Friday, July 10, 2009

The Devil Made Me Do It!

...and here I was thinking that when priests and women are attracted to each other, it was just a normal human reaction....From an interview with Fr. Thomas Gary, an exorcist for the Diocese of San Jose published on Catholic San Francisco (7/8/09), emphasis added:

...Any manifestations [of possession] that have proved difficult to confront - physically or emotionally?

I always have another priest with me. Demons attack the exorcist and they attack where the exorcist is weakest. It's not so much a physical attack, although down through the ages there have been recorded appearances where saints claimed they had been attacked by demons. I never experienced a physical attack. Mine have been more spiritual, psychological, emotional.

For example?

Sexual temptation, trying to really jeopardize my celibacy, creating emotional disturbances in me where I might not trust certain people who are very significant in my life, particularly in the life of the parish. The temptation to seek inappropriate ways to gain intimacy with others. Exacerbating the experiences of loneliness that appear in a priest's life at times. Those are all ways...

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