Pints With Aquinas - An Exorcist Reveals the Truth About Demons w/ Fr. Vincent Lampert

Episode Date: February 2, 2023

Fr. Vincent Lampert, the exorcist for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis returns to show to answer questions from our Locals supporters. Fr's Book: https://stpaulcenter.com/product/exorcism-the-battle-against-satan-and-his-demons/ Fr's Email: [e-mail]

So Thomas Aquinas wrote Daily Meditations for Lent. And so what I'm gonna do over on matfrad.locals.com is read those meditations and release them every day throughout Lent. So if you've been thinking, what's a cool way I could prepare for Easter, this would be it. Go over and support us at matfrad.locals.com

and you'll get a bunch of free things in return. One of those free things will be daily meditations for Lent. Matfrad.locals.com. Thanks. Okay. Ready? Alright, we're recording. Father Lampert, thank you for being on the show again. Yes, it's a pleasure to be here. You've done a lot of interviews since we last spoke.

You just said you're on Tucker Carlson's show and some other kind of more secular shows. What's that like? It's very interesting to do that. But one of the things I like to do is to evangelize. So I welcome different people who reach out to me as an opportunity to maybe to reach a different type of audience and to really then present

the church's stance on the reality of evil and what we can do to combat it. So I'm not really afraid of any audience, if you will. Have you had people be not just incredulous, but maybe aggressively incredulous in interviews with you? You know, normally it begins off as some of these folks being very aggressive, but by the time that we finished the interview, the whole demeanor has changed. Interesting. And it's usually rather friendly. And you said before you came in here, you were just checking your emails, you said you're getting about 10 emails a day, exorcism related? Yeah, you know, prior to COVID-19 I was getting about 2,000 emails and letters and calls a year and now it's up

to over over 3,500. So I average about 10 a day, so I take advantage of any chance I get to try to keep up on them. Mason And are most of those emails, what do they have to do with? Do they have to do with just questions about exorcism or do they believe they're possessed or that their house is infested or something? Dr. Bregman No, it's interesting. A lot of these folks believe that they're dealing with extraordinary demonic activity either they're being directly attacked themselves by evil or there's a presence of evil in a location

in their home or in their business but I have seen a growing trend recently of people who are just seeking spiritual guidance if you will. It's not that they believe they're dealing with the demonic but it's almost like there's an awakening of God in their life, and they don't really know what to do with that or where to take it. And these calls are coming in not only from all over the United States, but I'm getting people reaching out from different parts of the world. A lot of inquiries coming out of Australia, out of India, out of England, Ireland. And is this because of your public presence that you're the one being contacted? I think so because many exorcists are not publicly known and those of us who are

seem to get a higher volume of people reaching out to us. But when I was appointed back in 2005, my bishop told me if I was comfortable enough that I would be able to be public about exorcism. So I used my role not only to work with people on an individual basis, but also as an opportunity to help evangelize. You said after COVID lockdowns, you've been receiving a lot more emails and phone calls. Is that due to your becoming more public or do you think it had something specifically to do with the lockdowns? I think it had to do with the lockdowns.

You know, the devil works on people in isolation, that notion divide and conquer. Yeah, or I'm thinking of Peter who says, or Christ who says to Peter, Satan has desired to sift you like wheat. Absolutely. I think a lot of people have been sifted just from being in isolation and you think about it, many churches were closed and all kinds of restrictions put into place and now that things are beginning to open up, it's interesting that there's a great trepidation on the part of many people about coming back to church. I know in my own diocese, we've been asking the question, what can we do to

welcome people back? Yeah, got a lot of questions that have come in from our local supporters. Jay Hobart says, are the people and groups involved with the recent Balenciaga episode considered to be possessed? There seems to be a strong satanic component operating their work. Just want to, did you hear much about the Balenciaga advertisements? I've heard some about it. Neil, bring us up to speed. Balenciaga, kind of a luxury opulence, whatever clothing brand brand Recently had a couple ads

You know photo shoots campaign where they had children posing holding Bears that were bound I Guess would be a way to put it. It looks like the teddy bears in drag or right BDSM Yeah, yeah, and then There just are like the teddy bears in drag or BDSM. Yeah. And then there just are various allusions to child abuse, basically. Look, what do you mean?

Well, specifically the one that I saw was there's a picture of a bag with papers scattered on the table, and then one of the papers, somebody identified it as a page from a lawsuit, which was the legalization of simulated child pornography. And then also, there was another thing that I remember seeing. What the hell is that? People were saying, I think that this is just something, I hadn't seen any actual firsthand evidence for this. I think people might just be making this up, but Father, maybe you have a perspective on this, is people were saying, oh yeah, the Balenciaga creative team communes with demons for inspiration, they hold rituals and ceremonies to try to get satanic influence to give them new creative ideas.

It makes me think of 2nd Corinthians again where St. Paul says that Satan transforms himself into an angel of light and he deceives many people. I think there's a lot of people that work in league with the devil, either directly or indirectly, because it's rooted in the sense of pride. People are inflating their own egos, and then seeking power, prestige, money, that sense of control and dominance over other people. And certainly the devil would be right in the midst of that. So in this particular organization, I can see where people that are promoting a certain agenda, especially abuse against the human person, promoting a certain agenda, especially abuse against the human person, might be in league with the devil. If you think about it, the human person is God's greatest creation, because

the human person is created in the image and likeness of God. And anything that would distort the human person, degrade the human person, would bring joy to the devil because the devil believes that when he attacks the human person, he's indirectly attacking God himself. That's just terrifying that they would put that much effort, right? Because a photo shoot for an advertisement is obviously put together with tremendous care. So to have those letters just so that they'd be seen by people and recognized. Yeah, do you find that there is a normalization of satanic imagery in our culture today that people are becoming maybe more evangelical about Satanism? Yeah, I think

it's becoming more culturally acceptable, no matter where you go. If you think about a lot of programs on television today, there's a lot of emphasis on the demonic. It's almost like the devil's in vogue now. He's trendy. So there's a lot of people that are interested in that topic and interested in the devil. And the devil would thrive on that. It would love to be the center of attention, like the screaming child, so to speak.

How many priests do you encounter or bishops who think that maybe what you're doing is, I don't know, like not authentic or you don't actually believe this or you're something of a, what do you say, like a snake oil salesman? A bit of anomaly. Yeah, like it would be one thing to say people in the world think this, but I imagine there's So you're something of a, what do you say? Like a snake oil salesman. Bit of anomaly. Yeah. Like it would be one thing to say people in the world think this, but I imagine there's also priests who might. You know, I, I think early on, again,

I mentioned I was appointed 17 years ago early on. I think there was a lot of maybe even priests to kind of doubt it, you know, thinking, well, if there is evil, that's humanities inhumane treatment of one another. It's something of our own making, but certainly not personified in what we would call the devil. Yeah. But I think today the naysayers really, it's not that they don't believe in the devil, it's that they don't want to talk about it. It's almost like if you don't talk about it, then it's not there.

Yeah. Sort of like hell. Yeah, don't stir the pot. And I think when people look at me as an exorcist and being public about it, there may be that perception that it's stirring the pot. But my role is really not to focus on the devil, it's really to focus on God. And that's why I like to be public about the topic. It's really bringing God into the forefront and pushing the devil back out of the limelight

Are there ever times as you're you know, praying with people or engaging them that you think that? But maybe this is just a delusion that Satan doesn't exist and that this is something This could be explained differently than say supernaturally. Where are you? No, you're a bought and sold Catholic priest Does the doubt have across your mind? Oh every once in a while because I read all kinds of books than say supernaturally? Or are you, no, you're a bought and sold Catholic priest, I presume. Does the doubt have across your mind? Oh, every once in a while, because I read all kinds of books. I just finished reading a book called,

A Possession, it was written in 1930 by Professor Ulsterich out of Germany. And I think a lot of what he wrote, he didn't really believe in the reality of the devil, that it was all rooted in mental health issues and psychology. But I like to look at things from every possible angle. So I read that book and he did explorations of different cultures all over the world and their belief in the demonic. So you read these things and every once in a while you might get a question going through your mind. But again, I do that just to help really

Solidify my beliefs because again, I stand with the church, you know, the church very clearly says that you know The devil is real. It's per it's personified, you know evil is personified in what we call the devil and his fallen angels Out of these ten emails a day, roughly, that you're getting, those which you follow up on, how many of them turn out to be legitimate? It's really difficult to know that because I think there's a great misperception by a lot of people about what an exorcist does. You know, people should know that the bishop of the diocese is the exorcist. It's based on Luke's Gospel, chapter 9, verse 1,

where Jesus sends the 12 out and gives them authority over all unclean spirits. So the bishop is the exorcist. So then he may, at his discretion, appoint one or more of his priests to do this ministry in his name, which means I can only function within the archdiocese of Indianapolis, because again, I function under the direction of

my bishop. For me to function outside of Indianapolis, I would need permission of the other bishop of that other diocese. So I'm not appointed an exorcist for the universal church, really for the local church of Indianapolis. So when people reach out to me from other areas, I try to connect them with a priest or a deliverance ministry in their area. I always like to tell people the best place to go, especially if you're a person of faith. If you're Catholic, go talk to your priest.

If you're coming from another Christian faith tradition, because more than half the people who reach out to me are not Catholic. If you're Catholic, go talk to your priest. If you're coming from another Christian faith tradition, because more than half the people who reach out to me are not Catholic. Other Christian traditions, other world religions, no faith background. But if you do have a faith background, you should always go and speak to the minister of your faith.

It's kind of like if you're sick, you don't call specialists and say, I have a headache. I need to schedule brain surgery. You go see your family doctor who then works with you and then may refer you to the specialist. And I think it's so important for people to have that connection with their pastor because they're going to need ongoing pastoral care once I get finished working with them, and that's going to take place at the local level.

So the pastor should be involved from the very beginning. A lot of times people will say to me, well I'm embarrassed to tell my pastor what I believe I'm dealing with. But that would be like going to the doctor and not telling the doctor what's wrong with you. Can't help you if you don't explain it. When you say you've got people reaching out to you from other religions, how are they explaining what they're dealing with and why are they reaching out to a Catholic priest?

The general consensus is that Catholics know how to handle this situation. There's a lot of other faith traditions that even though historically there may be a belief in the demonic, they don't really speak about it anymore today, or they say they don't have anyone who can do an exorcism or knows how to confront the demonic. Maya asks, female exorcists, any examples, any active today? Well in the Catholic tradition it would be, again, it's the bishop who's the exorcist, and then only a Catholic priest appointed by the bishop can function in this ministry. Now, I will say that, you know, an exorcism is a liturgical rite within the Catholic Church,

so there is a prescribed way for it to be done. But it is possible for people, just by virtue of their own holiness and virtue, their presence could cause evil to leave. St. Catherine of Siena used to do exorcism, so to speak, not because she used a formula. She would simply walk down the street and people who were possessed, the demons would flee because she's radiating the glory of God. Yeah, the same person asks, if we notice demonic influences in our proximity, maybe in another person, what's your advice? How should we act or what should we pray in that very moment? In that very moment, I think that we would pray that the person would see the world in

which they're in and they would make the choice to leave it. Because exorcisms cannot be performed on someone against their will. We all have free will. So you can't do something if somebody is freely choosing to do evil, we can pray that they change, but you can't drag them in and, you know, bind them and then do an exorcism because person has to want to be set free. Samuel asks who can become possessed and how does that happen? I think it's possible for anyone to become possessed.

Oftentimes people will ask the question, you know, is it possible for a Christian to become possessed? So once you've accepted Christ, can you become possessed? I think the answer is yes, if one doesn't live out that relationship. I had a young person reach out to me recently in one of these emails that I get and said that at the age of 16, he accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior, and then continued to have premarital sex and did drugs and was involved in the occult and playing with Ouija boards and all of this. And he goes, why didn't

the fact that I accepted Christ protect me from all these things? You can't accept Christ and continue to do things that are contrary to the Christian life, because doing things that are contrary to the Christian life, sinning, would allow the devil to get a foothold in someone's life. How does that not just put people in paralyzing fear, though? It sounds like you're saying, well, you're sinning then you can be possessed. Surely it's not... No, I think it's a matter of acknowledging, because I think the devil, you know, the word Satan means accuser. What does the devil want us to do? To sin. And then he

accuses us. And then what happens? Guilt sets in. You know, the key ingredient is we're all sinners, us, and then what happens? Guilt sets in. You know, the key ingredient is we're all sinners, but we should always be willing to acknowledge our sinfulness. That's this Catholic notion of the sacrament of reconciliation. It isn't about putting people on a guilt trip. It's about recognizing that God's love and mercy is the greatest thing that we can know. You know, this past Sunday, the second Sunday of Advent, you know, the story of John the Baptist. I love the fact he's out in the Judean desert. He's wearing clothing made out of camel's hair. He has a leather belt around his waist. He's eating locust and wild honey. All of these things are very significant because they they speak of humanity's sinfulness,

are very significant because they speak of humanity's sinfulness, but God's mercy and forgiveness. So a camel is an unclean animal. It does not chew its cud and it has a split hoof. The fact that he's wearing clothing made of camel's hair is he's acknowledging that we are all unclean due to our sinfulness. But then he's eating locusts. Now, what is locusts? Think of the plagues in Egypt. It's a sign of people being punished for their sinfulness. But wild honey, according to St. Augustine, is an unmerited grace. He wasn't a beekeeper. He wasn't raising bees. He wasn't working hard to get the honey. It's wild, he simply stumbled upon it. And that's how God wants to extend His mercy and forgiveness to us. And the leather belt around his waist is a sign of one's readiness to implement the will of God.

Many of us might be familiar with the line in Scripture that says, gurgle your loins. Well, what does that mean? You know, think of the tunics that they wore during the time of Christ. You would lift it up, roll it into a ball around your waist, and then put a belt around it so you'd be able to run. It shows one's readiness to do the will of God. So again, when you think of reconciliation, it's about repenting, because anything that we can name, we can deal with. Things that we

deny control us. And that's how the devil gets a foothold in our lives. We commit sins and then we try to justify that evil. As long as we can still call sin a sin, there's room for God in our lives. But when we try to justify sinfulness, is when God is booted out. What do you say to someone watching right now who's afraid then, because they do sin, they do repent and they sin and they think it sounds like father Lampert saying if I'm sinning, I can be possessed. I wouldn't say you're possessed. I mean, it's the way the devil attacks us. But again, it's that notion even father Gabriel Amorth,

the former chief exorcist in Rome used to say that a good confession is better than an exorcism. Again, it's when we confess, we place it in the hands of God. And, we place it in the hands of God. And once we place it in the hands of God, Satan, the accuser, cannot use that against us. So again, it's really not about worrying about seeing the devil around every corner. It's really about focusing on God's love and mercy. You know, in the Old Testament, the 12 minor prophets, their basic message was, God loves you, you're a child of God, just simply repent. You know, many of the great saints say that when we die and we stand before the Lord, there's really only one question we're going to have

to answer. Jesus is going to say to us, how much did you love me? And if you think about it, God is love, John's gospel, and the persons of the Trinity are united in love, God is love. So for us to unite ourselves with God, there has to be some love within us. And it just has to be even the smallest amount, God can take something small and turn it into something great. So to me, when we confess our sins, we're demonstrating our need for God and our love for God. And then God will certainly embrace us. So it would seem to me that the typical way in which Satan interacts with us is through tempting us. Maybe that's the first stage. You can correct me if I'm wrong. And then

you've got full blown possession, you know, as the most intense form of demonic activity in a person's life. What are the stages in between those two bookends? So temptation would be the ordinary activity of the devil. And then, you know, there could be the extraordinary activity of the devil. The church says there's four types, demonic infestation, the presence of evil in a location associated with an object, even in an animal. An animal can be possessed.

Think of chapter five of Mark's Gospel, the story of the garrisoned demoniac. When the demons were cast out of the man possessed by legion, they went into the swine. So animals can become possessed. Demonic vexation, physical attacks, demonic obsession, mental attacks, and then demonic possession.

The devil takes control of a person's body, treating that body as if it were its own, using the person's eyes to see, their mouth to speak, their ears to hear. Whenever someone is possessed, all the actions of that body now are wholly defined by the demon and not by that person as an individual. So we would never say, for example, that Jane Doe said this. No, it would be the demon using the person's mouth in order to speak. Now, ordinary demonic activity, something that we all deal with, I use words that all begin with the letter D. So it begins with deception. It leads to division, which leads to diversion, which leads to discouragement. So deception, we buy into the lies.

And when we buy into the lies of the devil, what happens, we find ourselves broken. There is the division. Now, in the midst of all of this, what does God want us to do? He wants us to repent. But when we don't repent, we just continue to spiral downward. So we buy into the lie, the deception, we become divided, and then we're broken, and then it leads to diversion. We look for a substitute in our lives that we think is going to make

us whole and complete. Think of all the addictive behavior that people have today, that somehow they believe it's making them more free and whole as a person. But then where does that lead to discouragement, deception, division, diversion, discouragement. And when we arrive at discouragement, we have a choice to make one pathway leads to death. One leads to discipleship. It's that notion of reawakening to the importance of God's presence in our lives. When you think of death, it's always spiritual. Think of the growing number of people that say they're an atheist today, but sometimes death can even be physical. The growing trend of suicide in our society

where people just lose any sense of meaning, direction, or purpose in their life, and they simply just give up. Out of the people who contact you, what percentage of them would you classify as full-blown possession? Full-blown possession is extremely rare. Maybe one out of every 5,000 cases. That's what I was trying to get to. Because we're kind of sort of saying, if you open yourself up through sin, even as a Christian, you can become possessed.

It could make people frightened. So I'm glad to hear that it's very rare. And I would say that, you know, when we sin, we're not going to become possessed, but the devil can use that as a way to attack us, kind of make our lives broken. Think of the story of Adam and Eve, you know, the serpent. So there's an example, the serpent was possessed by Satan who then was acting through the serpent, but God eaves to give in to the temptation, and then God comes calling, you know, Adam, where are you? Now obviously God knew where Adam was, but he wants to see if Adam will take ownership, kind of repent, if you will. And then when God says, what have you done? And then he's like, well, that woman you placed here. It's always the blame game

pointing the finger at someone else. I oftentimes like to think what would have happened if Adam had said to God, I have sinned and I'm sorry. You know, the whole course of human history would be a lot different if people would just acknowledge their sinfulness. Yeah, not to speak for you Father, but I love how usually your response to things is just, you know, seek Jesus, seek the sacraments. So I think that that's like... And that's very key because if anyone is dealing with extraordinary or ordinary demonic activity, which is all of us on some

level. We don't need to do anything extraordinary to defeat the devil. As Catholics, it's the ordinary aspects of our faith. You know, if you're going to mass, if you're celebrating the sacraments, if you're praying, if you're reading the Bible, the devil is already on the run. Suppose you're sitting at a pub and somebody says, all right, I'm open to believing in the demonic, but I don't want you to talk scripture. I just want you to share with me from your own experience how you know this is true.

Is there a particular story or encounter that you would share with this person that you would say, no, this is almost certainly the act of the demonic. There's a lot of experiences over the last 17 years that have just kind of solidified my belief in the reality of the demonic. So I can go back to the very first exorcism that I set in on. So I trained in Rome in 2006. I was appointed in the fall of 2005. At the time I was only one of 12 stably appointed exorcists in the United States. The Archdiocese of Indianapolis always has maintained a priest appointed in this role.

Even after the Second Vatican Council, when it fell out of practice, Indianapolis, for whatever reason, always wanted a priest assigned as the exorcist. The priest before me, and ironically was the pastor where I attended grade school. And when he passed away in July of 2005, then I got the job. Even the bishop at the time, Archbishop Daniel Beekline, he passed away a few years ago from cancer, but he told me that he was appointing me because we have always had a priest in this role, but he wasn't sure exactly what he was asking me to do.

And then the church says the best way to learn how to do the ministry is through the apprenticeship model, and there really wasn't anyone to mentor under here in the United States, so I was planning to be on sabbatical in Rome, and then that afforded me the opportunity to meet a Franciscan priest, Father Carmonaidae Philippus, who allowed me to shadow him, and then I set in on 40 exorcisms that he performed while I was there. He performed more than that, but those are just the ones that I set in on over three months.

Over the course of how long? Okay, that's a lot of exorcisms in three months. He was pastor of St. Lawrence Parish outside the walls. I lived at the North American College and about three days a week I would walk down to the Fountain of Trevi and right around the corner there was a bus stop. Burger King is right across the street. And I would get on the bus and take about a 10-15 minute bus ride out to the church and it's St. Lawrence, it's where Lawrence the Deacon, his relics are there. People are familiar with the story where he was ordered to turn over the treasuries of the church and he gave the poor,

the blind and all of that and so he was roasted alive. But the grill is still there plus the stone where his body was laid, and you can see the the blood marks and all of that on the stone. But that was the church, and then there was a courtyard. There was always about 50 people in that courtyard waiting to see Fr. Garminet. Some had appointments and some did not. Then he had a small office where he would meet with these folks, and then that's where I was able to sit in on the very first one, the little elderly lady with her husband, and she was, I was talking to her, and Father Carmine was in another room, so just the three of us were talking. She's explaining to me

why she believes that she was possessed and dealing with the demonic, and she had been to see him on previous occasions, and this was kind of a follow-up. He would pray with someone about 30 minutes at a time and then reschedule them for an additional appointment sometime in the future. So I'm talking to her and the whole time I'm talking to her, Father Carmen, he walks in and he puts a roll of paper towels on the table, and I'm watching him out of the corner of my eye and I'm still talking to her and her husband and then he walks back in again and he ties a plastic grocery bag onto the wall radiator. Again I'm watching him out of the corner of my eye thinking what's he doing and talking to this lady. Then he walks back into the room and he's got his brown franciscan robes on and he has a purple stole on now, the sign of the priestly office, and then he has the right of exorcism in

his hand. He takes holy water and he blesses this little old lady. As soon as the drops of the priestly office. And then he has the Rite of Exorcism in his hand. He takes holy water and he blesses this little old lady. As soon as the drops of water hit her forehead, the demon manifested. Her eyes rolled in the back of her head. She began to growl and foam at the mouth. Her whole disposition can change. Just this pure hatred and evil just glaring right at me before her eyes rolled back. And then she started throwing out all kinds of blasphemies and I'm thinking what in

the world has my bishop gotten me into? And then Father Carmine, he just pauses for a moment, he tears a paper towel off the roll, he wipes the foam off the lady's mouth, throws it into the plastic grocery bag and then just continues to do the prayer of the church. How's the husband reacting throughout all this? Very calmly. He's probably seen it before. Yeah, he's seen it before, very calm.

Were you shocked at that quick sudden change over this? Oh yeah, it was quicker than you could snap your fingers or flip a light switch. How the, you know, when someone's possessed, it means that one has entered into the realm of the demonic. Just because one is possessed doesn't mean they're manifesting evil all the time. You know, oftentimes they could be going through the ordinary circumstances of their life, going to work, going grocery shopping, but something will trigger the manifestation. And usually it's something of a religious nature, because in an exorcism the church is taking aspects of our faith and

Literally throwing them into the face of the demon Yeah I suppose at the end of the day in order to accept this as a manifestation of the demonic or a woman who's possessed you would have to believe because It's still it feels like you know mental illness is just a catch-all. And if I don't believe in the supernatural, if I don't believe in God, then whatever I'm seeing in front of me has to be chalked up to that, even though I understand it. There's a lot of people even I've noticed in my years that do have a mental health diagnosis.

Oftentimes these people believe that it's demonic. And I had a gentleman tell me one time and it really made sense to me because he was referred to me by his parish priest and he had already been diagnosed as being schizophrenic and he was on medication. And I met with him and over a few sessions and whatnot. And I came to the conclusion that this was not demonic activity. But I wasn't just going to say that to him and say, it's not the devil going your way.

So I arranged a meeting with myself, him, his psychiatrist, and his caseworker. So the four of us are together. And then I say to the man, in my opinion, you're not dealing with extraordinary demonic activity. And then the psychiatrist looked at the man and said, And in my opinion, you're not dealing with extraordinary demonic activity. And then the psychiatrist looked at the man and said, father says you're not possessed. What's your response to that since you believe you are?

And his response was actually really interesting because he said, I'm disappointed. He said, you as a psychiatrist can put a label on me and tell me that I'm schizophrenic, but you can't tell me why. He goes, if it's the devil, I have my why. I think there's a lot of people today that have mental health issues and it's kind of all lumped together under that umbrella. But these people are struggling to know why it is they suffer in the way that they do. So, uh, other than having a psychiatrist or psychologists tell you, uh, there's something more here. What are the indicators that this person is possessed? I mean, you mentioned

holy water that that seems pretty frightening, but, but what are those sort of indicators are there where you think, okay, this is more than just a mental. The church identifies four different things to look for. You know, number one would be the ability to speak and understand languages otherwise unknown to the individual. There's no such thing as an emergency exorcism. When those things are done, problems ensue before I even perform an exorcism. I will have gotten to know the person who is possessed. So the ability to speak a language, I would know already, based on my background information

on that person, that they don't speak Spanish or French or Hebrew or whatever, Latin. So if I'm speaking and all of a sudden this voice comes out of the person's body, they're speaking a language that I know that that person doesn't speak, that might lead me to believe that maybe this is a demon. The Church says that I need moral certitude to believe beyond a doubt that the person in front of me is truly dealing with the demonic. Number two would be having elevated perception, knowledge about things that that person as an individual otherwise would not know.

Three, superhuman strength. Four, an aversion to anything of the sacred nature, the holy water, having scripture read in front of them, being shown a crucifix, being in a church or a chapel, having a relic placed on their head as a prayer is being said. If all of these things cause a very strong negative reaction, that could be signs of demonic. Now one or more of these could be present. Sometimes none of them could be present and a person could still be possessed. But these are kind of the four main criteria that the church says that I should look for. And have you ever been praying with somebody who didn't know what that thing was that you were putting on them, say a relic or holy water or something like that, which... Often times,

if I'm trying to determine if it's truly demonic, if I meet with somebody, I may pray with them, it's not an exorcism, and I may have a relic in my hand, and then I'll lay it on their head. And usually, if the person is possessed, the demon will immediately manifest. And be like, get that off me. Really? Okay. Almost like that, because again,

they are aware of the presence of the sacred. And there's no way they would really know what that was before you did it. You would do it in secret. And even ex no way they would really know what that was before you did it. You would do it in secret. Correct. And even exorcism, you like with holy water. If you're trying to determine whether or not it's demonic, maybe you bless them with tap water, maybe it's holy water. I know whether or not it's been blessed. The demon will know that, but that person as an individual will not. and that will root out anyone who may be trying to put on a ruse or maybe they're dealing with the mental health issue I

Will say no going back to building on that last question so the very first exorcism I sat in on and one of the ones that I did recently and I shared this story before was a Woman who had been away from the church for like 43 years. So at the age of seven growing up in Mexico, her father began to rape her, hear a lot of horrific stories as an exorcist. And she said it went on over a period of five years. And then when she turned 12, her father turned his attention to the younger sister. And she was broken, fractured, she blamed God for allowing

this to happen. And then she turned to witches and curanderos, shamans and witch doctors who said they could help with the pieces of her life back together. But turning to the world of the occult and magic only left her even more broken. She was living in Indiana and her neighbor invited her to come back to church. And before she did, the pastor came over to visit with her and the neighbor. And the pastor told me that he believed that she manifested that the demon, because at one point it wasn't like I was talking to her. It was like someone or something else. He goes, it really frightened me.

So I agreed to meet with her and her friend and the pastor and the four of us are meeting and she's telling me the story about growing up in Mexico and the rape and all of those horrific things. And she begins to sob uncontrollably. And then she looks at me and says, will you help me? And that's when I said, well, Jesus is going to help you. And that's when the demon manifested, you know, demons don't really want to manifest, but they reach the point of such pure hatred and for the human person and arrogance.

You know, demons reach the point where they're like, how dare you as a human who's really, you know, below me even address me. Wow. And the demon, when it manifested, the person's eyes turned green and their pupils became slanted like a serpent. And then the voice changed and the voice goes, who's he? He can't, he has no power over us. You saw this? Oh yeah. Right in front of me. Soon as will you help me? And I said, Jesus is the one's going to help you.

And when I said the name Jesus is when the demon manifested. Wow. Now her friend sitting next to her literally jumped over the table to get away. The other priest with me, he fell to his knees and began praying Hail Mary prayers. And then I got up immediately and I went over and laid my hand on the head of this person. And the demon is staring at me, this pure evil and cussing me out and whatnot. And I reached in my pocket and took out holy water.

And then I blessed the person. And when the drops of water hit the forehead, the demon shrieked and then, and then collapsed to the ground and began whimpering and crying out. Now I didn't do an exorcism then, but I did it the following week as a priest. I prepare myself. I will spend time in prayer, celebrate mass, go to confession. I will fast. I'll determine where the exorcism will take place. So we're the following week we're in a chapel in Indianapolis that one of the parishes and the lady came back, her friend came back,

the pastor was there, and the exorcism began, blessed with holy water, which reminds us of our baptism into Christ, by which we have become a new creation. And as soon as I blessed the lady with holy water, and she's sitting in a chair in the middle of the chapel, as soon as the drops of water hit her forehead, there's the demon again. The eyes are green, the slanted pupils, and the demon looks at me and goes, you can't get rid of us. We've been here too long and you're not strong enough. And then began to growl and snarl and the right of exorcism after the blessing with holy water calls for the litany of the saints calling upon our blessed

mother and the saints to be present during this prayer of the church, reading of Psalms, reading of gospel accounts of Jesus casting out demons, the prologue of John's gospel, and then other prayers that are inserted. And then there's the insufflation prayer, the breathing on of the face of the person, invoking the Holy Spirit wherever the Holy Spirit is present, an unclean spirit cannot remain. Recalls Jesus appearing in the upper room and saying to his disciples, receive the Holy Spirit, he breathed on them. So I breathe on the face of this person invoking the Holy Spirit, just very lightly, just, and when I did that, the

chair flew back 10 feet and hit the wall like I've been hit by a strong wind. And then there is a shriek and a scream and the woman comes flying out of the chair and she collapses onto the floor. Myself and the other priest pick her up and she's literally glowing. There's a beam about her. The green eyes are gone and she begins to glorify God. So the best way to describe the glow is think of a painting of a saint where there's a halo around their head. They're not radiating their glory, they're radiating the glory of God. And as an exorcist, that's one of the things that I noticed that when a demon has truly been cast out, the person literally begins to glow because they're no longer within the realm of the devil, they're now within the realm of the Holy Spirit.

Let me ask a skeptical question. Someone might say, okay, if this is really true, and God wants us to believe in him and believe the Catholic faith, then surely we could get this stuff on film and you might say well We have to respect the privacy of the person we're praying with but Presumably you could ask them ahead of time whether this is something that'd be open to having filmed And even after the fact they could view it and then kind of give you permission to share it It would seem like one video like that on YouTube would convince a lot of people of the reality of the demonic and yet Do we really see anything like that on YouTube would convince a lot of people of the reality of the demonic, and yet do we really see anything like that? Yeah, the church does not permit that, just

to protect the identity of the person, kind of like the sacrament of confession. We don't publicize anybody's sins. Now, if somebody decides to go public, in Indiana, there was that case out of Gary, Indiana, where that woman who received exorcism prayers then went public, and I think there's a movie being made or has been made. So what the individual does, that's to them, but the church as an institution... Isn't going to be filming these things. ...will always protect and safeguard the identity of the person. The other reality is that if people are naysayers, even if you watched it on video, you can say

it was manipulated. There's kind of a very crude video that's been circulating where someone said that Father Amorth, before he died, permitted someone to record an exorcism that he was doing. It was almost done with like a phone. And so the quality isn't very good So then it's a question of did father Amos really give that permission or did somebody really? Kind of sneak that in and was the video shocking convincing perhaps I think it just raised more questions

So fair enough M50 asks do you yourself ever feel unsafe or scared during an exorcism? No, no, I was absolutely not. Early on I would say, but no, I'm more concerned about, you know, somebody that may have a mental illness and maybe wants to do some type of physical harm to me or to someone else. So the devil is the easier one to deal with because he operates under certain parameters. So I know what to expect from the demon. But again, people that may harbor ill wishes towards me or whatever. That's a whole different situation. But again, if an exorcism is done properly and the priest prepares himself,

there really isn't anything to be afraid of. Because it's not me. Because if it was me, we'd all be in trouble. But it's the recognition that in an exorcism, Jesus is not a bystander, he's the main actor, and the priest is acting in persona Christi and the person of Christ. So as long as I am operating according to how the church says that I should, then I have the church backing me up.

If I go out on my own, it's when I could get myself into trouble. You think of the sacramental life of the church, the personal charism of the priest doesn't matter. You know, if the priest is a bad guy, he does a wedding, the people are still married, he does a baptism, the person is still baptized. But that's not true with an exorcism, so the devil knows who is in front of him. So if somebody believes someone in their life to be possessed, you would tell them not to start praying deliverance prayers over them, or would you not say that? It depends on whether or not somebody is really well grounded in their faith.

Because if you're going to begin praying with somebody, you can do deliverance prayers, because there's two different types of exorcism prayers. You know, there are the imperative, which are commands given to demons, and then there are supplicating prayers, which are prayers directed to God. You know, God see how your servant is afflicted by the evil one, please come to their aid. And we know that anyone can pray on behalf of someone else. But if you choose to pray with somebody, a deliverance prayer, that supplicating prayer directed to God, and you believe that person is under a demonic attack, you have to be prepared if there is some type of manifestation. So you can't pray and all of a sudden there's a manifestation and then you run away.

Right. Okay. Jules79 says, can a demon cause the possessed person to hurt or kill others? Are mass murderers maybe possessed? You know, in the Rite of Exorcism, there's a prayer that's prayed by the priest before the exorcism begins, asking God to protect and safeguard the one who's possessed and everyone involved in that prayer of the church. And again, if things are followed in the proper, you know, the protocols, again, that's why there's no such thing as emergency exorcism. A colleague of mine said that, you know, after he was trained and was doing an exorcism, he didn't really prepare himself properly, and when the demon manifested, he got punched in the face.

manifested, he got punched in the face. So in my experience, when things are done according to the proper procedures, there is no concern about anybody getting hurt or the demon hurting that person. It's when things are done in an improper way, because demons are always looking for the chink in the armor, if you will, or the crack, and then use that as an opportunity to disrupt the prayer of the church. Jacob says, in your experience, has any Protestant or other from outside the church sought exorcism

then converted to Catholicism afterwards? So you mentioned a moment ago, people not being Christian, but reaching out to you. Have you had that experience of praying with somebody and then coming into the church because they've come to believe in the reality of Satan? You know, I have not had that experience, but it made me think that there's a lot of people today, because I, you know, faith is in decline. Christianity built Western civilization, but there's a lot of people today that may have grown up in a traditional Christian home,

but they no longer practice their faith. But they believe they're dealing with the demonic. And rather than saying, wow, when I was a faithful person, I didn't have this problem, maybe I should return to my relationship with God. But it's interesting, a lot of people don't want nothing to do with God, but they want the demon to go away. So there is a growing trend for people reaching out to me to view the exorcist as a magician,

that I have a bag of tricks, I can make their problems go away, but they want nothing to do with God. Interesting, yeah. Jacob says, does father or other Catholic exorcists ever cross path with or work alongside Orthodox, Coptic, or other priests in regards to exorcism? So are you sharing notes? Are you dialoguing with people in different apostolic churches? Some of us do. I mean, I did a Zoom call this year, earlier this year with a, a Greek Orthodox priest in Thessalonica. He pronounced it Thessalonica. I always thought it was Thessalonica,

but Thessalonica is what he said. So there was a Greek Orthodox priest and we were doing a zoom call and he was asking me about exorcisms and whatnot. So I do dialogue that may not be true of all priests, but to me, the battle is against Satan. And I think of that line in scripture where Jesus says, those who are not against us are with us.

And to me, the more unified we are as believers is that we can put on a more united front, if you will, to combat the forces of the demonic. Yeah. Anthony Skinner says, I'd love it if you would ask Father if he thinks that there were more demonic possessions in the time of Jesus than there are now. I don't know that I would say that there were more. I think there's a lot of possessions out in the world today. Now,

many people might say, well, we've, we've grown up as a human society. You know, sometimes people will look at me and say, well, if you believe in demons and spirits, you're kind of in the minority. But the reality is the people who don't believe in these things are really in the minority because majority of people throughout don't believe in these things are really in the minority, because majority of people throughout the world believe in spiritual entities. Now if we're only looking at it within the context of the United States, that's a pretty narrow view, but when you look at many different peoples and cultures, they believe very readily in the fact that what they're dealing with is of a

spiritual nature. Yeah. Hey, I want to say thank you to the greatest prayer and meditation app in the history of prayer and meditation apps. You know what I'm talking about? Hello, as in H-A-L-L-O-W. Check this out. They've got sleep stories. You can learn how to pray the rosary. They have audio books.

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It's really cool. So go sign up over there, please. And you'll get the full pints with Aquinas experience. podcast. It's really cool. So go sign up over there, please. And you'll get the full pints with Aquinas experience and you will ensure that Thursday will continue to be paid. Please sign up. Maffrad.locals.com. Back to the show. Weave88 says, What is the right of exorcism's relationship to the sacraments? Does the right incorporate the sacraments? Well, exorcism is a sacramental, and then we know that of the sacramental

life of the church, the seven sacraments. So I would say the right incorporates elements of the sacramental life of the Church. Again, Holy Water reminding us of our baptism, the insufflation prayer invoking the Holy Spirit, so we think of the Holy Spirit receiving in baptism the fullness within the sacrament of confirmation. So to me the rite of exorcism would solidify, amplify, if you will, the sacramental life of the church. Ian says, could Father elaborate on the exorcism takes place during the baptismal rite? Is it any different than the classical exorcism? Why is it so simple? Is it necessary? Yeah, the exorcism rite, so that's done, and that's kind of more in a generic, if you will.

So it isn't that the person is being, you know, attacked by a specific demon or demons. The exorcism rite within baptism acknowledges the fact that all of humanity suffers the effects of original sin. And again, it's because Satan was behind original sin there in the garden, you know, and, you know, in the guise of the serpent that that is being acknowledged in the dress. But it's more in a more of a generic way, if you will. I think there's still validity to that because, again again it just recognizes the fact that we are all born Into a world that has been affected by sin. Yeah J and Linda says does father believe those in power politicians entertainers members of the media etc

Understand the darkness that has overtaken them, they seem to be willfully blind to the evil they are perpetrating. I don't know that I would say that all people in power or politicians are, you know, under the demonic, there's a lot of good people out there. I do think sometimes people may succumb to this, you know, the sense of pride and ego and maybe give in to vice and then rather than focusing on holiness and virtue and God, maybe they begin to promote their own agenda. That's certainly what Satan wanted to do. He wanted to take the place of God and sometimes we inflate ourselves just for the sake of maybe the almighty dollar. Yeah.

What are the, well, you've explained this a little bit, but I'd like to ask a bit more. Gina says, what are the differences between obsessions, oppression, possessions and infestation? Can you talk about your experience of maybe those who have approached you about things taking place in the house or surroundings that aren't natural? You know, demonic infestation, people should understand that demons don't have an address. They don't live in a location. They're pure spirits, pure intellect. So we would say that a demon is neither here nor there. We would say it's here or there if it's choosing to act there. So when it comes to demonic infestation, the question would be, why is there a demon choosing to manifest in the location?

Again, the demon is not living at the abandoned hospital or prison. You know, it could be that maybe some horrific thing was done there. Sometimes it may be the things that people are doing to try to engage demons in these locations that are causing them to be present there. I was going to say, I've made me think of St. Thomas Aquinas. Yeah, I was about to bring him up actually, because in the Sumer he talks about that the persons in hell or heaven or even purgatory, God can allow them to manifest themselves to the living for different reasons. So you could imagine somebody in purgatory manifesting themselves to a loved one to beseech their prayers. Aquinas says this is a possibility. What's your experience been? You know, there's a church in Rome, the Purgatory Church.

It's the only Baroque church in the city of Rome. It's right on the Tiber. There's so many. I was just in Rome a few weeks ago and I wish I had a lifetime to spend walking around. I don't know that it's open to the public anymore. When I was studying in 2006, it was open. You could go in there. They have artifacts where they believe that souls in purgatory reached out to the living. Like there's pillowcases that have pans that are burnt onto the pillowcases. So somebody was sleeping and believed that the soul of their loved one in purgatory was

reaching out to them. God permitted it. So you go into this church and there's kind of a little museum of all of these artifacts, if you will. So now God does, you know, permit these souls to reach out. But the thing I was going to say about St. Thomas Aquinas, he would say that demons as pure spirits are not contained by space. They contain the space. Right. So like the haunted house,

it's not that the demon is living there, it's containing that space, either because something horrific was done there, or because of the actions of the ghost hunters the paranormal investigators The things that they're doing are attracting the attentions of the demons Allen says what are all the ways an evil spirit may enter and stay in your home? Could an invited guest bring one that stays within your home? I Would say you should always be very careful on who you're inviting into your home.

You know, you're inviting someone that may be engaged in occult activities or satanic worship. You know, maybe those are people you don't really want to invite into your home because they bring their baggage with them, so to speak. You know, sometimes people will, you know, engage in activities that they might believe to be fun and entertaining, but don't really understand that they're creating a connection with the demonic world. So we can create that connection either directly or indirectly. So again, with infestation,

people should make sure that they don't have things in their home that are inherently evil, that were specifically created to make a connection between an individual and a demon. So think of a Ouija board. It's, to me, it's inherently evil. Its purpose is to communicate with demons. Think of like voodoo dolls. Again, things that have to do with magic and witchcraft. So the question would be, when it comes to demonic infestation, is

there something inherently evil? So sometimes people may go on vacations and they buy all these souvenirs they think are, you know, kind of nice or whatever, but you know, sometimes these items may have some type of demonic component behind them and then when people bring them into their homes, now I'm not suggesting that people start panicking and think, oh what did I bring into my home? But to me the thing would be, is something consistent with my Christian belief? And if it isn't consistent then I would suggest that maybe these are things that should have

no place in our homes. What's your opinion on the Pachamama incident that took place in the Vatican? Oh yeah, that's been, that's brought up a lot of discussion about, you know, is that demonic in nature? To me, again, I would filter that right back to what I just said. To me, if something is contrary to our Christian identity, at least for me, then I really don't want anything to do with it. And rather than, you know, saying that something is bad, I would prefer to say that's inconsistent

with what I believe. And I would leave it at that. So to me, you know, that whole thing about Pachamama was trying to bring up maybe some type of cultural paganism or whatever and trying to incorporate that within Christianity. Did you think it was good that it was thrown into the Tiber? Stolen and thrown? I think it, well, I think it was a good thing that that happened. You don't have to comment on it if you'd rather not. Well, I think it's a good thing that it was gotten rid of. I don't know that throwing

it in the Tyro was the right thing to do. You know, anything that's of a demonic nature infestation should be disposed of properly. Like when somebody says to me they have a voodoo doll, what should they do with it? You know, to me, the item should first be blessed and then it should be burned or destroyed. It shouldn't be placed somewhere where someone else can get a hold of it and then it continues on in circulation. So to me, whatever it is, there needs to be a complete end to it so that it doesn't, I don't know, end up in different hands. Patrick Turner says, what are some common misconceptions people have about exorcists?

I think they think that we're all kind of stoic. I tell people I have a crazy sense of humor. And I think that's healthy because when you deal with so many people that are dealing with so many hard situations in their life, it can kind of drain you, so to speak. So, you know, I used to speak a lot about pornography and right on the topic. And so I was constantly encountering people whose lives had been shattered by it. And it really got exhausting.

I mean, it was an honor to be with these people and to hear their stories. But I'm sure it's all the more difficult for you dealing with what you deal with. Yeah, absolutely. Because again, and I think sometimes people have a perception, you know, the exorcist has got his black suit on and black hat and black briefcase and kind of moving around in the shadows. But you know, I'm also the pastor of two parishes. So what do you do for leisure? I like the outdoors. So I visit

national park sites. There's over 420 and I've been to about 350 of them. So I like to just to be in the great outdoors. You have a favorite park that you've been to recently? Favorite park? I would say it's hard to say one it'd be like asking Matt which of his children is his favorite He wouldn't want to be put in that But I would say that I'd be offended that I would mention the state of Utah. Yeah, there's so many different national park sites in Utah south of I70 and Yeah, just amazing, beautiful, spectacular. I like what you said earlier about the human person,

short of the angels is the greatest of God's creation. And maybe we are since we've been elevated through the incarnation. So that the degradation of the human person sort of is a win for the demonic. That was really interesting. And that leads to this next question. Is there a correlation between pornography use and demonic obsession? What is what is demonic obsession mean?

Demonic obsession, we made mental attacks, literally the devil's trying to get into a person's head so that everything they think is being filtered through the presence of evil. You know, people suffering from demonic obsession, you know, they believe they keep hearing things or they see shadows. It's, it's almost like they can't turn the demonic off. Where they turn, there's some manifestation of the demonic that's there. You know, when it comes to addictive behavior, pornography, you know, that's relegating the human person to a commodity, to an object. To a beast. Absolutely. And again, it goes back to Aquinas.

You know, there's three different types of creation, if you will. There's purely spiritual beings, there's purely corporeal beings, and then you have the human person that purely corporeal beings. And then you have the human person that is corporeal and spiritual. And to me, when we, people give into like pornography, we're just focusing on the corporeal, the beast thing. You know, it's like, I was thinking the other day that if somebody's out in the woods and a bear attacks them, someone will say, well, the bear is only acting according to its

nature. Now, if a person attacks another person, we would never say, well, that's in their nature. They're just acting according to their nature. Again, we realize on some level, whether or not we fully realize it, that the human person has a capacity for good and so much more. And to me, pornography just degrades the human person almost to a more of an animalistic instinct. Yeah. It's like the horror of pornography can only be understood in light of the dignity of the human person. It's like if God does not exist and this is all just one big cosmic

accident with nothing holding everything up and sustaining us in being, then we are just sort of developed primates. And, uh, what does it mean at that point to degrade the human person? We don't talk about degrading paper clips and mud. And see, that's not funny. You say develop primates. I've had some exorcist colleagues say that when demons have manifested, they've said to the exorcist, How dare you this crazy monkey? To give commands to me this great spiritual being that I am

So there is that sense of arrogance because demons would prefer not to manifest But they reach the point where they just cannot stand the fact that a human person that they consider to be so inferior that primate, if you will, is actually giving commands to them. Wow. Yeah, you should be submissive to us. Exactly. I mean, if all parents know what it's like to have a child disrespect you and you think,

who are you? But the demonic spirit must see us as infinitely less in the arrogance forces them to manifest and say, they just lash out because they just cannot tolerate. Has your faith changed? Tommy Lee says since becoming an exorcist, how so? I think my faith has grown. I think it's also helped to reshape my priesthood. You know, there's fewer and fewer priests today. I mean, you look at the fact that I have a, the exorcist colleague of mine who, he's from Romania originally, became Catholic, and he was studying in Italy, and he said there was an Italian bishop that was talking about the declining number of priests,

and he put it in this story where he said this man was driving his ten camels across the Arabian desert, and they were loaded with all of his belongings. Well, one of the camels dropped over dead, so the man took everything off of that one camel and then dispersed it amongst the other nine, and then he traveled on further and another one dropped over dead. And then you have to take everything off and disperse it amongst the other eight that it's not, you know, with the growing number of fewer priests, it's not like the workload is changing that priests are just being asked to take on more and more and more. And the danger to that is, in my opinion,

that priesthood becomes an occupation rather than a vocation. And to me, the word vocation means a calling from God. A priest does what he does because God has called him to do it. People ask me all the time, why did you choose to become a priest? You know, you didn't get married or have a family and, you know, the whole litany of things that people will give. I say, I understand all of that, but I believe this is what God wanted me to do. And if you're going to be true to God, you have to do it and then believe that God's going to give you the strength to live out that calling.

But there is that danger today because priests are taking on so much more and more that it's becoming an occupation, not a vocation. So to me, the role of an exorcist has helped me to rediscover priesthood as a vocation. Yeah. Yeah, Christianity doesn't make any sense without the demonic. And by extension, the Christian life and living that doesn't either. And so if we fail to believe in the demonic, then Christianity just sort of becomes trite and nonsensical. And that is what you see in people's lives, I think, and maybe even in the lives of some priests. So I would imagine the ministry you're doing is even helping priests remember their dignity. Yeah, you know, there's a

great line for priests is that if a priest takes his priesthood seriously, so will the devil, but if he doesn't take his priesthood seriously, neither will the devil. You know, I've been blessed and been asked to give different workshops to different groups of priests across the country, just about somebody comes to you and says they're dealing with a demonic. How do you, how do you deal with that rather than just, you know, being shocked and saying, I don't know what to do or, you know, call the exorcist or just hang up the phone, don't call him back. But just as a way of, you know, letting the priest know that there are things that they can do. And obviously the best thing they can do is greet people with the sacramental life of the church. You don't have to know as a priest, you don't have to know how to do an exorcism,

but you should know how to pray with somebody to hear the confession. You can anoint them, you know, to be pastorally present to them. You can do something for them, but just ignoring people to me is not the solution. And there is that danger too that, you know, as you just said, if people don't believe in the devil, whether it's fellow priests or ministers of other faith traditions, then really what is our faith really all about? Because you know the name Jesus means God saves. What's he saving us from? Yeah. And I would suggest that it's from something real, something evil, the devil. How important are the sacramentals in the church in reference to the demonic

crucifixes, holy water, rosaries? They always point to a greater reality, so I think they're very, very powerful. Again, you think of holy water, you know, the power isn't necessarily in that water, but it's representing our new life into Christ. You know, you think of a crucifix, why is that used? Because when Jesus is dying on the cross, the devil believed that it was the moment of his victory But the moment of his perceived victory actually became the moment of his defeat So when the priest holds up a crucifix during an exorcism He's saying to the demon you have been defeated before you will be defeated again. Do not resist the power of Christ. Mm-hmm

Akab 77 says what is the most effective way to get rid of generational demons? Maybe you can help us understand what that might be. How we can protect those in our family who don't even admit that there are demons. So two questions. Generational demons would be ones that have attached themselves to the family line. So maybe there was an ancestor that created some type of connection, bond with the demon, gave the demon authority over the family, and then family members are then impacted by that connection.

A few years ago, I did an exorcism in a Yupik Eskimo village in Alaska at the request of the Bishop of Fairbanks. It's 300 miles west of Anchorage. I was training the new exorcist there in Anchorage, so the two of us flew to this small village. The family came upriver two hours by boat, and they met us at this Catholic church in this village. And the young lady who was possessed, the bishop had already evaluated her and told me she was possessed, and then wanted to know

if I would do an exorcism. And then she came with her sister, her brother-in-law, and her grandmother. And I was speaking with the grandmother, and the grandmother told me it was her parents. So her mother was the witch in the village and her father was the shaman. And by those activities, they gave authority to demons to attach themselves to the family line, to the degree now that the young girl, the great granddaughter, was being, she was possessed. a great granddaughter was being, she was possessed. What were some misconceptions you had about demons and Satan prior to this work? Misconceptions? That's a great question because I can't really think of anything in particular. I think one thing Thomas says in his work De Marlo on evil is that the demons can't

read our thoughts. Oh, they cannot. And that was something I think many people would be like, oh, they're good to know. So maybe things like that, maybe not misconceptions you had then, but what are some misconceptions Catholics have? Yeah, and I would say it helped to clarify those things. So the devil cannot read your mind, you know, only God can do that. But the devil is very intellectual, very knowledgeable, so he can use deductive reasoning. He can watch us and observe us.

He can guess what we might be thinking or how we might act, and then present that as a truth, even though it's just an educated guess that he's making. You know, demons do not know the future. Only God knows the future. So the devil always tries to present himself as something more than he is, because he wants to put himself on the same level as God. But again, cannot read your mind, doesn't know the future. A demon cannot jump out of one person and into another.

I hear people ask that, well, Father, aren't you worried during an exorcism the demon will leave that person and come into you or someone else? No, that can't happen. Someone would have to invite the demon in again, either directly or indirectly. So the devil will look for, you know, some kind of crack in the person's spiritual armor as a way to try to enter in. So we should never give the devil more credit than he is due. Yeah. Joe Ward asks, I'd like to know how exorcists feel about Protestant exorcisms. I am a convert from Protestantism and have heard countless stories of exorcisms growing up, and they don't seem to match the Catholic system, but seem effective. Thoughts? How can I discuss with my Protestant friends and

family?" The Catholic Church does not have a monopoly on the practice of exorcism. It goes back to what I said earlier, it is one of our liturgical rites, so there is a prescribed way for it to be done in the Catholic faith. Again, the bishop or his priest that he designates to do this ministry in his name. But the Catholic Church would say that ultimately, Jesus is the one. He's the exorcist.

He is the one acting in and through the church. And it goes back to that line of scripture that I read earlier too, that those who are not against us are with us. When the apostles return and they say to Jesus, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to stop them. So to me exorcisms can be effective within other Christian faith traditions because Christ is the one who is acting in those situations. But again from the Christian, from the Catholic perspective, it's a liturgical rite, so there is a prescribed way

that we do the ministry. And then again, it also goes to the notion that apostolic authority of the bishop. So I would say, at least from a Catholic perspective, that it's more efficacious within our tradition. But certainly certainly there are elements of that that can be found in other Christian faith traditions as well. Have you ever had a conversation with a Protestant minister or somebody who

wanted to learn more about exorcisms? Yes, I have some that are ongoing right now. I love dialogues with others because I believe, especially in this moment in the 21st century, I should point out too my mother was a convert, so half of my relatives, they belonged to other Christian faith traditions. But to me, it isn't that we are in a state of competition. To me, it's not that at the end of the day, we get to say, why have a bigger piece of God than you do? And to me, people of faith today need to be more united than ever, especially with the

grown trend. And I think believing in the demonic is a great way to realize that the Protestants aren't the enemies. Well, the Catholics aren't the enemies, but so often when you forget that you actually have an enemy and there are problems to be solved, you begin to look at each other as the source of that. And I think, you know, when I think of Christians in general, I mean, when we argue with each other, it's usually about things on the periphery. But what's at the

core of our faith, Christ himself, that's really where we should be focused. And it makes me think of, you know, I have eight brothers and sisters, so come from a large family. You know, children within a family have a different relationship with their parents It isn't one isn't better than the other. It's just different. So when I look at all of the diversity within Christianity to me, it's like children of the same family and we just have a different relationship with the parent but again, we're all still united as One and we recognize that God is our Father. Okay. Well, speaking of Protestants, rabble rabble says Protestant here for context.

How sorry, why are there seemingly fewer examples of New Testament type possessions, if that makes sense now, than in those times? I suppose you would question that premise. You don't think that's the case? You don't think that's the case. I don't think that is the case. I will say that I think during the New Testament times, a lot of what we see in scriptures, that's why people will read those and say, well, that really wasn't a possession, it was a mental health issue. Because even a lot of what the church says can be criteria to validate cases of possession

can be explained by mental health issues. You know, someone has Tourette syndrome, there can be, you know, vocal outbursts. And so a lot of the things that we see in exorcism can also be explained by mental health issues. But to me, I don't think there's any fewer cases. I think we live in an age though where we are quick to discount the reality of the money because we think we can explain it by, you know, the mental health field. You may have already answered this, but what is the most unbelievable thing you have witnessed

during an exorcism? Ask Joseph. And if you have already during an exorcism? Ask Joseph. And if you have already answered that, I'm thinking that lady's eyes turning green, maybe the second most unbelievable thing. I witnessed levitation. So I saw a body levitate. The demon caused the person's body to rise out of the chair during an exorcism. What? These are all, you know, they're tricks of the devil because the devil is doing all of these things to basically say look at my power and what

I'm capable of doing. So you know during an exorcism, when the demon manifested and was possessing the person's body, at one point the person's face got this hideous look and grin, and then at one point as I'm watching the body began to rise up out of the chair. How far? It got about a foot out of the chair. And basically the thing was, look at me, look at me, don't look at God, look at me, look at me. Was there other people in the room with you? There always has to be somebody, I imagine.

Yep. That must be helpful, because I would imagine if I saw something like that, if I was the only one who witnessed it, I would think, it's possible. I just imagine that. Or you think you're losing your mind, but yeah. But afterwards was able to talk.

Yeah, other people had witnessed witnessed that were in the room. Wow. What is a demon's goal with possession? Is it just to torment the victim or are they trying to use the victim to affect changes in the physical world, asks local supporter Jacob. Thanks Jacob. I think the real reason for demonic possession, the answer lies at the core of our Christian belief.

The greatest thing that God did for us is the incarnation. God took on human form in the person of Jesus. So the devil and his demons believe, because they want to mimic God and be like God, that by possessing the human body, they take on human form. So to me, it's kind of a way to play God, so to speak. And then obviously, when they manifest, they degrade the human person. There's all that animalistic behavior and whatnot. So rather than, you know, the person So, rather than, you know, the person demonstrating the goodness and the glory of God and virtue and holiness, it really is like animal instincts. Proze111M says, in regards to interview with exorcist, what is the one thing humanity is

doing right now that causes an increase of exorcisms to be performed? The number one thing that people are doing is telling God to get out of their lives. We all have free will. Free will is the only thing that God doesn't have from us. It's the thing that God desires. The goal of the Christian life is to unite our free will with the will of God. And when we do that, we don't lose ourselves. I think a lot of people believe that, that if you surrender your free will to God, then you become like a slave. But I think of St. John Paul II, who said that freedom in the true sense of the word means to be faithful to God. When we live in the manner that God created us to live, we discover what it truly means to be free. Even Pope Benedict said that, you

know, when we remove God from our understanding of freedom, freedom is not enhanced, it becomes distorted, again, because it's deprived of its basis, namely God himself. Yeah. Is there a single book that you would recommend people pick up to learn more about this? I know you've written one. I wrote a book. I certainly don't promote myself or toot my own horn,

but during COVID lockdown, I wrote a book, Hermes wrote publishing, you know, Exorcism, the Battle Against Satan and His Demons. It's very powerful. The books by Father Gabriel Amarth are very good, give people a general understanding of the reality of the demonic world. Anytime any people read any of these books though, it should always be with the goal of becoming more oriented towards God and not becoming fixated on the world of the demonic.

Yeah, I was going to ask that because I think it was Lewis who said maybe in Screwtape Letters that there's two eras we can fall into. One is to think Satan doesn't exist. The other is to go looking for him under every rock. And perhaps we might be accused of going looking for him under every rock in this episode today. But I think it's so as to balance out the, he doesn't exist attitude that many Christians have, or he's not active in my life. I think the more that we better understand the devil, I think that we come to understand that he's really nothing to fear. You know, again, in the world of exorcism,

what the church is doing is dragging the devil into the light of Christ. doing is dragging the devil into the light of Christ. You know, if you think about it, you know, if when a home is infested with bugs, the bugs thrive in the darkness. When you walk in and turn on the light, they scurry for every crack and crevice. So again, in an exorcism, a person who's possessed is having the light of Christ thrown upon them. And when that happens, the demon will scurry and to get away. Yeah.

How do you stay humble in this ministry? I always remember, you know, the words of Father Carmonate. They're kind of etched in my head. Because before I left Rome after the three months I was there, I sat down and just kind of had a one-on-one discussion with him reflecting on the past three months I was there, I sat down and just kind of had a one-on-one discussion with him, reflecting on the past three months, and then asked him, you know, what final advice would you give me as I prepare to head back to the States and do this ministry in my diocese? And he looked at me without even

pausing for a moment, and he looked at me and said, if you're ever doing an exorcism and think for a moment, wow, look at what I'm doing. He said, you've just walked on unholy ground. You said you as a human person cannot go up against a demon without God on your side. And when you start focusing on yourself, then God is not on your side. How important is it to maybe have a devotion to our guardian angel? I think it's very powerful. I do. You know, I like to go back to Saint Thomas Aquinas again that our guardian angels are more powerful than the devil himself.

And why is that the case? Yeah, I was unaware of that statement. It's because that Why is that the case? Yeah, I was unaware of that statement. It's because that the belief is that Lucifer was a seraphim angel, the greatest of all of God's angelic creatures, closest to the throne of God. Think of the nine choirs of angels. Seraphim are at the top, our guardian angels are in the ninth choir.

But Aquinas would say that an angel in a lower choir who united their will at the will of God is greater than an angel from a higher choir who rebelled against God. I'm thinking of a line from Louis de Montfort's True Devotion to Mary in which he says that in some, in a very real way, Satan fears the Blessed Virgin Mary even more than God himself. Not because he says that the power and hatred of God aren't infinitely superior or greater than the Blessed Virgin's, but because of his great arrogance, he's more frightened to be overcome by a little handmaid than God himself. And that sounds like it's kind of resonating with some of the things you've already said here today about the arrogance. You know, you think of St. Augustine, even Aquinas

again, would say that, you know, most people would say that it's the sin of pride, but Augustine and even Aquinas would say that you could take it a step further and say it's really the notion of the incarnation that the devil cannot accept, that human flesh will be elevated higher than he will. And if you think of the role of our blessed mother, you know, she says yes to God. So kind of reverses the no of Eve. So Eve's no and disobedience is reversed by Mary's yes and obedience. And then she becomes the queen of heaven, which means then again, she's even elevated a higher above him.

Yeah. Yeah. And going back to our guardian angels, I was thinking that there, there are three words that come to mind when it comes to the importance of our guardian angels. They, they're I words again, I like words that are kind of similar. They inspire us, they instruct us and they illuminine us. So they inspire us to be faithful to God, they instruct us to live out God's commandments and they illumine us so that we continually grow in holiness and virtue and be the people that God is calling

us to be. How powerful is the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and exorcisms that you've done? Is it an integral part of the rite? Absolutely. That's included right there, right after the blessing of Holy Water and then the Litany of the Saints immediately invoking our Blessed Mother to come and be present during this prayer of the Church. If there are priests watching right now who would like to get involved in exorcism ministry,

what should they do? I'm laughing because I was thinking that in the years I've done this, I've told my bishop I would say, oh, bishop, I've met some of our younger priests that are interested. And the bishop said, I'm worried about anybody who would want to be the exorcist. He said the fact that you didn't want it is why you get to have it. So I would think any priest that may have some interest, you know, just don't that you didn't want it is why you get to have it. So but I would think any priest They may have some interest You know just don't you don't go to your bishop and say I want to do this

But you would talk to your bishop and say Bishop I have some interest in this area and if you're ever looking for a priest that you might consider You know, I throw my name in the hat in the ring Yeah, maybe they don't want to be a exorcist of their diocese, but maybe they're beginning to see things. Because there is an exorcist training school in the United States now. Okay, when did that start and what's that like? It's located up at a monoline seminary in Chicago, it's the public of the 13th Institute, so it's a place now where bishops can appoint exorcists and then they can go and train over a two period of time. Okay. They do four modules.

Uh, so like four 10 day segments, I believe it is go up and then do you teach there or do you speak there? I have not, but I have recently been asked if I would give a, a talk to exorcist on the pros and cons of being public as an exorcist. What are some of the cons? You can just be bombarded by so many people and you can be ridiculed. Yeah. But I don't really care. And, you know, at this stage of my life, you know, I always say that I will propose what the church teaches and what people do with that is up to them.

Yeah. But I don't really worry about people's opinion. Prior to this school starting in Chicago, did you have to go to the Vatican or Rome to study this stuff? Or you just had to kind of figure it out on your own. So when I went to Rome, it was at the North American college and I was able to speak to the rector at the time and say, my Bishop has appointed me in this role. He told me while I was here, he wanted me to kind of learn more. I said, what can you recommend? And then he connected me with, many people might be familiar with Father Gary Thomas, priest from San Jose, California. So he

introduced me to Father Carmen. He was already working with him and then father Carmen allowed me to begin shadowing with him as well. And then father Gary has become a good friend and colleague over the years. It's so important, I think for exorcists to network with one another so that you know that you're not in this alone. And even as a member of a presbyterate, meaning a member of the priests within your diocese, when you deal with exorcisms on a daily basis,

that's really not something that a lot of other priests can understand. So coming together with other priests to do this for a sense of fraternity and collegiality, ongoing study and formation, there's always more for me to learn and know. I never want to's always more for me to learn and know. You know, I never want to believe that I'm the expert in the room.

You know, there are things that I can always continue to learn. So how do you do that? How do you continue to learn? Like, what are you reading or studying right now that's helping you grow in your knowledge of this? So I just finished reading Augustine's literal interpretation of the book of Genesis.

Okay. You know, what does that mean? And Augustine was talking about when did God create the angelic world? And Augustine in these books says that, you know, you look at it and he goes, it might be seen right there at the beginning of the book of Genesis when God said, let there be light. And he says light could be a reference to intellectual creatures, you know, so the angels. But then the light is immediately divided into day and darkness.

But the division is not called good. So Augustine said, perhaps we can see the fall of the angels. God created them and gave them, according to Aquinas, evening knowledge, the knowledge of things in the natural order. And then God said, with this knowledge I've given you, will you now take it to the next level and complete your creation by uniting your wills with mine. And he called that morning knowledge based on the story of creation, evening came and morning followed the new day. So angels received evening knowledge,

things in the natural order, intellectual stuff, and then God said, take that and glorify me. And Lucifer and one-third of the angels said, no, thank you. And so they did not complete their creation and are considered to be inferior creatures. Two thousand years, many priests and saints and monks have written on spiritual warfare. Is there one particular book that you would, I don't know, not just recommend, but that people like yourself who are exorcists are glad exists? Like is there one book by a saint or by a hermit that you think this is terrific? There's so many. Have you heard of Evagrius of Pontus? I was thinking of Evagrius of Pontus because he wrote the book Talking Back, and it's based on the best way to defeat the devil is to talk back to the devil.

With scripture. With scripture, because that's what Jesus did. You know, Jesus is baptized and then he's driven by the Spirit into the desert. After 40 days, the devil appears. If you are the Son of God, command these stones to turn to bread. And Jesus says, not by bread alone does man live, but by every word that comes forth from the son of God, command these stones to turn to bread. And Jesus says, not by bread alone does man live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God. And then the devil, you know, tries to quote scripture as well.

So Jesus defeats the devil with the word of God. So of Agrius, the Pontus, you know, he's great little paperback book, but gives the example, if you know sacred scripture, when you're being tempted, then you can speak back with the word of God and in this book The temptations he uses are based on the seven deadly sins And then he breaks them down into different scripture passages for each of the seven deadly sins as a way that we can defeat the devil Yeah, it's very it's very revealing, because under each of these categories, say, let's say pride or something, he'll come up with, you know, 100 or so thoughts that you might have.

He's an interesting character too, because Evagris was a priest, and he was in the Imperial Court in Constantinople, and he fell in love with a married woman. And he didn't know how to deal with these feelings. So then he went to, on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where then he was sent into the desert. And then out in the desert, he confronted all of his temptations, and then a bishop asked him if he could write, you know, responses to the seven deadly sins. And then that's where we have the book talking back. Yeah, I Think it's in first Peter where he says, you know, I beg you beloved as sojourners of this world to

resist The passions of the flesh which wage war against your soul and I find that so comforting because it sounds like Having these passions wage war against our soul is just ordinary Christian living. And you can experience that war without having consented to it. So talk to us about the difference between temptations that are perhaps very troublesome and then consenting and then it becoming a sin. Sure, because temptations are not a sin.

Jesus himself was tempted, but he teaches us how not to give in to the temptation. So to me, the way that we resist a temptation, because again, temptations are real for all of us each and every day, but is to grow in our, in our faith. So the more that we know, I go back to the ordinary aspects of our faith as Catholics, the more you're going to mass, the more you're receiving the sacraments, the more you're praying, the more you're reading the Bible, you're strengthening yourself. It's putting on, as Paul says in Ephesians, the armor of Christ. So you're strengthening yourself.

And even when the devil tempts you, we should use that to our advantage. in yourself. And even when the devil tempts you, we should use that to our advantage. But the devil only tempts us in what he perceives to be areas of weakness in our life. Again, that he can watch us and observe us. But we can use that to our advantage. If the devil has helped us to identify a weakness in our spiritual armor, then we know where we need to put in some more investment. You know, when an enemy is attacking, they're going to size up their opponent, and they're going to attack at what they perceive to be the weak point. But then the opponent says, wait a minute, I need to fortify that position so we can take what the devil is doing to us and say, oh, thank you for pointing out my weakness. Now I know I

need to fortify that area by maybe praying more, whatever it might be. What do you say to, because these exorcisms don't, it's not a one and done often, right? It's over the series of months, perhaps. It really depends. You know, the woman that was possessed with the green eyes, that session took 45 minutes and the demon was cast out. I've worked with somebody for over a year. Now, ultimately, God will determine the time of departure. In the old rite of exorcism, demons were, you know, commanded, when are you going to leave, what day and what time, what sign.

That's not included in the new rite. I think the reason for that is that, you know, demons are liars. So you can't, as an exorcist, you can't really hang on the fact, well, the demon said he's going to leave on December the seventh at two o'clock in the afternoon because you're going to be looking forward to that date. And then that might cause you to kind of put down your guard thinking, well, I don't really need to do anything more because I see the light at the end of the tunnel. But to me, yeah, it's recognizing that demons are liars and it really should be focused on what God wants to do so God

will determine the timing of when the demon will depart. Well, since demons are liars, what can you trust of what they say? Or is it is the answer none of it. Like if a demon says, uh, you know, people are possessed by reading this particular book or watching this particular movie. Why should we, why should I pay attention to any of that? We should be interested in what the church teaches. When demons are being interrogated though, people will say, but if the demon says something that's truthful, how do you know it's truth or a lie or whatever? What I've learned,

it's really the demeanor of the demon. So when it says something kind of in fear, in trepidation, it's probably stating the truth. But when a demon is acting arrogant and cocky Then it's kind of throwing out a lie. Yeah Maeve asks whilst watching the chosen have you seen that show at all? I've heard a lot about it, but I've not watched it Well, we'll see this might be hard to answer then but this person was watching the chosen with their kids and they asked her Why we don't see people possessed, like the scenes with Mary Magdalene in the same way today. Could the exorcist speak about how the devil works in the modern world compared to thousands of years ago, what it looks like

and why it's not quite the same in everyday life and how this can be explained to kids? I mean, we've kind of addressed this three different times now and it sounds like you're saying, no, no, no, it's exactly the same as it is today. It is. But I think the thing is, is that you think at the time of Jesus, people that were possessed were kind of in the mainstream of society. They could be found in the synagogues and places. They were out in public. Today, people that were dealing with the demonic, we kind of want to, you know, you know, out of sight, out of mind, so to speak.

Tasha says, what advice can you give a person regarding alternative medicine such as say, straight chiropractors? I mean, we don't want to lump all these into the same category, perhaps, but acupuncture, naturopathic, alternative medicines. Can any of these be potential gateways for the demonic? Where can I find good information to back this up? For example, a friend recommended a chiropractor to me who does muscle testing where you wouldn't even have to be present as she uses her muscles to see how yours will react. Wow. Wow. While talking to you over the phone. Because I felt bad as she was writing this because I'm like, oh come on, let's not throw chiropractors under the bus I'm like, oh, you know, this one deserves to be thrown in the bus, perhaps

That does sound a bit far-fetched. Yeah, and that's the challenge is that there could be some people in these fields That are very legitimate who want to help people but then there could be people now who've completely taken it in a completely new and different direction that to me is not very good. And I would say that, you know, we shouldn't lump everybody together and again we shouldn't be seeing the devil under every rock or around every corner. That it's just not a healthy place to be. I'd say in that specific scenario, I'd be more worried about just getting ripped off. Just on the phone with someone. That's right. Yeah, I would too. Philip says, what practical things should Catholics be doing to protect themselves from the demonic? I think I said this before, we don't have to do anything extraordinary to defeat the devil.

It's the very ordinary aspects of our Catholic faith. So, you know, if we're praying, you know, you're praying the rosary, you're going to Mass and receiving the sacraments, Eucharistic adoration, reading the Bible, you know, again, it's the ordinary things that keep the devil at bay. We just got a question from Connor who says, how does an exorcist view the condition of anorexia? Is it strictly mental illness? Is there a demonic element to it?

How best can we help those afflicted with anorexia? My sister has been in and out of treatment since childhood. She's now 28 and struggling again. God bless her. That may be a holistic approach. It's hard to know in these situations if there is a demonic component, but obviously with a person going to see a medical doctor is very important. But again, somebody that's struggling should also be receiving pastoral care from the

church, you know, like for his sister, is she receiving the sacrament of the anointing of the sick, for example? So it shouldn't just be that it's either spiritual or mental or physical. Part of the holistic approach would be to say, yeah, go see your doctor, but also talk to the priest. You know, look at it in many different angles because the overriding goal should be to bring some type of relief into the life of the person who is suffering. Yeah. Yeah. So that's a really good point. Just because you're suffering some mental affliction, it doesn't mean you're not being harassed by a demon. Yeah. Cause you know, the demon may not be the cause of all of our problems, but he's

an opportunist so he could take advantage of situations as a way to advance and further his own kingdom. Yeah. Father, we had somebody on the show recently who was a fan of Harry Potter and then someone in the comments said that they referred to you and others exorcist as saying, oh, they say don't watch Harry Potter because it has real spells in it or something to that end. Which I don't think is true. I don't think there are real spells. Usually when it comes to Harry Potter,

what I like to do is respond with another question. So when parents say their children are reading these books, for example, I always say, which book does your child know better, Harry Potter or the Bible? And if the answer is Harry Potter, to me, that's the problem because then the child is not able to read this book and filter it through their own Catholic beliefs That are shaped by the Word of God Because the danger then would be a child is reading the book and begins to see magic as something that's good

Placing spells on people is something good. And to me that's the danger is that it Leads children to believe that evil is a good. Did you see some of these protests around the overturning of Roe versus Wade? People were drenching themselves in blood, they were kind of carrying around decapitated babies, heads and things like this. All under the guise of protesting and it's very difficult to see that and not just go, okay, if this isn't demonic, I don't know what's demonic. I think a lot of the problems we see in society today

are rooted in the sin of abortion, the destruction of human life, God's greatest creation. You know, if children are disposable from the womb, why should we be surprised when there's people exploiting and abusing children? To me, they just go hand in hand with one another. We don't want to believe that, but to me there's all kinds of collateral damage when we start to believe that human life from the very first moments is expendable. What about transgenderism too, the insanity being pushed on us?

I mean, did... Yeah, I think, you know, to me, what's really crazy about that, there may be people out there that struggle and are trying to figure out who they are. Yeah. But I had, there was a lady that reached out to me who said that her son had broken up with his girlfriend and he was kind of traumatized by all that and was suicidal and went to counseling.

And the counselor told this young man that maybe if he transitioned and became a woman, he would feel better. Shame on him, yeah. That wasn't anything to do with his issue. So it does seem to me that there may be people that struggle with their sexual identity or whatever. That's one category, but it seems now that it's trying to be broadened to include so many different people. And again, if the human person is God's greatest creation and we're starting

to lose the identity of what it means to be human. I think it was the second Vatican council that said when somewhere where when God is forgotten, the creature itself becomes unintelligible. Yep, yep. Absolutely. A second Vatican council. So in order for us to become intelligible again, we ought to look back to God. Good. Well, thank you so much for making it down and being on the show. Do you, I mean, you have so many people reaching out to you looking for advice. It would seem like it might be a good idea if you had a place online that they could just go to and get quick answers. Do you have anything like that? I do. It's just an email address. I don't use, I don't use social media or any of those

other platforms. Good for you. I just have a exorcism ministry at gmail.com. You're not afraid to give that out? Exorcism ministry at gmail.com. You're going to get a lot of emails. I get 10 a get a lot of emails. I get ten a day as it is now. And I have some people that help me, so I have an exorcism team that will help. And even though we may not help people directly, we indirectly help people by saying, well, this is what you should do. Or maybe I share prayers for people that they can begin to utilize.

To me, even when it comes to, you know, people sometimes will ask me about deliverance prayers. To me, deliverance prayers are like a prescription. You may need them for a period of time, but they don't necessarily need to become a daily part of your prayer routine. You know, you may need them to intensify, you know, your spirituality because you're really under attack now. So you use them, but then go back to some of the basics. Eucharistic adoration, praying the rosary, chapel of divine mercy, again, whatever those

ordinary aspects. We don't, because I think sometimes too that deliverance prayers can cause some people to focus so much on the demonic that they begin to see the devil everywhere and I don't think that again that's a healthy place to be. So we probably have people watching right now who may feel very much under attack, they may believe themselves to be possessed rightly or wrongly. Could you lead us in a prayer so that maybe those who are watching this all around the world might be able to

pray along with you? Absolutely, yeah. And again, I think that's important is that anytime we feel like we're being attacked, we turn to God and we call on God and the power of the Holy Spirit. Again, wherever the Holy Spirit is present, an unclean spirit cannot remain. And I think sometimes the person of the Holy Spirit in the Trinity is the least forgotten. But you know, we think of God the Father of the Holy Spirit in the Trinity is the least forgotten. But you know, we think of God the Father. The most forgotten, yeah. But again, Jesus promised that the Spirit would be with us always.

So to me, we really need to awaken to the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Going back to that exorcism when I did the insufflation and breathe on the face of the person who was possessed And the demon literally was flung away couldn't even be Present there and then that's what caused the demon to be expelled Yeah, let's pray in the name of the father the son and holy spirit amen Loving god, we disaster you would be with all of us and all of our listeners today To awaken the importance of really living out our relationship with you, to recognize the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, to also recognize that we should never place the devil on the same level with you, recognizing that you are the creator and no creature can ever be equal to you. Help us to be mindful of your

presence in our lives, help us to live out our commitment to you in the life of the Church through mass and prayer and the sacraments of the Church and through reading your Holy Word. Recognizing in all of these things we have the best defense to defeat whatever attacks the devil may be sending our way. And invoking our Blessed Mother, recognizing that she is the most powerful ally for anyone under the influence of demonic attacks. We say, Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus, Holy Mary, Mother of God. Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of

our death. Amen. In the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit, amen. Father Lampert, thanks for your time.