Fr. Vincent Lampert - Role & Definition - Necessity of Exorcists #1 of 5

[Music] good evening everyone everyone's wide awake and a very attentive I go this weekend is to give you an insight into the world of exorcism I like to have kind of an informal presentation if you have questions that come up or things that you would like to know or elaborate on you can feel free to raise your hand during the talk and certainly at the end of every talk we'll all leave time for some questions and answers so let's begin with the prayer in the name of the Father the Son Holy Spirit amen st. Michael the Archangel defend us in battle be ours and against the wickedness and snares of the devil may God rebuke him we humbly pray and do Thou O Prince of the heavenly host by the power of God cast into hell Satan and all the other evil spirits who prowl about the world for the root in the ruin of souls amen in the name of the Father the Son and Holy Spirit amen so my first presentation this evening is based on the scripture passage from Matthew 10 11 into whatever city you enter in the purpose of this presentation tonight is just to talk about the role of the Exorcist in the church today some of you may have some idea of what that role may be there's a lot of misconceptions that are out there and so my goal is to give you an insight into that one of the ways I like to begin is just think for a moment it's Sunday morning in every major city in town across the United States and a sound begins to ring in the air and what sound do we hear the ringing of church bells the ringing of church bells is meant to remind all of us that were called to wake up with God and to be about the things of the church it's a sad reality today though that far too many P all seemed to be spiritually asleep many people who have been baptized have abandoned their Christian faith and they've lost the sense of the sacred in their lives a recent study even suggested 79 percent of Catholics between the ages of 18 and 35 no longer practice their Catholic faith and they even doubt the existence of God some of these people will say that their spiritual but they don't need to go to church and they don't need to have that relationship with God the other day somebody gave me a great when you look at the cross they say the cross represents what our relationship with God needs to be we need to have that relationship with God which is the bar that goes up and down me to God but we also need the importance of community the sidearms the important role that other people play in our lives so at a time when people are losing touch with their Christian heritage there's a great risk for falling for ideas that sound appealing but are actually misleading and can be extremely dangerous st. Paul warns us in second Corinthians Satan transforms himself and turns himself into an angel of light we must realize that the presence of the devil is sharpened as humanity and society are distancing ourselves from God the truth is that either one is in a relationship with God or they're in a relationship with something else as the gap is growing between ourselves and God there's been a resurgence in the practice of magic and things that Center on the occult these things are viewed as attractive whereas belief in God is viewed as unattractive the danger that we are facing is when a person no longer believes in God they will believe in just about anything and as a result these folks are opening themselves up to the forces of evil what people need to realize is that our ultimate identity comes from our relationship with God and not apart from him faith in God will lead us in one direction and the lack of faith will lead us in another so if you look at the current state of faith in the world today it does seem that the devil seems to be having the upper hand again because faith is in decline and then the presence of the devil becomes enhanced the good news and all of this is that even in spite of our growing trend to move away from God God never moves away from us there's that great image in the book of Genesis after Adam and Eve had sinned you know Adam goes and hide and God comes to the garden and says Adam where are you in those words we come to know of a God who loves us so much that even when we're lost God is always looking for us no one can ever be completely lost to God if they're willing to be found in the story of Jacob wrestling with the angel in Genesis 33 we also discover a God who fights for us so we know that we all of us had been created in the image and likeness of God we have great value and great dignity and even when we move away from God God is always that constant presence always waiting for us to return so I was pointed to be the Exorcist for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis back in 2005 by Archbishop Daniel B Klein at that time I became one of a dozen officially appointed Exorcist in the United States today that number has grown to about 125 people asked me how did you get the role and I always say that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time so it was a Monsignor John Ryan he was pastors st. Anthony parish in Indianapolis he was The Exorcist he passed away in July of 2005 ironically he was the pastor where I attended grade school so I grew up at Holy Trinity parish in Indianapolis it's now closed the grade school closed after my seventh grade so I attended eighth grade at st. Anthony's parish and got to know Monsignor Ryan never dreaming one day that I was going to inherit one of his jobs the archbishop told me that he appointed me because he wanted a priest who believed in the reality of evil but not a priest who would believe so quickly that everyone who came to him believing they were up against the forces of evil that that was actually the case the Archdiocese of Indianapolis historically has always had a stable II appointed Exorcist so even after Monsignor Ryan passed away the archbishop said we've always had an exorcist it seems appropriate that we continue that tradition so he said I'm appointing you you know Archbishop Daniel B Kline died on January the 25th back in 2018 when he was ill him and I would have conversations and we would kind of go back and forth with one another because I would say to him Archbishop I've talked to some of our younger priests and they say they would like to be the Exorcist and then he would laugh and go anybody who would want the job is probably why they shouldn't have it he said the fact that you didn't want it is why you get to keep it and after he retired I told him I said Archbishop you're retiring and you know when the when the bishop resigns because of health some of his appointments go away he said ah but yours is a pastoral appointment so it will continue on so I've been reappointed by Cardinal Tobin when he was here and our Archbishop Thompson so I work under their direction it was shortly after my appointment that in February of 2006 I was on sabbatical in Rome and the archbishop knew I was going there for a three-month program at the North American College he told me that while I was there he wanted me to study about the topic of exorcism so I was able to find a Franciscan priest there in Rome father carmine de Filippis at the time he had been doing exorcisms for 25 years he was trained by Father Candido Amon teeny who trained father Gabriel amours who became the chief Exorcist in Rome it was father Candido Amon teeny who used to do exorcisms at the holy stairs in Rome I don't know if anyone here has ever had the privilege of making a pilgrimage to Rome but if you've been to the Holy stairs at the top of the stairs to the left in the back there's a chapel in that chapel today there is a bust of father Amon teeny because he's now servant of God he owned his what he's on his way to canonization in the church so during the three months that I was there father carmine day was the pastor of st. Lawrence parish outside the walls so I would walk down every morning to the fountain of Trevi go around the corner and get on a bus and head outside of the city to go to st. Lawrence parish and so when I was there I was able to participate in 40 exorcisms that father karma nave performed and then I was able to learn firsthand their church's ministry to those who were up against the forces of evil and who were seeking the help of the church even in the the Rite of exorcism which is this book here it states very clearly that the best way for an exorcist to become trained in the ministry is to become an apprentice under a very skilled and trained Exorcist and since at the time we only had about 10 or 11 Exorcist the United States there really wasn't anyone here to train under which is why the archbishop wanted me to do that training while I was in Rome since its being going to Roma no six I went back in 2012 and attended the the Vatican course on exorcism I have also become a member of the International Association of Exorcist it's a group of 750 priests and their helpers throughout the world who gather in Rome every other year as an opportunity for fraternal dialogue with one another as well as bringing in other speakers so that we constantly educate ourselves in this ministry so I currently receive approximately 2,000 calls emails and letters from people all over the United States and even other parts of the world every year looking for help I have a lady who's my assistant she lives over in Nashville Indiana she was a member of st. Francis and Clara parish when I was passed her there for 12 years from 2003 to 2015 she has a degree in theology from Saint Minard so she helps me screen all of these calls and emails that come in one of the things you might come to know about me is that I have a crazy sense of humor and I always say it's it's a good attribute to have because when you're the Exorcist and you deal with a lot of people who find themselves on the fringes of society I think a good healthy sense of humor gives me a good balance so the lady that's my assistant I jokingly refer to her as my ex or assistant so she's the first line of contact for people who believe they need help and the reason that's important is because currently I'm the pastor of st. Michael parish over in Brookville Indiana I'm also the pastor of st. Peter's parish in Franklin County so I have two parish assignments I also take care of a third campus holy guardian angel Church that closed in 2013 but it's my responsibility so I literally have three parish communities that I oversee I have no deacons I have no associate pastor so balancing pastoral work along with exorcism ministry is a juggle at time so it's important to have other people involved who can assist me now what I hope to impart in my presentations over the next few days is not to create some type of fascination with the practice of exorcism what is really needed is for people to have a greater fascination with God in fact I always like to say to people they're really my goal is an exorcist is to help people who are focused on evil in their lives to shift that focus onto the power of God because ultimately I have no power if we're relying on me we're all in trouble but if we're relying on the power of God that works through his ministers of the church then that's the right place to be so it's really a time for all of us to focus on the positive aspects of our Catholic faith I love the line in 1st John 4:4 where he writes greater is He that is in you than he who is in the world greater is He Who is in you than he who is in the world so the power of God is always greater than the power of evil now many people today live with a distorted view of freedom that echoes the fall of humanity mentioned in the book of Genesis the guiding principles of this mist of this distorted view of freedom are threefold you may do whatever you wish no one has the right to command you and you are the god of yourself you may do as you wish nobody has the right to command you have you ever had someone say to you who are you to tell me what to do and then becoming the god of ourselves this viewpoint leaves no room for God and the end result is a greater presence of evil both in the world and in the lives of individuals so I mentioned earlier how people are pushing God out of their lives and as we're pushing God out of our lives guess who wants to get in and God is the one who keeps the devil at bay but if we push God out of our lives we make ourselves more vulnerable to those temptations of the evil one saint john paul ii has said that freedom in the true sense of the word means to be obedient to god that might sound kind of crazy doesn't it freedom and obedience go hand in hand so when we are obedient to god and we live in a manner pleasing to god that's freedom in the true sense of the word st. john paul ii goes on to say that we get a distorted view of freedom when we believe that freedom means that we can do whatever we want he says the end result is that we end up becoming slaves to our own passions and desires and oftentimes people who become slaves to these passions don't even realize it they've convinced themselves that they're truly free when in reality they have bound themselves to something greater than themselves something that is evil Pope Benedict put it this way when the existence of God is denied freedom is not enhanced but is deprived of its basis and thus becomes distorted so again at the very foundation of freedom is the word obedience now whenever I talk on exorcism I always like to define what is meant by the term many people today may have some notion of what the word means based on their own research or a definition that has been shaped by modern culture for example anybody here like to watch those movies on TV The Exorcist The Exorcism of Emily Rose the right there's a new program on CBS now on Thursday evenings called evil their shows on Paranormal Activity ghost hunting and where else do we go when we want to learn something we google it and we go on the Internet I always like to remind people that just because he read something on the Internet doesn't make it true now you might have to take a moment to yourself but believe it or not there are people who put a lot of this information on the Internet in my opinion much on the internet that has to do with exorcism is really aimed at sensationalism it presents information to create a fascination with evil rather than helping people draw closer to God so the word exorcism comes from the Greek word x-ray cosmos it's a term that signifies an insistent request manifested before God or directed against demons literally to exorcise means to bind with an oath at its very core and exorcism is a prayer it's a prayer that brings healing and peace to those afflicted by the evil one allowing that person to be reconciled to God it's a ministry of compassion it's a ministry of charity it's a ministry that must be done well because it's not a game and it's not a hobby it's a struggle sometimes a very difficult one against the power of Satan a struggle that requires union with the cross of Christ humility vigilance prudence clarity courage confidence in the power of God patience and a living faith now when God is being requested to expel a demon we call that a supplicating exorcism prayer prayers for deliverance would fall under this category when the demon or evil spirits are being addressed it's called an imperative or a major exorcism so a supplicating exorcism would be God see how your servant is afflicted by the antics of the devil come to their aid and bring them freedom so God is the one who's being addressed and the Church teaches that anyone may say a supplicating prayer of X sysm because again it's a prayer directed to God and we know that anyone can pray however an imperative or major exorcism as an official right of the Catholic Church is reserved to the priest who has been authorized to do this ministry by his bishop every Catholic bishop is the Exorcist in his diocese and then the code of canon law says that the bishop may bestow this charism on one or more of his priests at his discretion so he can appoint an exorcist on a stable basis meaning like me and the Archdiocese of Indianapolis or he can appoint any priest on an individual basis to perform an exorcism but again the authority rests with the local bishop he has been given the power of governance he's the successor of the Apostles so it's his ministry so I work at his discretion under his supervision and under his direction if I try to act independently of the bishop I will get myself in trouble certainly with the bishop but also with the evil one because evil spirits recognize authority and when that authority is being abused they know that some of the callers that contact me when I talk about the process it needs to be gone through they might get angry or upset with me because they're looking for immediate gratification but again I'm not free to do whatever I want I have to follow the authority of the local bishop and it's always been my experience that when people are willing to do what is requested it's probably an indication that there truly is something demonic present when people just get angry and upset and they start becoming insulting then that's usually an indication to me that this is not something that is authentic so the role the Exorcist is to investigate cases of alleged demonic activity and to make the determination if the official right of the church needs to come into play so this is the official right of the Church this right that I have in my hand was the very last liturgical Rite to be updated after the Second Vatican Council so the council ended in 1965 so the new Rite of exorcism was promulgated in 1998 just at the end of that calendar year so it took from 1965 until 1998 for this book to come out it replaced the the ritual that had been in place at the time that dated back to the Year 1614 so from 1614 until 1998 the right virtually remained unchanged one of the nuances in the new right is that it contains supplicating exorcism prayers and remember those are prayers directed to God those prayers were not included in the older right so this book was released in 1999 4,000 copies were made originally at the time there were not 4,000 exorcist in the world I tried to find a copy couldn't find it anywhere it was Archbishop Daniel B Klein who got a copy for me through the USCCB United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington very secretive you know cloak-and-dagger came in certified registered mail and have to sign for it when I arrived and I got it at the end of 2005 when I arrived in Rome I was amused to walk into the Vatican bookstore office Saint Peter's Square and to see copies of the book stacked from floor to ceiling and anyone could buy it if they had 13 euros was interesting when I went back in 2012 for the Vatican course on exorcism I was told that the book did not exist so the climate had changed just within about 6 years I was back in Rome just a few years ago for the International gathering and there was a bookstore now on st. Peter's Square called the benedict xvi bookstore and I went in there and they had copies once again but now there were 35 euros so released in 1999 only in Latin and then it was tweaked again in 2004 in 2005 and the book I'm holding now is the English translation that came out in 2016 so it took from 1998 until 2016 to get the English translation of the right the church always moves in terms of decades it seems like but again the purpose of the new Rite was to put the pastoral care of those who were afflicted by the evil one into the hands of every parish priest again because supplicating prayers are included the unfortunate thing is not just anyone can get this book so even though it was intended to help every priest minister to those who were dealing with evil the book is not readily accessible to all priests so now even though I say that every priest should be able to handle these situations that's not really the case I was ordained a priest in 1991 I'm a 1985 graduate of st. minor in college and also a 1991 graduate of the university of st. Mary of the lake Mundelein seminary up in the northern suburbs of Chicago so after I graduated from college I took a two-year hiatus out of the seminary I tried to run away but God ran after me so I finally surrendered and then I was ordained in 1991 but even after I was ordained if somebody would come to me and say they were dealing with evil my immediate response where's Monsignor Ryan's phone number how do I send this person to him because he knows what to do the topic of exorcism was not something that was discussed during seminary formation it just was not anything that was included older Catholics might remember that one of the minor orders of the sacrament of Holy Orders was Exorcist even when I attended Mundelein in the main chapel on campus up there the steps that lead up to the altar have all the minor orders Lecter acolyte subdeacon Exorcist deacon and priest but it was after 1972 that the church did away with the minor orders so any priest that was ordained prior to 1972 was ordained an exorcist after 1972 that was no longer the case and then even those who were a day in prior to 1972 could no longer do an exorcism without the express permission of the local bishop the best thing I always say say to when people contact me the best thing that people can do what if they believe they're dealing with evil is to go and talk to their parish priest half of the people who contact me or not Catholic they come from other Christian faith traditions they come from other world religions or no faith background whatsoever if people do have some faith background especially within the Christian tradition I always like to know that they've had a conversation with the minister of their church because again people that are dealing with evil are going to need ongoing pastoral care and the place they're gonna get that is in their own local church it's not possible for me to take everyone who comes to me under my wing because I don't do this as a full-time job again balancing parish responsibilities with this ministry can seem very daunting at times so I always like to say that the parish priest should be the first line of contact and then allow the priest to use discernment he can listen to the person he can assess where they are spiritually he can pray with them offer them a blessing hear their confession he can offer the sacrament of the anointing of the sick so exorcism must always be seen within the broader scope of overall pastoral care and that will take place at the parish level so it's my goal to want to help the parish the the priest in one's parish to help him minister to his parishioner who may be dealing with the presence of the demonic in their life quote from one of the my colleagues in United States he always likes to say that exorcism can be likened to a nuclear weapon it's in our arsenal but it's not our first line of defense so we don't always just jump to that right away again we get to there gradually you know if you're sick you go and see your family doctor and your doctor says well let's try this let's try this and then ultimately if things aren't working let's send you to a specialist to get some more detailed information it's the same way with in the world of exorcism it was father Gabriel a morph again the former chief act resistive rome he passed away back in 2016 he said the place to begin with anyone who believes that they're up against the forces of evil is for that person to make a good confession because he said again an exorcism is a sacramental of the church but a sacrament of the church is more powerful in even more efficacious so again going to confession we take ownership of our sins we place them in the hands of God and once we place him in the hands of God the devil can no longer use that against us so the devil believed that his goal his main goal is the conquest of civilization his first attempt was in the Garden of Eden when he convinced Adam and Eve to act against God's plan and he continues his activity in the world today demonic activity is classified under two main categories there's ordinary demonic activity and there's extraordinary demonic activity and later on in one of my other conferences I'll I'll talk about ordinary demonic activity but at this time I want to share with you the four types of extraordinary demonic activity that the Church recognizes so again ordinary think of temptation extraordinary it's that it's at a higher level so number one would be to monic infestation the presence of evil in the location or associated with an object so the devil and his demons can torment humans indirectly for example by unexplained noises these include people hearing footsteps clattering of chains mysterious voices shouts laughter bells ringing the disappearance of an object in one location and it appears in another pictures falling off the walls furniture moving clothing sheets blankets and chairs levitating in the air so again infestation has to do with the presence of evil in the location think of a haunted house or an object think of like a thing that's been cursed like a voodoo doll or something of that sort the best thing to do when people believe there's demonic infestation is to have the location blessed and it's not just using any generic prayer there are there is an exorcism prayer that can be used for a location so it's not just grabbing the the book of blessings that we have it takes a little something more powerful than that I won't say but in 2010 the the bishops discussed exorcism after a fall business meeting in Baltimore and Archbishop Daniel sent me to attend that conference it was one of the the bishops who said that the book of blessings that we have today seems more like a book of wishes that the prayers are just not that powerful they're pretty weak and their content so again there is a very powerful prayer that exorcism prayer that can be used when somebody believes there's a presence of evil in in a location what's interesting about locations is that demons don't have an address like we do they don't live in a location you know 8220 State Road 48 Bloomington Indiana so we would say demons are neither here nor there we say they're here or there if they're choosing to act there and then the Exorcist would try to figure out why is there a presence of evil in this location here's an example some of you might recall a number of years ago a priest up in Gary did an exorcism people say that this particular house was haunted there was a picture of a kind of a shadowy figure through the window and then the movie company that produced the conjuring purchased the house and even the rights to make another movie out of all of this well people begin breaking into this house doing seances and whatnot now it wasn't the fact that the evil was living in that house the very things these people were doing were causing the manifestations of the evil to take place many ghost hunters will tell me that they realized that what they're encountering are evil spirits and again what they're doing is causing those manifestations to take place a few years ago my my sister what I'm one of nine children so I'm seven of nine I have six brothers and two sisters so two brothers a sister and my dad we're down in Savannah Georgia taking a you know a trip down south in the evening we see all these buses pulling up for people to go on the the ghost tour that night I told my sister I was going to go along with my holy water and bless everything and put them all out of business and we got a good laugh out of that as well the second type of extraordinary demonic activity is demonic vexation so the action by the devil and his demons aimed at attacking and harassing humans physically these include things like cuts burns scrapes stings bites blows that leave bruises swellings and bleeding sores fractures of bones incisions of letters on the body that appear for a while and then they disappear just talk yesterday with a gentleman who contacted me from Atlanta who told me that he believed that he experienced a Monica vexation he woke up with a bite on his back so again just examples of vexation it's physical attacks physical attacks I will say that there is a something different from vexation and it's called demonic oppression but demonic oppression is a gift from God God allows one to be tormented by the evil one as an opportunity for that person to show their fidelity to God think of some good examples Jobe out of the Old Testament God permitted the devil to afflict him if you know the story of Jobe he loses everything he was very wealthy successful he loses it all his bodies covered in sores he's put on sackcloth he's sitting in ashes his friends say to him curse God and die but what does Jobe do he beats his breast and he says the Lord giveth the Lord taketh away blessed be the name of the Lord in other words if things be good I glorify God if they be bad I glorify God my personal circumstances mean nothing when it comes to God's rightful place in my life we can think of st. Padre Pio would anyone have ever thought that st. Padre Pio needed an exorcism no he was oppressed by the devil there's a great little book called the devil in the life of Padre Pio Padre Pio used to refer to the devil as old Bluebeard so he believed that the devil would come to him at night and try to torment him so he wouldn't get any rest so he couldn't minister to all the pilgrims that would show up and come to see him so in this little book Padre Pio writes that one night he was sleeping and he said the devil came in started making all these noises it woke him up he rolled over and looked over and said oh it's only you o Bluebeard I thought it was somebody important and then he rolled over and went back to sleep you can think of Saint John Vianney he used to call the devil the grop and believe the devil would come and pull him out of bed at night again try to prevent him from getting any rest we all know the story of st. John Vianney would hear confessions 1416 hours a day you know I and if he didn't get rest then he wouldn't be able to minister to these people so demonic oppression is a different category that's a blessing from God so there's demonic infestation demonic vexation the third type of extraordinary demonic activity demonic obsession so demonic obsession the action by the devil and his demons aimed at attacking humans mentally by influencing a person's external and internal senses on the external senses the devil will impact a person's vision with apparitions that are meant to terrify or enticing versions intended to distract someone from the practice of virtue on a person's hearing through noises so as to disturb with words or chants that are obscene and blasphemous on the internal senses the imagination and the memory are filled with thoughts ideas or images that are rationally absurd but such that the victim is unable to reject them I've dealt with people in my nearly 29 years as the priest who will get a thought in their head that they just can't get out they might say to themselves you know Jesus says that the only sin that will not be forgiven is if you blaspheme the Holy Spirit I can't tell you how many people have come to me over the years who say I think I blast me and the Holy Spirit I can't be forgiven and they just constantly think of that and I always say to them well if you think you've done it that's the good news then you probably haven't because you didn't say that you concretely did there has to be that direct intent of the will but again these are people then that just cannot shut down in their mind the thought that somehow they've done something so wrong in the eyes of God that they cannot be forgiven this is the attacks of the devil who's trying to convince us that God will not forgive these people become more and more depressed sad desperate they're emotionally and physically and spiritually drained I have to tell you that in the field of demonic ups dead the in the field of exorcism demonic obsession are the most difficult cases to deal with they're even more difficult than demonic possession itself and then the fourth type of extraordinary demonic activity is demonic possession the action by the devil and demons aimed at taking control of a person's body during which that person feels powerless to act and their actions are defined wholly by the evil spirits so the demon will use a person's mouth to speak their feet and legs to walk their hands to give gestures people that I've dealt with who've been possessed some of them are have no recollection once the manifestations begin other people will tell me that they're like a prisoner trapped in their body they know what's taking place through their body but they're powerless to stop it now any priest should be able to address cases of infestation vexation and obsession by praying in the location or praying for and with the person troubled physically or mentally by evil cases that deal with demonic possession should be referred to the local bishop or the priest authorized to investigate these situations here in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis archbishop Thompson has put together an archdiocese in protocol so anyone who believes they're dealing with evil there is a step-by-step that every priest in the archdiocese knows about that they can walk with the person trying to make the determination exactly what is going on now the tradition of the church has maintained four criteria in evaluating the validity of cases of demonic possession these include the ability to speak and understand languages otherwise unknown to the individual having strength beyond the normal capacity of the individual superhuman strength number three elevated perception knowledge about things that a person should not otherwise know and then for the one that we're all familiar with an aversion to anything of a sacred nature these include things like being shown a Bible being in a sacred space being shown a crucifix blessed with holy water blessed with relics and so on it's also possible to know that a demon is present when symptoms of the demonic are observed these include bodily contortions mark 1:26 the evil shook the man violently a change in voice mark 5:5 he would cry out and cut himself with stones a change in physical appearance such as foaming at the mouth eyes rolled in the back of the head unpleasant odors a change in the temperature of the room it becomes colder uncontrollable laughter hissing and the resemblance of the movement of a snake and even levitation so one of the 40 exorcisms that I participated in while in Rome there was a case where the person who was manifesting actually began to levitate and being new on the job I think I was like huh but the guy was watching the father karma day and you know he had the ritual in his hand and he was praying and he's praying and he looks over and sees the person begin to rise and he just keeps praying and then he looks over and he takes his hand and pushes him down and just continues to read so he that was an important lesson because the lesson is to focus on what God is doing through the prayer of the church and not that parlor tricks of the devil who's trying to distract from the prayer of the church because in the ritual of exorcism the focus is on look at what God is doing but the devil is always trying to say no no look at what I'm doing so I always tell people that my focus is always on the power of God and not the tricks of the devil so all of these things can be indications of demonic possession but before proceeding with the official right of the church there is a protocol in place in the United States so the Exorcist in many ways is trained to be a skeptic I should be the last one to believe that someone is possessed every other possible explanation needs to be explored before labeling that person is being possessed so the Exorcist must arrive at moral certitude because the church could do greater harm if it labels a person as being possessed and that label prevents the person from getting the true help that they need so the steps of the protocol are Sevenfold I'll share those with you number one is to have a complete and thorough examination by a medical doctor with appropriate specialists consulted as needed such as a neurologist step number two would be a thorough psychological examination by a qualified clinical psychologist or psychiatrist identifying all areas of concern so the church is asking the experts in the physical health and the mental health fields is there something about this person's condition that you cannot explain the church is not asking these experts do you think this person is possessed because the church herself will make that determination but the church wants to gather as much information as she can so she does want these experts to weigh in on the matter so they only offer their opinion they do not give the diagnosis of being possessed sometimes people hear that you have to have a psychological evaluation does that mean the church doubt you and the answer is no but if one is going to go through an exorcism they need to be in a good mental frame of mind and going through that evaluation can put the person in the right frame of mind to then go through the prayers of the church step number three would be a life history of the person identifying where the entry point of evil may have originated so the exorcist wants to know what was the entry point identifying the entry point allows the Exorcist through the prayers of the church to close that doorway if you will the Vatican has put out a series of questions that the Exorcist can asked such as have you ever been diagnosed with a mental health issue have you been prescribed medication are you currently taking your medication if you're no longer taking it did you go off of your medication under the direction of your doctor or did you do it on your own have you ever been involved in any satanic rituals or practices what type of music do you listen to do you have any addictive behavior towards drugs or alcohol so there's a whole litany and again these questions are not meant to judge the person but again the Exorcist can only help the person when he knows the total picture step number four yes why begin with it could solidify in the person's mind that it truly is something demonic and then they don't really pursue those other possibilities rather than doing an exorcism what they could do immediately go to confession and go to the priest and receive the sacrament the anointing of the sick those things don't have to be delayed they can be done right away so again the church does want to move cautiously because again and there there are people out there that would want to discredit the church as well people want to mock the church or rituals or beliefs so there could be someone that simply comes my way that's putting on a show just so that they can go out and publicize the affair so the church again wants to move cautiously to make sure that one does not try to discredit her but there are things that can be done immediately and it's the normal things of the church the sacramental life of the church that one should approach immediately and remember again those are sacraments they do convert grace so they can help the person even if it is demonic in the interim before they even get to the point that perhaps having an exorcism step number four is to try to normalize the spiritual life of the person so it's not enough to cast the demon out God has to be invited in in Luke Scott Ian Luke's Gospel chapter 11 it talks about how the once the demon is cast out it goes and wanders through the arid wasteland coming back and finding the house swept clean it goes and finds seven other demons worse than itself and then they come and take up residence in the person and their situation is worse than it was before that's another reason why the caution is there to make sure it isn't just a matter of make the evil go away God has to fill in that void and the priest needs to know that the person is willing either to return to their faith and to deepen it or to come to faith for the first time exorcists will tell you that there's a difference between exorcisms performed in the pagan world and the apostate world so three years ago I had the opportunity to travel to South Africa to do some training and give some presentations to the bishops of South Africa the priests and deacons for people who are possessed and they've never heard the good news of Jesus Christ when they hear the good news for the first time exorcisms are immediate and effective no longer they don't have to do them more than once one-and-done but in the apostate world people who have heard the good news and then if turned their back on God it does seem that the devil makes a greater claim on these people they knew the truth but they chose to walk away go back to those stats I shared at the beginning 79 percent of Catholics between 18 and 35 who've walked away from their faith who walked away from the church so there is a difference between the apostate world and the pagan world what's interesting is that some of the people that contact me don't want a relationship with God but in exorcism it's always a matter of faith faith is a key ingredient I'm not a magician there is a growing trend today for people to view the Exorcist as a magician just father pull your tricks out throw some holy water on me show me a Bible and the crucifix and send me on my way no different than one going to see a shaman or someone like that but again this is a matter of faith remember when Jesus returns to his hometown of Nazareth it says that he wasn't able to do much there because of the people's lack of faith so the faith in the person needs to be called forth and again remember that just because someone's possessed doesn't mean they're possessed 100% something of the person always remains free and that part that remains free can ask for the help of the church and that part that remains free can be the spark that helps the person recommit their life to Christ they can find one on their own or I can recommend now you can probably already imagine that not all people in the mental health field will even consider exorcism as a plausible cause for what the person is dealing with a lot of people that look at things only scientifically reject anything of a spiritual nature but there are psychologists psychiatrists that that I have worked with who will help evaluate a person because they shouldn't matter whether somebody is suffering physically mentally or spiritually the overriding goal of the psychiatrist or the doctor or the priest should be to bring relief into the life of the person who is suffering we should try to work together but that's not always the case it's a challenge because the question even with mental illness the question would be somebody who's been diagnosed with a mental illness were they possessed perhaps and then the that mental health expert didn't consider that to be a possibility and then their mind fracture as a way to try to cope with the presence of the demonic in their life was very very crazy you know st. Anthony parish again in Indianapolis where Monsignor Ryan was the pastor and the Exorcist right across the street was the old central state mental hospital max bar park shared so when we had recess we used to go out into the playground and their residents would be alone the light in the fence and they would be talking to us but Monsignor Ryan told me that he would take communion to some of the residents he said he would walk in the front door some of the residents that were gathered around the front door when he came in would curse at him they would spit at him and then he would make his rounds and then as he was leaving these same people would be there and they would say have a good day father thanks for coming in it's good to see you what was the difference he had the Eucharist on him he said he believed these people were actually possessed and it was the presence of the Eucharist that trigger the manifestation but when he left and no longer had the Eucharist the demons then were not impacted by the sacred if you will step number five is to look for those four extraordinary signs of demonic possession again speaking languages otherwise unknown to the individual superhuman strength elevated perception aversion to anything of a sacred nature number six because we live in United States careful compliance with diocesan legal and canonical process does anyone realize that we live in a litigious society people are always looking to sue you for anything under the Sun so it is important to make sure that although the canonical processes are followed and then the case needs to be compiled together step number seven presented to the archbishop who then makes the determination whether or not an exorcism a major exorcism will be performed so what's the devil's goal to present morally bad objects at a person's mind at an angle designed to make them appear as a certain good by objectifying evil the devil wants to keep Humanity in a state of opposition to God the devil's cleverest ruse according to the famous remark by the 19th century French poet Charles Pierre Bal de l'air heckled by Saint John Paul and Pope Francis is to convince us that he does not exist genuine cases of demonic possession are real they're rare but they rear they are they do happen but not very frequently father Carmen a the one who trained me said that perhaps one out of every 5,000 people who comes to me will be a true case of demonic possession most cases will be the infestation the vexation and obsession now the good news is that possession is not contagious somebody told me that somebody told them when they come home this evening make sure they didn't bring any demons with them after the talk you know that's a good Hollywood movie demons can't just jump into you you know willy-nilly that's giving them more power than they deserve one has to open themselves up to the forces of evil and this can be done either directly or indirectly this is done directly when one engages in activities that cultivate a relationship with evil spirits indirectly when one engages in activities that perhaps are meant to be fun and entertaining but in reality create a connection with evil spirits think of a Ouija board or something like that so the Bible presents us with very specific instructions on how to gain victory over the devil so we should never be afraid of the devil at all probably I will elaborate on this later but just remember this your guardian angel is more powerful than the devil himself your guardian angel is more powerful than the devil himself you can write that down and then tomorrow during the presentations I will elaborate on why that is the case your guardian angel more powerful than the devil so what does the Bible tell us Ephesians 4:27 do not give the devil the foothold first Peter 5:8 st. Peter teaches us be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walks about seeking Him whom he may devour in the letter of James 4:7 resist the devil and he will flee from you the truth is that far too many people today are giving the devil the foothold they are not being sober and vigilant in their faith they're not resisting the devil and I always like to say I don't believe that the devil has upped his game but I do think that more people today are willing to play the devil's game again faith in God leads us in one direction the lack and faith will lead us in another and on that note maybe some questions yes she asked the question is there a danger having somebody pray over you I would never let somebody pray over me if I did not know who they were because you just don't know what their real intent might be if you don't really know them they could actually exorcist will tell you that the devil will send people our way just to chew up our time the devil can send people your way as well maybe giving you this false sense that they're there to pray over you so again I would never let anyone do that if you don't know who they are there always should be other people present for an exorcism so obviously the one who's afflicted could be a family member a friend of theirs myself another priest I may ask to be there other people who are present too to pray there is no such thing as exorcism tourism nobody's there just to be there out of a sense of curiosity but again it should never be just one on one there should always be other people who are present that just safeguards everybody's you know it's for everybody's safety if you will so the budget and our priests the only ones that can exercise successfully so exorcism is a liturgical Rite of the church and because it is a liturgical Rite the Catholic Church has a very well-defined way on how it's performed and who may perform it but the Catholic Church does not have a monopoly on the practice of exorcism again the main actor in an exorcism is Jesus Christ he's not a bystander you might remember the line in Scripture is in Mark's Gospel I believe Lord we saw someone trying to cast out demons in your name and we tried to stop them because they're not in our company and what does Jesus say well don't stop them because anyone who is for us is not against us so the church Catholic Church doesn't have a monopoly but we do have a prescribed way that it should be done based on the fact that it is a liturgical Rite one of the things tomorrow in presentation number three is the entry points for evil into a person's life and occurs his one someone else over yes well you need to put it on if you've taken it off and if you're the in that 79 percent that's left the church you've taken off the armor of God you've made yourself vulnerable but yeah because really what does it mean that somebody's possessed literally it is and doesn't mean that the demon is inside of you it means that the demon is containing you because again a spirit is not contained by space a spirit contains the space now you're going we've ever read over the river so what does that mean st. Thomas Aquinas again something that has no matter inform to us can be contained by space so if there were a demon here it would be containing this room this room is containing us but a spirit would contain the space so when one is possessed they're really contained by evil so the prayer of the church is meant to break that containment remove that person from the realm of the evil one and then to place them into the realm of God yes [Music] the difference I think if you're familiar with Neil vasanas book unbound so there's there's there's exorcism prayers deliverance prayers and prayers for inner healing and unbound our prayers for inner healing people have experienced some woundedness in their life maybe due to someone else maybe there was some abuse verbal abuse or physical abuse so there's there's that inner healing that needs to take place so there is a difference between prayers for inner healing prayers for deliverance and prayers for exorcism it was Cardinal Ratzinger in 1986 when he was the prefect for the congregation of the faith we made it very clear that only priests designated by their bishop should be giving commands to demons because if a command is being given to a demon that is an imperative or major exorcism so if one is given a command to a demon that is a major exorcism and Cardinal Ratzinger who became Pope Benedict made it very clear that only priests authorized by their bishops should be giving those commands there was always that debate people are like we'll wait a minute I'm baptized I have the right to do this by virtue of my baptism I think it's always a dangerous thing when when one is trying to get into an argument with their bishop again who is has the spirit of discernment who has the authority and if you're gonna try to fight the devil by being disobedient to your bishop I think that's a bad recipe that's a bad recipe because you know people may initially think that they're being successful but maybe that's all a ploy of the devil to give you a false sense that Wow look at what I'm doing here you know eh but then eventually lives kind of unravel so I always say that I always tell people that are involved in inner healing or deliverance those folks should always get the blessing of the local bishop to do what they're doing and then there's nothing wrong with that but the bishop is the one who should always make the decision well if you read scripture very closely shell sue she's saying that there are people who say that Jesus did not perform exorcisms he was just plain to the mindset of the day since people believed in demonic possession Jesus was just playing into that if you read scripture very closely when Jesus sends his disciples out he gives them the power to cast out demons and to cure illness Jesus makes a distinction between the two and if Jesus makes the distinction we should as well and that'll be another topic I'll even elaborate on that even more tomorrow but there's a lot of people even within the church who don't believe in a personified evil yes people someone has received a mental health diagnosis again if I have another illness and medication should be providing them some relief and some comfort if it's truly something of a demonic nature then ultimately they won't find that peace through medication I had a gentleman one time here's another example he was diagnosed as being schizophrenic so he came to me through the priests in his parish because he believed it was demonic so I met with him and then my judgment based on the information I was able to gather and then so I met with him his caseworker and his psychiatrist and told him I don't believe this is demonic I truly believe this as a mental health issue medication helped him so his psychiatrist says to him after I said this we're all four of us sitting down together and he goes father says you're not possessed what is your response his response was very very interesting he said I'm disappointed but what he says next is very very important he says if it was the devil I would know why I act the way that I do and he looked at the psychiatrist and he said you can tell me I'm schizophrenic but you can't tell me why you just keep medicating me he goes if it's the devil I would understand why I act the way I act it sounds very loosened to me that responds yes contact me if I tell them the steps they get angry upset hang-up cussed me out you name it I've heard it all but again there is a process that the church uses if people don't like that I think people look for immediate gratification there's no such thing as an emergency exorcism you know there is a process it has to be followed you know just in the last two days for example I was telling somebody earlier I received a call from Atlanta I received a call from New Jersey Washington DC Virginia Ontario Canada New Mexico st. Louis somebody in Texas and this is just in the last 48 hours so the amount of calls that come in are astronomical and there's just no way I got a letter from a lady two years ago from the Central African Republic and it was written in French look luckily I was pastor of st. malachy and Brownsburg at the time and several families from Togo I'm like can usually translate this and like she wants an exorcism and then I so I did have her email I emailed her back and we were able to converse in English and she Eve actually knew English she goes I saw your last name Lampert she goes so I thought it was lamp air so I just figured you were French and you would be able to read French so that's the importance of like the International Association being able to make connection with other exorcists in other parts of the world so that somebody does contact me at least I have a referral perhaps in the area in which they live yes question is what's the source of the information that they have and we're back to that number three elevated perception knowledge about things that a person shouldn't otherwise know so where did the information come from the church would say from a demon who only who knows the future God alone demons are very intellectual they can watch us observe us they can deduce what we might be thinking and how we might act so they can use deductive reasoning but the church will say these folks don't have the power they claim to have either they've been duped by the evil that's working through them and believing that it's them or they know that it's the evil working through them but they go along with it because of the attention the notoriety the money whatever it is there's no charge for an exorcism by the way the church does not charge you will not get a bill but even with that said let me tell you a joke the joke amongst Exorcist is always if you don't pay your Exorcist the danger is you might get repossessed only a joke no money no money no money no money no money yes will always remain free the possession only takes place on the corporeal level the person's body the intellect and will always remain free and that part that remains free can ask for the help of the church yes there is a tomorrow we're gonna elaborate more on that what's the difference between exorcism deliverance prayers and prayers for inner healing the auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles he he's very much involved in unbound ministry he believes in it wholeheartedly because he thinks there's so much brokenness in society that there's so many people that need prayers rain or healing so he's really involved in that yes [Music] [Music] the dog on the chain you're eventually all these things do I mean people are just fun there they're just stirring up evil by what they're doing I had a gentleman tell me one time from Illinois he called me and told me his girlfriend was possessed and he goes I did what I was supposed to do to get rid of the demon but it didn't work so I said really what were you supposed to do he goes so I went down to the shop and he goes you know the local bookstore they were selling exorcism kids so I bought one of them you know I had that it had a little bottle that you could put holy water in there there was a crucifix in there and he goes there was some oil and salt and then he goes there was sage so he goes I've been burning sage in the house because I've been told that demons don't like the smell of sage but he goes it didn't work and I said are you listening to yourself he goes what do you mean I said you're putting your faith in these things not in Christ because even the things that the church he uses in an exorcism have to point to something greater for the holy water for example points to our baptism into Jesus Christ by which all of us have become a new creation as Paul says in the letter of Romans you know are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death but if we think the power is in the sage or the water we're all in trouble because then we're just looking at these things as you know the Catholic bag of tricks if you will you know one of if someone comes to me and they're not Catholic or they don't have any faith I tell priests did they should the worst thing that I think the one can do this is my opinion is to hand them a rosary or they give them holy water because that doesn't mean anything to them we may as well hand them a rabbit's foot or you know or or horseshoe to hang on we have to teach them what these things mean and not just hand them out to get rid of these people this is a time for catechesis that we shouldn't let pass on that note I think we're gonna we're gonna end for tonight because we're all getting bleary-eyed and I don't know what the weather is doing outside the Lord be with you may Almighty God bless you the Father the Son and Holy Spirit everybody have a good night hopefully you'll come back again for round 2 you [Music] you

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Keywords: Fr. Vincent Lampert, preternatural, exorcist, Definition, Role, Fr. Lampert Exorcism 2020, Devil, possession, Jesus Christ, Christ, Jesus, demon, Bells, Church Bells, deliverance, demonic possession, Evil, exorcism, Imperative, natural, Prayer, Satan, Supplicating, Conferences, Franciscans of the Immaculate, Religion, Christianity (Religion), Catholic, Spirituality, Salvation, Faith, God, Church, Gospel, Catholic Church, exorcism of emily rose

Id: Sd5_0i361-I

Length: 78min 54sec (4734 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 21 2020