- Every Catholic diocese across the island of Ireland
should have a specialist who can assess possible supernatural
occurrences such as "poltergeists, hauntings and demonic
infestations", according to a priest who is an expert on spiritual
issues.
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- Father Pat Collins made the call in the current
issue of the religious periodical, The Furrow.
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- He also said that a special conference to discuss
these issues is needed which would bring together theologians,
psychologists, parapsychologists and experienced exorcists which would
aim to "explore this aspect of ministry".
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- Fr Collins, who has written books on spirituality,
said he regularly receives calls from people around the country
reporting "strange happenings" in their homes.
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- "They range from footsteps, sounds of crying,
smells, objects moving, to electrical appliances going on and
off."
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- He wrote that his usual practice is to refer such
people to their local priest for help, but that they would "recount
how the priests they had spoken to had either dismissed their stories
in a sceptical manner, said Mass or prayers in the house without any
discernible effect, admitted that they were not competent to help, or
referred them to someone like myself."
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- Fr Collins said that as a result of this lack of
response from most priests, many Catholics are instead turning to "New
Age practitioners, spiritualists, psychics and other non-Christian
helpers".
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- He wrote that the Catholic Church needs to find a
more systematic way of responding to queries about possible
supernatural phenomena and to this end each diocese should appoint a
specialist or expert in the area.
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- "Those who want to deal effectively (with reported
supernatural occurrences) need to be au fait with psychology, the
paranormal, the notion of the restless dead, and the possibility of
infestation by evil.
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- "Like good doctors, they diagnose what the nature of
the problem is, and then try to come up with an appropriate
remedy.
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- "Not all priests would be expected to know about
such things, any more than all doctors would be expected to know all
about rare diseases.
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- "Good doctors refer difficult medical cases to
specialists.
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- "Surely priests should be able to refer difficult
cases, to do with such things as poltergeists, hauntings, and demonic
infestation, to diocesan specialists. Otherwise those who are
afflicted may have recourse to New Age practitioners, spiritualists,
psychics and other non-Christian helpers," he said.
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- Fr Collins called for a conference designed to pool
knowledge of the area. And he said that many Christians have given up
belief in the supernatural because of the influence of secular ways of
thinking.
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- © 2005 Independent News and Media (NI)
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- http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=607665
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