Fr. McBrien Derides Conference on Exorcism

Folks, dissenting Catholic theologian Fr. Richard McBrien, has written contemptuously about the upcoming conference on exorcism called under the auspices of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. This is an excerpt:

Many years ago, when the National Catholic Reporter was a young newspaper, it ran a feature in the left-hand column of Page 1 that highlighted embarrassingly dumb items that had recently appeared in parish bulletins and other ecclesiastical documents.

If that feature were still active, I would have an entry to submit.

In a letter dated May 18 of this year and addressed to "Eminences" and "Excellencies" of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishop Thomas Paprocki, self-described as "Bishop Designate of Springfield in Illinois," announced that the bishops' Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance, of which Paprocki is chairman, is sponsoring a special Conference on the Liturgical and Pastoral Practice of Exorcism, to be held in Baltimore in early November, just before the bishops' semiannual meeting.

Those with a deep interest in Catholic issues will recognize immediately how pertinent and even urgent this conference will be, given the present state of the church and the world, what with the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the tragic oil spill and loss of 11 lives in the Gulf of Mexico...

If you wish, read the entire rant here.

Commentary. Irrelevant, liberal theologians in their sunset years say the silliest things! And the knee-jerk, sycophantic applause to his inanities seen in the comments to the article is truly depressing.

Fr. Tom Eutenuer has written an excellent book on the subject: _Exorcism and the Church Militant_ which discusses the issue in depth, including the sacramental exorcisms in baptism that Fr. McBrien seems to be so concerned about.

Folks: evil exists as a personal being. You may not like it, but it is a fact, the ravings of Fr. Brien and the empty applause he receives notwithstanding.

Truly, there's a lot of man-made evil in the world, in war, famine, pestilence, clergy-sexual abuse, for which a lot of spiritual warfare is needed. Academic theologians like Fr. McBrien, who have made their names by dissenting from the Church, are also enablers of the structures of evil and, if you ask me, are also long overdue to undergo their own exorcisms.