Vatican exorcist: Pedophiles tempted by Satan, not possessed

mar 16th, 2010

i love these fine distinctions that christists make that are totally meaningless. 

it's like saying -- how would you like to be killed during the spanish inquisition: by being boiled in oil, or burned at the stake. 

and i also like the certificate of good conduct for godman ratzy and other padres at the end. based on what,  amorth? after all, the devil is pretty clever. so maybe they are *pretending* to be good people, and doing a darn fine job of it.

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http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/03/16/vatican.exorcist.devil/index.html?hpt=T2

Vatican exorcist: Pedophiles tempted by Satan, not possessed

From Morgan Neill and Hada Messia, CNN

March 16, 2010 6:41 p.m. EDT

The Rev. Gabriele Amorth says people can tempted by Satan while others can be literally possessed.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Rev. Gabriele Amorth is chief exorcist at Vatican; he claims over 70,000 exorcisms
• He says the faithful believe "in the power of exorcism to liberate from the devil"
• Amorth: "Pedophiles are not possessed by the devil, they are tempted by the devil"
• Priests from Ireland to Austria have been accused in growing child abuse scandal

RELATED TOPICS

• Vatican
• Roman Catholicism
• Sexual Offenses

Vatican City (CNN) -- "The devil tempts everyone -- people in politics, in economics, in sport. And naturally, he tempts, above all, the religious leaders, so you shouldn't be surprised if the devil tempts those in the Vatican. That's his job."

The Rev. Gabriele Amorth isn't speaking metaphorically when he says that. The 85-year-old priest means people can be tempted and literally possessed by Satan.

"It's not my opinion: I'm saying that if you believe in the Gospels, you believe in the existence of the devil, in the devil's power to possess people," he said in an interview with CNN.

The faithful believe "that there are people possessed by the devil, and ... in the power of exorcism to liberate from the devil," he said.

And as the Vatican's chief exorcist, it's his job to expel the devil when someone is possessed. He's performed more than 70,000 exorcisms in his career, he estimates.

But there is a difference between possession -- where the devil takes hold of someone's body and actions -- and temptation, where Satan lures a person into doing evil, he said.

As a child abuse scandal sweeps across Europe, with accusations being made against priests in Ireland, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands, Amorth said the pedophiles are tempted, not possessed.

He has never done an exorcism on a child molester, he said.

"I have carried out exorcisms on some priests who had been molested by the devil," he said, without going into details.

"But cases of pedophilia exorcised, no. ... Pedophiles are not possessed by the devil, they are tempted by the devil," he said.

"They don't need exorcism, they need to be converted, to be converted to God, that's what they need. They need to confess, they need true penitence, true repentance, that's what they need. They're not possessed."

But no one is too strong a believer to be possessed, Amorth said.

"Nothing occurs without the permission of God, and he allows even holy people, even saints, to be possessed by the devil," he said.

But, he added, he sees no evil in the Vatican today:

"I just see good people in the Vatican. People of prayer, holy people, I don't see any evil."