatican’s chief exorcist discusses life’s work

by macleans.ca on Thursday, March 11, 2010 11:19am - 19 Comments

One expert says the Devil is at work in the most unlikely of places: the Vatican. Father Gabriele Amorth, 85, sees evidence of satanic infiltration everywhere: in cases of violence and pedophilia involving the church, in the Vatican’s “cover-up” of the murder of a Swiss Guard in 1988, and in “cardinals who do not believe in Jesus.” Amorth should know; he is, after all, the Vatican’s chief exorcist. His recently published book, Memoirs of an Exorcist —a collection of interviews with an Italian journalist—describes his life’s work since becoming an official exorcist in 1986. Amorth claims to have personally treated 70,000 cases of demonic possession. So how can we spot the devil incarnate when he appears? He is a “pure spirit, invisible,” says Amorth. “He can remain hidden, or speak in different languages, transform himself or appear to be agreeable. At times he makes fun of me.” A good illustration may be the 1973 film The Exorcist, which Amorth describes as “exaggerated,” but “substantially exact.”

Times Online

http://intensedebate.com/people/Gaunilon Gaunilon

If you ever have the chance to sit down with a career exorcist and ask him about some of the things he's seen, I highly recommend it. Strange stuff. Not a job for everyone.

http://intensedebate.com/people/RunningGag RunningGag

What he's seen? I guess you have to be fairly convincing if your that involved in the scam.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Gaunilon Gaunilon

I take it you've never spoken to one, then.
true north

But who is to say its a scam?? You just never know!

true north

I think that would be extremely interesting, but something like that could take a toll on certain people.. you know that fear of the unknown thingy….

Gary

These are the same psychopaths that burned witches at the stake, started religous wars and generallly brought on the dark ages. Ridiculous insanity would be a kind description of their perverted senseless beliefs.
Gary

If religion isn't the greatest threat to rationality and scientific progress, what is? Perhaps alcohol, or television, or addictive video games. But although each of these scourges – mixed blessings, in fact – has the power to overwhelm our best judgment and cloud our critical faculties, religion has a feature of that none of them can boast: it doesn't just disable, it honours the disability. People are revered for their capacity to live in a dream world, to shield their minds from factual knowledge and make the major decisions of their lives by consulting voices in their heads that they call forth by rituals designed to intoxicate them.

–Daniel Dennett (Is religion a threat to rationality and science?)
Darden Cavalcade

What does "exaggerated but substantially exact" mean? Seventy thousand exorcisms in one lifetime? Italy must be a hellish place.
http://intensedebate.com/people/RunningGag RunningGag

William of Ockham.

true north

Indeed..the first Potestant….

http://intensedebate.com/people/RunningGag RunningGag

He was born in 1288. It was necessary for him to believe that the Abrahamic deity would be the ultimate answer. If he were born a few hundred years later, I doubt he would have come to that conclusion.

But then, had he been born a few hundred years later, we probably wouldn't have heard of him.

true north

Good point…

KC Sunshine

Wait a minute, lemme do my math again, 20,000 days in 60 years so he would be doing a little better than 3 exorcisms per day for 60 years. This guy is the Wilt Chamberlain of exorcism!

http://intensedebate.com/people/RunningGag RunningGag

He must be doing mass exorcising. I wonder if he has infomercials. Does he fold up and store easily in your closet?

http://www.stareagleproductions.com delford t louis

go back to the dark ages idiot…you have made havoc of billions of people
KC Sunshine

Let's see, there's 10,000 days in 30 years so 70,000 exorcisms means he would be doing just a little more than one a day if he was doing this over a period of 60 years. Wow! That's some serious exorcising!
Rob

And there is never any shortage of "Sheeple" who gravitate to this stuff!
fuddle duddle

hey that would make one wild reality show following around this guy, i would watch for sure
http://intensedebate.com/people/RunningGag RunningGag

'Reality'? I don't think that word means what you think it means. Heh.