Religion
Related: About this forumA modern pope gets old school on the Devil. (IOW, The new Pope believes in demon possession)
A darling of liberal Catholics and an advocate of inclusion and forgiveness, Pope Francis is hardly known for fire and brimstone.
Yet, in his words and deeds, the new pope is locked in an epic battle with the oldest enemy of God and creation: The Devil.
After his little more than a year atop the Throne of St. Peter, Franciss teachings on Satan are already regarded as the most old school of any pope since at least Paul VI, whose papacy in the 1960s and 1970s fully embraced the notion of hellish forces plotting to deliver mankind unto damnation.
Largely under the radar, theologians and Vatican insiders say, Francis has not only dwelled far more on Satan in sermons and speeches than his recent predecessors have, but also sought to rekindle the Devils image as a supernatural entity with the forces of evil at his beck and call.
Last year, for instance, Francis laid hands on a man in a wheelchair who claimed to be possessed by demons, in what many saw as an impromptu act of cleansing. A few months later, he praised a group long viewed by some as the crazy uncles of the Roman Catholic Church the International Association of Exorcists for helping people who suffer and are in need of liberation.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/a-modern-pope-gets-old-school-on-the-devil/2014/05/10/f56a9354-1b93-4662-abbb-d877e49f15ea_story.html
In need of liberation, huh? Perhaps liberation from superstitious nonsense is what he means to say?
skepticscott
(13,029 posts)there are even people on this board who believe in it, and who believe that patients in psych wards are possessed by demons.
No, really.
Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)If Francis says that demons from hell are rampant in the world, I have to respect that. If a crazy person said the exact same thing, it would be considered evidence of a psychotic delusion, but we are talking about the pope here, so it can't possibly be that. Now of course when the pope says "demons from hell are rampant in the world", that doesn't really mean "demons" who are "from hell" and it certainly doesn't mean that these "demons" actually invade people's brains and control them, that would be crazy talk. No it obviously means that demons from hell are rampant in the world in a non-crazy talk sense.
pokerfan
(27,677 posts)Who are we to say that demons don't exist?
MellowDem
(5,018 posts)There is no good evidence for demons. That's why we say they don't exist.
pokerfan
(27,677 posts)uriel1972
(4,261 posts)Tell me again how WonderPope is going to make the world all liberal, warm and fuzzy.
rug
(82,333 posts)goldent
(1,582 posts)The Devil"
I think all of the Popes were.
cleanhippie
(19,705 posts)The battle with delusion.
AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)trotsky
(49,533 posts)Even sadder that there are so many who know better as well, yet defend it.
Goblinmonger
(22,340 posts)the number of progressives who orgasm over this pope like he's something different.
struggle4progress
(118,041 posts)AFP
May 22, 2013 8:25AM
THE Vatican has denied that Pope Francis has performed an exorcism after an Italian religious television channel said footage of the pontiff blessing a boy in a wheelchair showed he had ...
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/pope-francis-denies-performing-exorcism-on-wheelchair-bound-boy-in-rome/story-e6frg6so-1226648072961
We had this discussion last year