Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!uupsi!njin!paul.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: jhpb@garage.att.com (Joseph H Buehler) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Exorcism on 20/20 tonight, Friday 5 May 1991 Message-ID: Date: 3 May 91 06:32:06 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 25 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article kriz@skat.usc.edu (Dennis Kriz) writes: Prior to encountering the possessed person, *everybody* who is to be involved in the exorcism, including clearly the priest(s) involved, is asked to confess to absolutely anything they can possibly think of that they have done/thought/not done in the past that could be held against them as sin. This is because the entity inside the person who is possessed will **know** absolutely **EVERYTHING** about the people then conduct the exorcism ... and even after such an extensive confessional "debriefing"/accounting of ones past sins ... the exorcism is often a terribly humiliating experience for those involved in the ritual. I've heard as much myself. One of the things that struck me in a book I read about several exorcisms was the humility of one of the priests involved. He had done things when he was young that were a little shocking to me. But he sort of seemed to shrug it off, as if to say, "yes, indeed, that's *exactly* what I would do all the time without the grace of Christ." I sometimes suggest to my friends that we should revive public confession, as the early Church did it. It would help bring back a little known virtue, perhaps -- humility. Of course, as long as I don't have to go first!