{"id":4420,"date":"2017-10-13T14:51:58","date_gmt":"2017-10-13T22:51:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/?p=4420"},"modified":"2017-10-19T05:50:01","modified_gmt":"2017-10-19T13:50:01","slug":"exorcist-need-one-priest-weighs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/2017\/10\/exorcist-need-one-priest-weighs\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The Exorcist’: Need One? A Priest Weighs In"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"The-Exorcist-Alfonso-Herrera\"$ <\/a>In the Friday, Oct. 13, episode of Fox\u2019s \u201cThe Exorcist,\u201d<\/a> called \u201cUnclean,\u201d defrocked priest (but still a priest, regardless of what he says) Marcus Keane (Ben Daniels) and Father Tomas Ortega (Alfonso Herrera) deal with a girl whose mother claims she is possessed.<\/p>\n

Not everyone displaying aberrant behavior is possessed \u2014 in fact, most people aren\u2019t. But there are signs to watch for, and Fox supplied this helpful video:<\/p>\n

<\/iframe><\/p>\nI checked in with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm6227708\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Father Vince Kuna<\/a>, C.S.C., a Holy Cross priest and filmmaker, to run down the list and see if it\u2019s all true. Here\u2019s what he had to say:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Supernatural strength: YES. This would\u00a0also include\u00a0the ability to levitate.\u00a0 (An ability also attributed to a few of the saints as well.)<\/li>\n<li>Impossible Knowledge: YES. Within a demonic spirit\u2019s capacity of hidden knowledge is the knowledge of one\u2019s sins \u2014 including those of the exorcist.\u00a0 This is why it is always important for an exorcist team to go to confession prior to performing an exorcism. Absolution \u2014 when the priest, through the power of Christ, forgives confessed sins \u2014 wipes out the possessed person\u2019s knowledge of the exorcist\u2019s sins.<\/li>\n<li>Speaking in Tongues: KINDA. This\u00a0should be more properly understood as a possessed person speaking actual languages they would have no prior knowledge of, not just babbling nonsense. Especially, if someone busts out fluency in dead languages such as Sanskrit, that\u2019s a pretty sure sign of possession.<\/li>\n<li>Fear of Religious Icons: YES. Aversion to religious objects is a final indicator.\u00a0 Although, a wizened demonic spirit numbed to images of Christ might react indifferently rather than negatively.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nThe show has also pointed out the power of holy water. Last week, in episode two, a possessed cardinal was able to drink holy water because the demon had entirely integrated into him, destroying his human soul. NOTE: This is an invention of the show, for dramatic purposes. The Church does not believe demons have the power to destroy a human soul, since those belong to God \u2014 who is always more powerful than any demon.<\/em><\/p>\nTonight, we see a bit more of that cardinal, one of a secret cabal of possessed\/integrated people attempting to take over the Vatican. Now, while neither I nor Father Kuna consider this to be an imminent danger, it\u2019s nice to see a secular show recognizing the spiritual power of the See of Peter and its prime importance to the Christian world \u2014 and to holding off onslaughts from the netherworld.<\/p>\nAlso tonight, we see a taste of the power of a Consecrated Host. While they continue to look like little wafers, Consecrated Hosts, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vatican.va\/archive\/ccc_css\/archive\/catechism\/p2s2c1a3.htm\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">the Eucharist<\/a>, are the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ. That about as powerful as you get. According to Father Kuna, serious Satanists can recognize a Consecrated Host from among a pile of unconsecrated ones \u2014 and a truly spiritually advanced Catholic,\u00a0such as a future saint, should be able to do the same (please don\u2019t test me; I\u2019m definitely a work in progress).<\/p>\nThere\u2019s a reason why some Satanists are keen on getting Consecrated Hosts to use in their rituals \u2014 as happened in 2014<a href=\"http:\/\/time.com\/3160504\/oklahoma-catholics-satan-wafer\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">\u00a0in Oklahoma City<\/a>, until a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/big-government\/2014\/08\/23\/lawyer-on-strategy-to-retrieve-consecrated-host-from-satanists-there-s-beauty-in-simplicity\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Catholic lawyer <\/a>stepped in. If there\u2019s no difference between an ordinary wafer and a consecrated one, why go to all the fuss and bother? Ironically, sometimes our foes give us more credit than our friends.<\/p>\n\u201cThe Exorcist\u201d is obviously fantasy \u2014 and some pretty ripping horror \u2014 but like the original book and movie, written by faithful Catholic William Peter Blatty , it\u2019s got a solid Catholic base to work from.<\/p>\nOne other aspect I like is the idea that Father Tomas is being tempted with visions of possible possession victims.\u00a0 He\u2019s allowed demons access to his mind, and as Father Marcus keeps warning him, these visions may not be gifts from God, but temptations to the sin of pride from the Devil.<\/p>\nAfter all, nobody goes back to casinos if he or she just loses. It\u2019s the first couple of wins that can get someone hooked. It may be that demons are giving Father Tomas a taste of power and the ability to use it to save souls \u2014 just to reel him in. He needs to remember that, while the efficacy of an exorcism depends on the faith of the exorcist, the ultimate power to drive out demons comes from Christ alone.<\/p>\nThanks to Fox for, so far, serving up good entertainment and spooky scares, while also offering food for thought.<\/p>\nIf you\u2019re catching up, the show can be seen On Demand and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hulu.com\/the-exorcist\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">on Hulu<\/a>.<\/p>\nImage: Courtesy\u00a0Fox<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nDon\u2019t miss a thing: head over to my other home, as Social Media Manager at\u00a0<a class=\"ext-link decorated-link decorated-link\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/familytheaterhcfm\/\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-wpel-target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\">Family Theater Productions<\/a>; and check out FTP\u2019s\u00a0<a class=\"ext-link decorated-link decorated-link\" title=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/blog.familytheater.org\/\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-wpel-target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\">Faith & Family Media Blog<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the Friday, Oct. 13, episode of Fox\u2019s \u201cThe Exorcist,\u201d called \u201cUnclean,\u201d defrocked priest (but still a priest, regardless of what he says) Marcus Keane (Ben Daniels) and Father Tomas Ortega (Alfonso Herrera) deal with a girl whose mother claims she is possessed. Or is she? Not everyone displaying aberrant behavior is possessed \u2014 in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2174,"featured_media":4421,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>'The Exorcist': Need One? A Priest Weighs In<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the Friday, Oct. 13, episode of Fox's "The Exorcist," called "Unclean," defrocked priest (but still a priest, regardless of what he says) Marcus Keane\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/2017\/10\/exorcist-need-one-priest-weighs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'The Exorcist': Need One? A Priest Weighs In\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the Friday, Oct. 13, episode of Fox's "The Exorcist," called "Unclean," defrocked priest (but still a priest, regardless of what he says) Marcus Keane\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/2017\/10\/exorcist-need-one-priest-weighs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Kate O'Hare's Pax Culturati\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-10-13T22:51:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-10-19T13:50:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/524\/2017\/10\/The-Exorcist-Alfonso-Herrera.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"415\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kate O'Hare\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@KateOHareWrites\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kate O'Hare\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/2017\/10\/exorcist-need-one-priest-weighs\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/2017\/10\/exorcist-need-one-priest-weighs\/\",\"name\":\"'The Exorcist': Need One? A Priest Weighs In\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-10-13T22:51:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-10-19T13:50:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/#\/schema\/person\/1660bc64bfc9f67a4a8592d17e59213b\"},\"description\":\"In the Friday, Oct. 13, episode of Fox's \\\"The Exorcist,\\\" called \\\"Unclean,\\\" defrocked priest (but still a priest, regardless of what he says) Marcus Keane\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/2017\/10\/exorcist-need-one-priest-weighs\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/2017\/10\/exorcist-need-one-priest-weighs\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/2017\/10\/exorcist-need-one-priest-weighs\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"‘The Exorcist’: Need One? A Priest Weighs In\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/\",\"name\":\"Kate O'Hare's Pax Culturati\",\"description\":\"Making Peace With the Culture, and Those Who Create It\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/#\/schema\/person\/1660bc64bfc9f67a4a8592d17e59213b\",\"name\":\"Kate O'Hare\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/512f9f9d2774f59918c8275c4a9c653c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/512f9f9d2774f59918c8275c4a9c653c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kate O'Hare\"},\"description\":\"Journalism, screenwriting, Seahawks ... I prefer stories with soul. Covering the intersection of entertainment, faith and pop culture. Writing movies in my spare time -- when not watching Seahawks football, that is. From the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains, left my heart in Saratoga Springs. Currently based in Los Angeles, where it's always another day in paradise. No, I don't pick my NFL team by geography.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kateoharewrites\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KateOHareWrites\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/author\/kohare\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"'The Exorcist': Need One? A Priest Weighs In","description":"In the Friday, Oct. 13, episode of Fox's \"The Exorcist,\" called \"Unclean,\" defrocked priest (but still a priest, regardless of what he says) Marcus Keane","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/2017\/10\/exorcist-need-one-priest-weighs\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"'The Exorcist': Need One? A Priest Weighs In","og_description":"In the Friday, Oct. 13, episode of Fox's \"The Exorcist,\" called \"Unclean,\" defrocked priest (but still a priest, regardless of what he says) Marcus Keane","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/2017\/10\/exorcist-need-one-priest-weighs\/","og_site_name":"Kate O'Hare's Pax Culturati","article_published_time":"2017-10-13T22:51:58+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-10-19T13:50:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":700,"height":415,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/524\/2017\/10\/The-Exorcist-Alfonso-Herrera.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kate O'Hare","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@KateOHareWrites","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kate O'Hare","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/2017\/10\/exorcist-need-one-priest-weighs\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/2017\/10\/exorcist-need-one-priest-weighs\/","name":"'The Exorcist': Need One? A Priest Weighs In","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-10-13T22:51:58+00:00","dateModified":"2017-10-19T13:50:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/#\/schema\/person\/1660bc64bfc9f67a4a8592d17e59213b"},"description":"In the Friday, Oct. 13, episode of Fox's \"The Exorcist,\" called \"Unclean,\" defrocked priest (but still a priest, regardless of what he says) Marcus Keane","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/2017\/10\/exorcist-need-one-priest-weighs\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/2017\/10\/exorcist-need-one-priest-weighs\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/2017\/10\/exorcist-need-one-priest-weighs\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"‘The Exorcist’: Need One? A Priest Weighs In"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/","name":"Kate O'Hare's Pax Culturati","description":"Making Peace With the Culture, and Those Who Create It","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/#\/schema\/person\/1660bc64bfc9f67a4a8592d17e59213b","name":"Kate O'Hare","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/512f9f9d2774f59918c8275c4a9c653c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/512f9f9d2774f59918c8275c4a9c653c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kate O'Hare"},"description":"Journalism, screenwriting, Seahawks ... I prefer stories with soul. Covering the intersection of entertainment, faith and pop culture. Writing movies in my spare time -- when not watching Seahawks football, that is. From the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains, left my heart in Saratoga Springs. Currently based in Los Angeles, where it's always another day in paradise. No, I don't pick my NFL team by geography.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kateoharewrites","https:\/\/twitter.com\/KateOHareWrites"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/author\/kohare\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2174"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kateohare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}