The Spiritual Toll of Pervasive Occultism

[Denise]

LIBERA NOS A MALO
The Spiritual Toll of Pervasive Occultism

March 2010By Thomas J. Euteneuer

The Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer is president of Virginia-based Human Life International, which has affiliates and partners in 87 countries around the world. A trained exorcist, Fr. Euteneuer has been authorized to perform the ancient rite in several dioceses in the U.S.

LINK: Human Life International

Vampires, witches, Ouija boards, Satanic rock music and video games — innocent fun? I don't think so. The proliferation of these dark forces is creating a subculture of youth who are suffering the effects of occult involvement. The sheer magnitude of these demonic influences has already left us with a wounded generation of youth, many of whom will receive liberation and healing only through the priestly ministry of exorcism. The problem of demonic infestation has already become, shall we say, "legion" in our culture, and priests need respond to it with the love of Christ and the authority of the Church militant.

I learned this firsthand in 1995 when I was assigned to a large urban parish in Florida. One day, a young man walked into the parish office and sat down. He did not even ask to speak to a priest. I happened to be on duty at the time, so the nervous secretary asked me to meet with him right away. He said he did not know why he was there, but that "something" had led him there. That "something" might have been a demon, but more likely it was the Spirit of God leading him to the Church for deliverance from the demon.

Matt (not his real name) was obviously seriously disturbed. We talked, and he told me a tale of woe that was hard to believe. He seemed to have no father or mother and had never been baptized. He was living a life of rampant chaos in the house of his uncle and immersed himself almost constantly in Satanic music. The only social contacts he had were some really, really bad "friends," so-called Goth types, devotees of the hideous rock star Marilyn Manson. He admitted to doing drugs with them and experimenting with all kinds of occult matter that glorified Satan in both overt and indirect ways. He was fond of violent movies and video games — or more likely they were fond of him, a basically soulless cyber-addict.

One day he was with his "friends," and he overdosed. He ended up in the hospital and had an experience he could not forget. In a coma on the hospital bed, he felt like he was descending down a long, cold, and dark corridor. Fear began to grip him as he clearly understood just where it was he was descending to. So he put his hand out to touch a wall or something, thinking that he could stop his descent, and as he did that, he felt something grab his arm and enter into his chest. He was never the same after that. From that point on he was demonized. Sadly, I was transferred from the parish soon after that and was not able to help him further, but I often pray that he met another priest who gave him the spiritual care he needed.

Priests in pastoral ministry — that is, those on the front lines of the Church — will have to deal with this growing problem of occultism sooner or later, most especially among our youth, who are the prime target of Satan's wiles. Every manner of dark seduction now pervades our culture. In its soft form we see the proliferation of filth and blasphemy cleverly packaged and sold to spiritually stunted souls as entertainment or self-help services. St. Paul tells us that the Devil and his servitors come dressed as "angels of light," and there are thousands of kids being seduced by them as we sit in our rectories pondering the flower arrangements for Advent. Nothing is new under the sun except the titles. Old heresies and insidious evils are now marketed as various New Age practices: Reiki, transcendental meditation, energy healing, Ouija, Wicca, and psychic divinization.

Of note, television shows like Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed, and their popular spawn especially target the younger generation and are followed with fanatical fervor. A whole generation of teenage girls is absolutely swooning about the new vampire flick, Twilight, and its sequel, New Moon. Some are going to this movie in prom dresses, fantasizing about what it would be like to fall in love with a vampire! This is anything but a fantasy. It is a potential gateway to grave spiritual danger for lonely, isolated kids who are "spiritually hungry" enough to explore the occult. The book Generation Hex notes that this generation of American kids is the first ever to grow up in a society in which Christianity has been stigmatized and the occult normalized. The authors also note that Wicca is the fastest growing "religion" in the U.S., and it's not hard to figure out why — there are no fewer than 700,000 Internet sites for "teenage witches." Meanwhile, the Pew Forum's "U.S. Religious Landscape Survey" found that "former Catholics" outnumber converts four to one. Ten percent of the U.S. population now consists of "ex-Catholics."

What needs to be recognized from a pastoral perspective is that a tidal wave of spiritual degradation is heading our way. "The wages of sin is death," said St. Paul (Rom. 6:23), and increasingly virulent forms of death are celebrated and institutionalized all around us. Even if the pervasive occultism were not bad enough, what kind of spiritual toll will we see from the pernicious sins that are both commonplace and celebrated in our culture: abortion, militant homosexuality, the ubiquitous plague of pornography, and the worship of any number of modern idols?

This deluge of sin and occultism should force the Church to give us more exorcists. But if priests don't respond to the need, we will have a severe accounting to the Lord for our vocations as pastors of souls. The number of lost sheep is increasing. In one exorcism I performed, the demon screamed out from the mouth of the young woman it had possessed, "Lost! Lost! Lost soul!" Ah, I countered, she was lost, but Christ found her and sent her to His Church.

Church law does not require the establishment of an office or team of exorcists in each diocese, but there is no question that it would be helpful. According to the 1983 Code of Canon Law, diocesan bishops may appoint, ad actum, priests with "piety, knowledge, prudence and integrity of life" (can. 1172) to conduct solemn exorcisms over the possessed. It is clearly understood both by law and practice that the Church's Rite of Exorcism is reserved for the most difficult cases and only for those who are demonstrably possessed. The complexities of discernment about these cases will be discussed in a subsequent column, but suffice it to say that any Catholic priest with the four qualities mentioned above can be an exorcist. I would only add to canon law's short list certain other necessary virtues for the aspiring exorcist: humility, unflagging moral courage, and hardheaded common sense.

The Devil generally gets a pass from the Catholic Church in this day and age because the Lord's ordained ministers simply leave him alone. Priests should not ignore or fear the Devil! Rather, it is the Devil who should fear any priest who takes seriously the call to help the demonically afflicted. Fr. Jeff Grob, the exorcist in the Archdiocese of Chicago, has said that there are only some seventeen officially appointed exorcists in the entire country. This is hardly an army arrayed against the organized forces of Hell.

Priests who have performed actual exorcisms will tell you that it is one of the most spiritually vivifying ministries that a consecrated man can possibly take up. The effect on his priestly soul is even more potent than hearing confessions, which most priests will admit is where they "feel their priesthood" most deeply. Why is this so? Because exorcism is a field of battle — only men enter there. It is a place of testing where light meets darkness in mortal combat, where pure goodness clashes with pure evil. Into this arena an incarnate priestly spirit throws himself with prayer, fasting, and a little ritual book against a purely evil entity who dares to violate the temple of God. Roman gladiators and modern metro cool guys haven't the courage to go there, but priests do. I would say that it is our natural field of battle — for the souls of God's people.

In December 2007 Pope Benedict XVI called on the bishops of the world to be solicitous toward a growing pastoral need that is probably not on the front burner of most pastoral plans — namely, demonic possession. Reiterating a similar call of his predecessor Pope John Paul II, who himself performed three exorcisms during his long pontificate, the Holy Father asked that trained exorcists be appointed in dioceses, especially where the practice of the occult is strong. He knows well that only the spiritual authority of the Church can "meet fire with fire" and liberate those who have fallen into the grip of Satan. In fact, if priests and bishops do not heed this call right now, it is certain that we can expect an avalanche of demonically afflicted people like Matt showing up on our doorsteps in the next decade, begging for the help of the Church.