Pity the poor exorcist, caught between evil spirits eager to inhabit human bodies and a skeptical society loath to believe demons exist outside of movie theaters.
Even church leaders and clergy look askance at exorcists as peddlers of a practice best left in the Middle Ages. Most American exorcists, particularly those appointed by the Catholic Church, keep a low-profile, hesitating to open themselves””and their church– to ridicule and quacks.
But not the Rev. Gary Thomas. The loquacious, 55-year-old Silicon Valley priest is eager to dish about exorcism, the “apocalyptic times” we live in, and even to accuse Catholics who deny demonic possession””including bishops””of renouncing fundamental Christian dogma.
Thomas is pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Saratoga, Calif.””and the official exorcist for the Diocese of San Jose.
Read it all.
RNS: An American Exorcist Plies His Lonely Trade
Pity the poor exorcist, caught between evil spirits eager to inhabit human bodies and a skeptical society loath to believe demons exist outside of movie theaters.
Even church leaders and clergy look askance at exorcists as peddlers of a practice best left in the Middle Ages. Most American exorcists, particularly those appointed by the Catholic Church, keep a low-profile, hesitating to open themselves””and their church– to ridicule and quacks.
But not the Rev. Gary Thomas. The loquacious, 55-year-old Silicon Valley priest is eager to dish about exorcism, the “apocalyptic times” we live in, and even to accuse Catholics who deny demonic possession””including bishops””of renouncing fundamental Christian dogma.
Thomas is pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Saratoga, Calif.””and the official exorcist for the Diocese of San Jose.
Read it all.