What do you make of the Vatican's Chief Exorcist's claim that "the Devil is at work inside the Vatican"?

I think the Catholic Church would do well to repudiate the very notion of exorcism. The guy is a complete nutter who ascribes to the devil failings that are all too human.

When has the devil ever not been at work in christian leaders?

I am not.

@AstroChuck You took off your horns and tail so you are obviously going undercover.

@kevbo Sounds like a conspiracy to me! Or at least, the next Dan Browne novel plot.

@AstroChuck, sorry… I should have been more specific. ;-)

Hmph. The Catholic Church should clean its own house before blaming diabolical interference.

Devil = Bad

So yes.

@Dr_Dredd, I thought admitting you have a problem was the first step. ;-)

Evil is every place. Immorality and hypocrisy exist every place. Unfortunately this is the human condition. We expect religionists people to better than this; but all humans are imperfect.
Unfortunately in my experience all so called religionists people of every religion tend to be hypocritical.
Praying does make you moral. How you treat other people is what matters.
My neighbor claims to be religionists. She attempted to ripe me off, she steals electricity, she leaves dog feces on the street. How will G-d judge her?

@kevbo Yes, but they actually have to do something about it after that… :)

“How will G-d judge her?”

God won’t. Judgment is a human trait.

“The Vatican’s Chief Exorcist”
Bwahahaha!
Are these guys serious? You’ve got to be kidding me. There’s a guy in the Vatican who makes a living as the “Chief Exorcist”?
I’ve got to find his employer. I want to get paid for being a professional warlock.

Okay, I’m done laughing now. Serious face. ]:(
(cough)
What do I make of the… chief exorcist… saying “the devil is at work in the Vatican”?
Not much. “The devil” is not an independent real world force that can exert influence on the church. I don’t feel compelled to take people seriously who explain real world phenomena with ancient mythology, even when they’re not called “chief exorcist”.
No, it’s not the Forces of Evil conspiring against the Forces of Goo the Vatican. It’s human beings dogmatic enough to honestly think celibacy is a good idea and not to see anything about it that could go wrong.

@philosopher, your comment reminds me of this article, which perhaps should be considered more widely.

@Fyrius, not only that, but also there is an International Association of Exorcists claiming 200 members.

I’m with @Fyrius on this:

I thought “Pope” was bad enough, but now to find that there’s a “Chief Exorcist”? It looks to me like the economic downturn has finally hit the Catholic Church (thank god—ironically, for an atheist, no?), and the guy is just trying to secure his job.

Because of this statement, he hopes that the Vatican will lay off the Minister Priest of Science instead of himself.

@CyanoticWasp
…to secure his “job”.

@kevbo
That’s at the same time hilarious, pathetic and quite disturbing.

@Fyrius you got me: to secure his ‘position’, or his ‘sinecure’

@CyanoticWasp
OK how do you judge such immorality?
I think if G-d exist they will be punished.
I do not waste time fighting with them. I ignore them as long as they stay out of my life. I have a low tolerance for self absorbed judgmental people. All my other neighbors are nice. I do not wish to fight. I am a positive person
These people think they can manipulate everyone. Few can manipulate me. They use people here. It is amazing to me how dumb people learn to use others. No one uses me. I will do a favor but I will not be used.

I look at this like getting the flu.

Is being sick bad or evil? No. Part of the process, that is all. Hopefully/eventually you will get better. The real “evil” is hatred, manifested from what we do not know or care not to believe.
Wearing blinders is so easy.

“I ignore them as long as they stay out of my life.”
That is pretty much all we can do. Never truly being out of anyone’s life. Just like the germs in our body.

@philosopher say what? Seriously, I don’t know what you’re talking about with “immorality” and “punishment”. And I’m not judging or fighting with anyone (at the moment), not even you.

Do you need an exorcism?

I’d say that’s his home so it doesn’t surprise me.

“Anything can come out of their mouths – finger-length pieces of iron, but also rose petals.”

Sounds like BS to me. It’s all delusion, not some demon.

What do you make of the Vatican’s Chief Exorcist’s claim that “the Devil is at work inside the Vatican”?

It’s probably the truest thing that guy ever said.

I think the Devil’s got his tongue.

@ChazMaz, haha! that’s because Satan Gave Him a Taco.

I lol’d. People always try to blame the devil every time something bad happens…

Classic age-old alternative to taking responsibility for your actions.

I thought the question was silly-making enough, but the article you included is just a hoot. Thanks for that.

is he trying to tell us that due to the economic downturn the Vatican is in danger of being repossessed?

He has dealt with 70, 000 demonic possessions? hahahahahah. oh and I totally want to be called ‘chief exorcist’ from this point forward. thanks.

@mammal, nice one.

It is always amusing to see what people do for attention when they realise they’re losing touch. What a nut bag.

I don’t believe in the Devil or in God, but he’s probably right in the terms as he understands it.

.

Not too shocking. lol – classic though.

Shit, i didn’t even know that guy existed up until now. Wow. Talk about money wasted.

And imagine what will happen the day he dies and they’ll have to replace him! i kinda have the feeling there will be lots of people applying for the job, huh?

Anyway i’m with @Fyrius on this one, where do i apply to be a full time berserker?

Afterall if he can be an exorcist fighting mythological demons with mythological forces, why can’t i be a chosen warrior of odin? It’s just not fair!

Anyway the devil is as much at work in the vatican as twiddledee and twiddledum are, e.g. not very much.

@Thammuz I’d say that the devil is as much at work in the Vatican as god or twiddledee and twiddledum.

@JeanPaulSartre i didn’t want to go for the obvious joke

@Thammuz Oh I’ll go to nearly any level.

Wow… a month later he’s saying that the NYT coverage of the sex abuse scandals and cover ups are the work of the Devil. Just wow.

@kevbo You would think that if the Catholic Church wanted to remain relevant and stop losing members in the civilized world, that they would disavow such crazy talking priests.

@kevbo considering who ordered the coverups that’s kinda ironic, isn’t it?

Afterall he’s his direct superior…

Must be awesome to have a one-size-fits-it-all scapegoat.

The Devil made him do it!