{"id":9916,"date":"2013-10-30T20:40:46","date_gmt":"2013-10-31T01:40:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/?p=9916"},"modified":"2014-12-27T09:43:45","modified_gmt":"2014-12-27T14:43:45","slug":"boo-do-you-believe-in-ghosts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2013\/10\/boo-do-you-believe-in-ghosts.html","title":{"rendered":"Boo! Do You Believe in Ghosts?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Tonight at RCIA the question came up, \u201cWhat does the Church teach about ghosts? This article<\/a> is a good, detailed teaching on the Catholic understanding of ghosts and departed spirits.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no settled doctrinal or moral practice with respect to ghosts or apparitions,\u201d says Lawrence Cunningham, professor emeritus of theology at the University of Notre Dame. \u201cYou can\u2019t point to a canon in ecumenical councils or canon law\u00a0that addresses this.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to the paranormal, the church walks a fine line. On the one hand, Catholicism is defined by a belief in the supernatural\u2014one person of the Trinity was in the not-too-distant past commonly called \u201cthe Holy Ghost.\u201d But church leaders also must battle against errant belief in the occult.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019ve experienced miracles of various kinds and definite answers to prayer, but never seen a ghost. I\u2019ve been called to cleanse houses of ghostly presences however, and usually a house blessing and prayer will clear things up.<\/p>\n

We can\u2019t have specific teaching about ghosts because the whole area of the paranormal and human perception is so complicated and difficult to pin down, categorize and classify. Most paranormal experiences defy explanation or clear understanding<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t matter if we don\u2019t have specific teaching about ghosts because we have clear action. If there is some sort of ghostly activity or problem we don\u2019t try to figure out what it is. We just pray, use Holy Water and ask for there to be peace and deliverance from evil. I\u2019ve always found that this clears up any problem.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tonight at RCIA the question came up, \u201cWhat does the Church teach about ghosts? This article is a good, detailed teaching on the Catholic understanding of ghosts and departed spirits. \u201cThere is no settled doctrinal or moral practice with respect to ghosts or apparitions,\u201d says Lawrence Cunningham, professor emeritus of theology at the University of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nBoo! Do You Believe in Ghosts?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tonight at RCIA the question came up, "What does the Church teach about ghosts? This article is a good, detailed teaching on the Catholic understanding of\" \/>\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\/standingonmyhead\/2013\/10\/boo-do-you-believe-in-ghosts.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Boo! Do You Believe in Ghosts?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tonight at RCIA the question came up, "What does the Church teach about ghosts? This article is a good, detailed teaching on the Catholic understanding of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2013\/10\/boo-do-you-believe-in-ghosts.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-10-31T01:40:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-12-27T14:43:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2013\/10\/boo-do-you-believe-in-ghosts.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2013\/10\/boo-do-you-believe-in-ghosts.html\",\"name\":\"Boo! Do You Believe in Ghosts?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-10-31T01:40:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-12-27T14:43:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/9a47bc6ba9c0a8c532dc90230d7ad3ad\"},\"description\":\"Tonight at RCIA the question came up, \\\"What does the Church teach about ghosts? This article is a good, detailed teaching on the Catholic understanding of\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2013\/10\/boo-do-you-believe-in-ghosts.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2013\/10\/boo-do-you-believe-in-ghosts.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2013\/10\/boo-do-you-believe-in-ghosts.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Boo! Do You Believe in Ghosts?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/\",\"name\":\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/9a47bc6ba9c0a8c532dc90230d7ad3ad\",\"name\":\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dbbfbf5b6d096630322e90bce3f0cec?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dbbfbf5b6d096630322e90bce3f0cec?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/dwightlongenecker.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/author\/frdwight\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Boo! Do You Believe in Ghosts?","description":"Tonight at RCIA the question came up, \"What does the Church teach about ghosts? This article is a good, detailed teaching on the Catholic understanding of","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\/standingonmyhead\/2013\/10\/boo-do-you-believe-in-ghosts.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Boo! Do You Believe in Ghosts?","og_description":"Tonight at RCIA the question came up, \"What does the Church teach about ghosts? This article is a good, detailed teaching on the Catholic understanding of","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2013\/10\/boo-do-you-believe-in-ghosts.html","og_site_name":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","article_published_time":"2013-10-31T01:40:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-12-27T14:43:45+00:00","author":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2013\/10\/boo-do-you-believe-in-ghosts.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2013\/10\/boo-do-you-believe-in-ghosts.html","name":"Boo! Do You Believe in Ghosts?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-10-31T01:40:46+00:00","dateModified":"2014-12-27T14:43:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/9a47bc6ba9c0a8c532dc90230d7ad3ad"},"description":"Tonight at RCIA the question came up, \"What does the Church teach about ghosts? This article is a good, detailed teaching on the Catholic understanding of","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2013\/10\/boo-do-you-believe-in-ghosts.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2013\/10\/boo-do-you-believe-in-ghosts.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2013\/10\/boo-do-you-believe-in-ghosts.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Boo! Do You Believe in Ghosts?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/","name":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/9a47bc6ba9c0a8c532dc90230d7ad3ad","name":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dbbfbf5b6d096630322e90bce3f0cec?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dbbfbf5b6d096630322e90bce3f0cec?s=96&r=g","caption":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/dwightlongenecker.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/author\/frdwight"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/557"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9916"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9916\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}