PADDY GOWER'S ISSUES WITH EXORCISMS A BEAT-UP

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From the exorcism movie 'Nefarious', rated by Cardinal Raymond Burke

Tv3's Paddy Gower 'has issues'. He has them regularly, like the rest of us might have headaches or bowel movements, but we don't inflict them on the nation.

Paddy's latest 'issue' is with the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer, a monastic community in Christchurch. Last Wednesday's episode was a classic media beat-up which predictably has a few Catholics, perhaps glad for the chance to take issue with a traditional Latin Mass congregation, whistled up by the modernists at Cathnews.

Known also as the Transalpine Redemptorists or the Sons (FSSR), the  congregation denies a raft of allegations made on Gower's 'Issues', the most serious being that they performed exorcisms without permission from the bishop, which Father Michael Mary, the Redemptorists' Superior, categorically refutes. https://youtu.be/vPy_SiL_ULk

Oratory of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Christchurch 

Bear in mind that the Redemptorists celebrate Mass according to the Latin Rite. Satan hates the Latin Mass and summons all his demons and fellow travellers to attack what Father Faber famously called "the most beautiful thing this side of Heaven" with every ungodly means at his disposal. And Paddy Gower, with his 'Issues' is ultra-worldly. It belongs to his raison d'etre to find fault with an institution of the Church so closely aligned to God.

Gower's other concerns:

• The Redemptorists allegedly performed exorcisms on children
• One child was allegedly told he was possessed by the devil
• Holy water was sprinkled around a child (oh my goodness!)
• The Redemptorists conducted exorcisms allegedly on seven individuals, with one person undergoing multiple lengthy sessions, some lasting for several hours, and one exorcism purportedly spanning three consecutive days
• Individuals were restrained
• A novice was stepped over
• A novice was made to lick the floor.
  
  
  
  

Misunderstandings abound. One has to take into account that although Gower was raised a Catholic he appears to have forgotten his R E (Religious Education) or more likely, given its  post-conciliar quality, he never received it. He obviously - in common with neo-Catholics everywhere - does not believe in the devil. Or in souls falling into to hell, whom Our Lady at Fatima showed to three little children, terrifying them to the extent that never again did the world see them smiling.

Gower was scornful of the NZ Bishops' permission for 12 exorcisms in the last 5 years. "The devil had shown up in a believer twelve times and needed to be gotten rid of!" Does he believe that official permission for 12 exorcisms is an overstatement of demonic invasion, when apostate Catholics have left their souls wide open, as it were - when they're positively asking for it?

The facts are as follows:

• 'Minor exorcisms' (like sprinkling holy water) which are very common and performed for places or things rather than on persons, were used for the children in question
• The rite of exorcism may be performed on anyone, even a non-Catholic who requests it
• The rite of baptism and the RCIA include a minor exorcism. "Exorcism in this connection is a symbolical anticipation of one of the chief effects of the sacrament of regeneration; and since it was used in the case of children who had no personal sins, St. Augustine could appeal to it against the Pelagians as implying clearly the doctrine of original sin" (https://www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/exorcism)
• The possibility of demonic possession of children is signalled by exorcism at baptism: "before baptism everyone, child or adult carries the sign of sin and of the influence of Satan"(https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19750626_fede-cristiana-demonologia_en.html)
• Holy water is a sacramental with blessings for all who use it in faith. Catholics are sometimes sprinkled with holy water by the priest at Mass
• Exorcisms are not done in a hurry. An exorcism may take days, months or even more than a year. Such exorcisms are exhausting for the priest - and also, one would think, for his subject
• It's advisable, and common practice, to restrain people during exorcism. The opinion of Auckland's Bishop Steve Lowe (the Snickers Bars bishop), that restraints during exorcism are "cinematic" might be prompted by cinema-going (exorcism movies are all the go); it is not the opinion of the Church. Satan's strength far exceeds that of his human hosts or the exorcist's; Father Michael Mary explains that it would be "great temerity" to take on the devil without the written authority of the bishop. He "would not be so foolish; it is dangerous enough without it"
• Making the Sign of the Cross with the tongue on the floor is an old penitential custom of the congregation 
• Lying on the floor to be stepped over by your brother monks on their way to Mass is also a penitential custom of the order.
  
  
    
  
  

  

  The exorcist movie currently in vogue: 'Nefarious'

  
  
  
  

Given the devil's fear and loathing of the traditional Latin Mass, one might be forgiven for suspecting that Paddy Gower, with the coaxing of his ever-so-empathetic interviewer Michael Morrah and his line-up of earnest interviewees - especially the ubiquitous Peter Lineham (New Zealand's talking head on religion) - were unknowingly wheeled out for demonic ends. 

All the visual clichés came into play: the roofline of the Redemptorists' Christchurch Oratory (implying that the viewer is forbidden entry); a rosary; the nice woman in a proper Christchurch lady's hat, on a park bench and viewed only from the rear, who was 'sickened' by the priest's "deep personal questions" about her sex life in confession. In confessing any sin, it's only reasonable to anticipate questions.

"God gave you a mind to question!" asserted the woman in a hat (do they wear hats to Mass in Christchurch? It would be nice to think so). She'd viewed Father Michael Mary's hour of rebuttal of Gower's aspersions but she hadn't had enough: "Read between the lines! Listen to what he's not saying!" And, "there were children in that congregation!" True; we could hear them. Such a novelty for a Novus Ordo Massgoer. 

Ironically, a clip of the Redemptorists at the Parliamentary protest warning of the effects of the Covid v*cc*ne, obviously intended as presenting the priests in a damaging light, proved them to be prophetic. It was not the priests who were mistaken, but the woke Gower himself. 

Papa Stronsay, the tiny island in Orkney which is home for the Sons

Last Friday's Cathnews asserted that "Upon their arrival, Bishop Barry Jones cautioned Catholics that the group’s services lacked authorisation and weren’t in communion with the Pope." 

But on August 4 2014, NZ Catholic reported that "Bishop Jones said the religious society came to Christchurch “in irregular and divisive circumstances” in 2007, without canonical invitation and not being in communion with the Holy See. Since then ... the group has been reconciled with Rome and been given canonical recognition by the Bishop of Aberdeen, where they are based. 

“Bishop Barry’s canonical welcome of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer really goes back to 2007 when, as intruders as we were then in his diocese, he kindly agreed to meet us and then and thereafter encouraged us to be reconciled with the Holy See and the Church. He was a quiet shepherd and instrument of grace for us,” (Fr Michael Mary) said.

What a model for bishops was Bishop Barry Jones. How fortunate was Christchurch to have him.  

The traditionalist group was reconciled in June 2008, and while it was a joyous day for them, Fr Michael Mary said they knew the road ahead would be difficult.

“The quiet shepherd’s one-liner emails from time to time were a great support, he kept an eye on us .... We would most certainly have quickly left the diocese if Bishop Barry told us he did not want us. But that never happened,” Fr Michael Mary said. 

“The priests and brothers of the congregation give an excellent witness of religious life lived with joy and generosity. They are present at diocesan occasions and events and their presence and witness is made clear by the religious habit which they wear,” said Bishop Jones.

How glad are faithful Catholics - and even, often, non-Catholics - to recognise the clerical collar in public. What beacons of hope were the SSPX and the Sons at the March for Life and the Parliamentary protest! 

 

Mt St Joseph's monastery, South Canterbury 

One can see by the video of his responses at Mass to Gower's allegations that Father Michael Mary is a powerful personality, whom persons of a susceptible nature might find intimidating, And persistently, "safeguarding issues are reported" from reliable sources. The elaborate safeguarding protocols positively invite 'issues' but still, Catholics deserve an assurance of the proper medical examinations of exorcism subjects and consultation with psychologists to ensure that they are indeed possessed by a demon and not mentally ill. 

So if there's an 'issue' here, it's with the then-Bishop Paul Martin (now Archbishop of Wellington) who says merely, in response to concerns raised by Morrah's interviewees, that the "issues are being managed". And indeed, Archbishop Martin very likely has far more serious concerns on his plate than these nebulous accusations from Christchurch. We could wait for a statement from the bishops on this subject, as we have awaited others with breathless expectation, but the bishops are not famous for statements en pointe.

The issue could also be with Cathnews for their tail-ender to the Gower story (below).  

Upon their (the FSSR's) arrival, Bishop Barry Jones cautioned Catholics that the group’s services lacked authorisation and weren’t in communion with the Pope.

In 2012, Pope Benedict granted his approval and the group continues to be responsible in the diocese for the Latin Mass chaplaincy.

However, in an expression of lex orandi, lex credendi – how we pray reflects what we believe – Pope Francis is not disposed to the belief behind the old Latin Rite.

In February 2023, Francis admonished bishops who permitted the Latin Mass in their dioceses without Vatican consent, urging them to obtain retrospective authorisation.

Following up on correspondence from a reader, CathNews sought clarification from the Catholic Bishops Conference on the practice of the traditional Latin Rite Mass and whether the required authorisations had been applied for.

In this conclusion to the piece - https://cathnews.co.nz/2023/07/27/christchurch-exorcisms/ - and their assiduous furnishing of criticisms of the FSSR - “Tying up people, stabbing them with a crucifix is extreme" - Cathnews confirms that last Wednesday's Gower episode is sub rosa an attack on the Latin Mass. Cathnews is seen to be me-tooing and that's only to be expected: Pope Francis is, after all, commonly accepted as the pope, and so must be accepted as pope, in much the same way as the covid v*cc*ne was commonly accepted.

However, Cathnews' statement that 'Pope Francis is not disposed to the belief behind the old Latin Rite' is, on the face of it, bizarre. 

So the pope is not disposed to the belief expressed in the liturgical rite of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church for well over two thousand years. One rubs one's eyes in disbelief. Lex orandi, lex credendi, indeed. Attend a Mass celebrated by the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer and you will witness, we would expect, all the reverence and regard for the Divinity that attests to genuine belief in the Real Presence, in marked contrast to the casual attitude to Almighty God evident in the modernist (i.e. heretical) behaviours of the Novus Ordo. 

How can belief held by the One, True Church to be true for 2000+years now be different? What beliefs is the pope disposed to? 

We must resign ourselves to more airborne interviews with reporters to discover those beliefs. But not to expect statements from our bishops either to confirm them or deny. 

St Michael, Archangel, Defeater of Demons

Be of one mind, having the same charity, being of one accord, agreeing in sentiment. Let nothing be done through contention, neither by vain glory: but in humility, let each esteem others better than themselves:  Each one not considering the things that are his own, but those that are other men's

 -Phil 2, 3, 4