I once heard a pastor admonish the assembled with, “you had better believe in the devil…because he believes in you.”
These days the idea of malevolent demons being actively involved in someone’s life (for their detriment) may seem almost quaint. But they are very real.
Exorcisms Still Timely in 2010
“The Church isn’t quick to judge exorcisms, because, with all the mental problems we have today, it could be something else,” Joe Scheidler recently told me. However, every sidewalk counselor can tell of seeing the devil in those walking into an abortuary. Often he manifests his presence in the man who is escorting, cajoling, and forcing the woman into the slaughterhouse.
“That’s what the Devil has been doing since man appeared on earth. He takes souls away from God. That’s his main object. Our objective is to bring souls back to God! That’s why I am doing this work,” Joe stated.
Recently, the subject of demonic possessions made headlines when The Times of London ran an article, “On Satan’s trail with Don Gabriele, the world’s most famous exorcist”.
Father Gabriele Amorth was ordained in 1954 and became an official exorcist in 1986. He has been the Vatican’s chief exorcist for 25 years and says he has dealt with 70,000 cases of demonic possession.
He knows the Devil but isn’t afraid of him. He says, “No, it is he who is afraid of me. I work in the name of the Lord.”
The Devil Speaks Latin
Joe Scheidler told me, “I personally know a fantastic exorcist, who does this much of his time. The last time he was in Chicago to do a retreat, he asked us to pray for him, because he had exorcised ten demons from a woman in New York but six still remained.
“He can tell the Devil is present because the possessed person’s body talks to him, using their vocal cords, but the thoughts and language are Satanic. And the Devil often speaks in perfect Latin and will frequently ridicule and correct the exorcist for using the wrong verb tense or case.”
Joe Continued…
“Mostly we see evil through people acting evil and they are already possessed in a general way. They obey the devil and they do the things they shouldn’t do; they run porno shops, they make dirty films, they put all this garbage on the Internet, they cause misunderstanding, and so on.
“One of the things now in our society, that we have to do, is stop this insanity towards our fellow human being and especially our own children.”
Dan Gura is a volunteer with the Pro-Life Action League. He leads a monthly picket of Lutheran General Hospital which, despite the cross on the roof, performs abortions. He and his wife Sandy have four children, including League staffer, Corrina, and two adopted daughters.
