I see there is a great deal of debate going on about whether
the Pope performed an exorcism on Sunday, 19 May 2013, or not.
According to the spokesperson of the Vatican, Fr. Federico
Lombardi, S.J., the “Holy Father had no
intention to perform any exorcism. Instead, as he frequently does for the sick
and suffering persons who approach him, he simply meant to pray for a suffering
person who was presented to him.”[1]
The Vatican does not deny that the Pope performed an
exorcism, if that was what he in fact did? It simply says that it was not the
Pope’s intention to perform an exorcism.
I am sure Fr. Lombardi doesn’t just spit out anything he
chooses when he answers question from the press. At least I hope he doesn’t. We
must accept then that he was told that it was not the Pope’s intention to
perform an exorcism but just to pray over the person.
Watch for yourself. I can see why one may think more is
taking place than just ordinary prayer.
The question is, does it really matter? All that the media
want is a nice big juicy story. Can you imagine the speculation and the media
frenzy if the Vatican had responded that the Pope did perform an exorcism? Oh
my word. It would serve no useful purpose whatsoever.
Can you imagine how the media would hound that person in the
wheelchair? Imagine also all of the self-proclaimed ‘experts’ that would be
paraded out by the news networks, just like they did during the election of the
Pope. No thanks. The Pope prayed over the person is just fine, thank you very
much your Holiness!
[1]
Vatican Information Service, http://www.vis.va/vissolr/index.php?vi=all&dl=e123819d-4fbd-11e3-b6a6-519b69238b06&dl_t=text/xml&dl_a=y&ul=1&ev=1,
accessed May 21, 2013
My gut reaction is that this person was reacting to the interaction with the Pope. I don't know why what is wrong with this person, but many people with expressive disorders could react that way. Touch a cerebral palsy child (or adult) and a response like that is hardly unusual. Prayer for someone who is sick may naturally become more intense if a reaction like that is produced. There was also a clear statement that the Pope had no intention of performing an exorcism; it seems unlikely that he had no intention but still managed to do it accidentally.
ReplyDelete