# The Excorcist V : Ioannes Paulus The Holy See **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 23, 2005, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-excorcist-v-ioannes-paulus-the-holy-see/286191 "2005-01-23T03:33:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-excorcist-v-ioannes-paulus-the-holy-see/286191/1 "2005-01-23T03:33:24Z")
Did you know The Pope has performed an excorcism? I didn’t. In fact, it seems he has performed three excorcisms in total. Hmm… [http://www.cathtelecom.com/news/202/84.php](http://www.cathtelecom.com/news/202/84.php) > [@](#): > > Pope has performed three exorcisms to ward off devil > Pope John Paul has performed three exorcisms during his 23-year pontificate, including one as recently as September, one of the Catholic Church’s leading exorcists said on Monday. > > Fr Gabriele Amorth told Italy’s La Stampa newspaper that the Pope had carried out his first exorcism in 1982. > > “This girl was rolling around on the ground. People in the Vatican had never seen anything like it. For us exorcists it is run of the mill,” Amorth said. > > The Pope has since taken part in two more exorcisms, including that of a 20-year-old woman in September, to underline the importance of the ceremony. > > “He carried out these exorcisms because he wanted to give a powerful example. He wanted to give the message that we must once again start exorcising those who are possessed by demons,” Amorth said. > > “I have seen many strange things…objects such as nails spat out. The devil told a woman that he would make her spit out a transistor radio and lo and behold she started spitting out bits and pieces of a radio transistor,” he said. > > “I have seen levitations, and a force that needed six or eight men to hold the person still. Such things are rare, but they happen,” he said. > > Amorth said the woman whom the Pope exorcised in September was still undergoing treatment. > > SOURCE > Reuters ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-excorcist-v-ioannes-paulus-the-holy-see/286191/2 "2005-01-23T03:37:27Z")
Guess that should read Exorcist and Exorcism. Too many holy C’s. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-excorcist-v-ioannes-paulus-the-holy-see/286191/3 "2005-01-23T03:47:33Z")
Those who came here specifically to correct my spelling…well, he led you here…because his are the details. ---
**Author:** ![Abbie\_Carmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@Abbie\_Carmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abbie_Carmichael)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-excorcist-v-ioannes-paulus-the-holy-see/286191/4 "2005-01-23T04:24:21Z")
He speaks in tongues, too! :eek: Re: the exorcism, I’m surprised he’s only done 3. He’s the Pope, though, he’s busy. From what I’ve read there seems to be a special class of priests that takes care of stuff like that. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-excorcist-v-ioannes-paulus-the-holy-see/286191/5 "2005-01-23T04:30:45Z")
How would I grow up to become an excorcist someday? I mean, do you have to have super Jesus Power or what? What are their qualifications? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-excorcist-v-ioannes-paulus-the-holy-see/286191/6 "2005-01-23T04:38:38Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > How would I grow up to become an excorcist someday? I mean, do you have to have super Jesus Power or what? What are their qualifications? First, you have to be a priest to make things all official. I wouldn’t say the Roman Catholic Churh is ashamed of exorcism, but an increased understanding of mental illness has made it more likely to try and exhaust non-religious forms of diagnosis and treatment before turning to exorcisms. ---
**Author:** ![Abbie\_Carmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@Abbie\_Carmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abbie_Carmichael)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-excorcist-v-ioannes-paulus-the-holy-see/286191/7 "2005-01-24T06:53:14Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > How would I grow up to become an excorcist someday? I mean, do you have to have super Jesus Power or what? What are their qualifications? All Christians can do it, according to the Bible. (I said CAN, I daresay most have not and will never do one.) It’s best to make sure you’re dealing with an actual demon first, though. Sometimes the person’s possessed, often though it’s just a medical problem. I think the first question that should be asked is “have you been to the doctor?” ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-excorcist-v-ioannes-paulus-the-holy-see/286191/8 "2005-01-24T08:30:12Z")
> [@Abbie Carmichael](#): > > All Christians can do it, according to the Bible. (I said CAN, I daresay most have not and will never do one.) I was actually present for one some years ago. I am not, some years removed from the experience, of the mind that anything demonic was present, but that didn’t stop it from being some scary-ass shit. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-excorcist-v-ioannes-paulus-the-holy-see/286191/9 "2005-01-24T13:31:49Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > First, you have to be a priest to make things all official. > > I wouldn’t say the Roman Catholic Churh is ashamed of exorcism, but an increased understanding of mental illness has made it more likely to try and exhaust non-religious forms of diagnosis and treatment before turning to exorcisms. > [@Abbie Carmichael](#): > > All Christians can do it, according to the Bible. (I said CAN, I daresay most have not and will never do one.) > > It’s best to make sure you’re dealing with an actual demon first, though. Sometimes the person’s possessed, often though it’s just a medical problem. I think the first question that should be asked is “have you been to the doctor?” Geesh – elements of common sense entering into a discussion of exorcism! At this rate, random episodes of sanity may begin breaking out all over the place! 🙂 While **Tom~** can give a lot more detail on this, Catholicism makes a big deal over what sacramental ministries are conveyed to a given clergyman by his ordination – _validity_ – and whether he is authorized by competent authority to perform them – _licitness_. Remember that true horror story where some backwoods preacher was trying to “exorcise the demon of autism” out of a kid, and killed him? Catholicism allows only certain priests, trained to recognize “true possession,” to exorcise, to prevent just such things as the above from happening. And, of course, as **Abbie** said, the promise is that any believer can “cast out devils in My Name” – but authorization to do so does not necessarily convey the wisdom to do so properly, as **Abbie** also noted. Note: The above post, and the ones it quotes, are founded in the presumption, for discussion purposes, that demonic possession and exorcism are real if rare phenomena, somewhat overblown in the media and popular imagination. Think otherwise? Don’t start an argument in MPSIMS – go to Great Debates and post the reasons why you think as you do. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-excorcist-v-ioannes-paulus-the-holy-see/286191/10 "2005-01-24T18:14:55Z")
> [@iampunha](#): > > I was actually present for one some years ago. I am not, some years removed from the experience, of the mind that anything demonic was present, but that didn’t stop it from being some scary-ass shit. What happened? ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-excorcist-v-ioannes-paulus-the-holy-see/286191/11 "2005-01-24T18:28:05Z")
Tell me! _is curious to know_ My Anglican pastor once did one… very scary stuff. The boy was writhing like a snake on the ground, making creepy screaming-whimpering noises, clawing at everything. _shivers_