(English text after the Italian)

And if simonia was back in vogue to vogue?

At present, the poor so exalted in this pontificate were left hostage of the whims of the rich as they had never been before, After giving life to a college of cardinal voters who do not represent the various items, The most diverse opinions and positions that have always enriched the church inside, but an univocal voice, monocorde.

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Everyone has their own style, single or collective. In the first, as in the second case, It can be spontaneous, or studied at the table. The Fathers of the Island of Patmos, During their ten years of publicity activity, Starting from October 2014, several times for opportunities, Others for virtue of prudence, have given up on dealing with certain emerging issues related to the Church and the Papacy, Being first of all presbyters; editors and publicists to follow, But forward at all presbyters. Certain themes may require not to be silent, or worse hidden, but treated when you have more cognitive elements that can lead to a truthful, fair judgment.

Because you don't write anything about the health of the Holy Father, They asked us for more readers? Yup, In fact, the Supreme Pontiff Francesco has been hospitalized at the Polyclinic Agostino Gemelli and his health and his state of health have not emitted from these colors of our columns. And on the basis of what we should have done it, Perhaps based on daily medical bulletins, giving to follow breath to the trumpets of interpretations and hypotheses, including the most absurd, which however arouse that unhealthy itching that for the social media It is like yeast in croissants?

When a supreme pontiff is seriously ill, Talking about the succession is inevitable. Who does it with competence and delicacy, who instead with incompetence and lack of respect for his Augusta person. To these seconds it would only be enough to ask who the new Roman Pontiff is successor, If of the one who died before him, or of the blessed apostle Pietro, thus grasping the level of their preparation. Someone complained that talking about conclave is lack of respect and regard towards a supreme pontiff mildly defined by medical bulletins in now "serious" conditions now "stationary", all alternating with various small improvements or worsening. The truth is that the Supreme Pontiff is a terminal patient who is concluding his life and the reserved prognosis will be dissolved after Cardinal Camerlengo will recite the solemn sentence: «The Pope is really dead», Then he will turn to his corpse by calling him with his name of baptism: Jorge Mario. This means that the papacy, being an office and not the extreme degree of the sacrament of the order, once acquired legally, certainly not for the sacramental way, With death ceases. Contrary to the priesthood, acquired sacramentally, which makes us priests for eternity: «You are a priest forever» (Shall 110,4).

At the time he died back in August 1990, My father had 34 less years of the current reigning pontiff. Today, in Italy, The average age of the Italian male is equal to 84 year old; in Argentina, that of the Argentine male, is equal to 74 year old. Dying at the age that is anything but tender 88 years old, After having already exceeded the Italian average and fourteen average of the Argentine one, It could be said very serenely that the Holy Father will certainly not have been cruelly torn by the amorous arms of the nurse. I fell on an engraved with the premature death of my parent who took place within a year for a metastatized tumor not diagnosed in time and therefore impossible to cure, To narrate that while he was in the terminal state I have never wished him to continue living, but I praised the mercy of God who took it as soon as possible. Today, under certain circumstances, even without wishing anyone death, I continue to pray to God so that certain suffering are brought soon to the house of the divine Father, without ever forgetting the salvific value of human suffering, of which the Holy Pope John Paul II spoke in his magisterium in his apostolic letter saving Passion, which opens with the words of the blessed apostle Paul:

«Complete in my flesh what is missing from Christ's sufferings, in favor of his body which is the Church "" (With the 1, 14).

Those who declare that they pray for the health and healing of the Holy Father, inviting to do the same, either they live in the world of the Irreale or think that in front of a dying elderly, all the more a Roman pontiff, Galateo rules are applied to pathetic, if not perhaps ridiculous. You have to pray yes, But so that God grant the Holy Father the grace of a peaceful death, limiting his physical suffering, human and spiritual. With the complex and serious pathological state that afflicts it, including a total absence of immune defenses, its public exhibition would be impossible, Equally problematic to receive people who could be a vehicle for transmission of micro bacteria. If he stayed alive for other months, would return to Martha House Sancthae in conditions of this physical debilitation for which it would be necessary to set up a space-like space at that residence with the constant control of a team of specialists present day and night. All of this, It is perhaps wishable to a man like the reigning pontiff for whom isolation and lack of free contact with people would be something unbearable and unsustainable? This is to respond to all those romantics who pray for the now lost health of the Holy Father and for his impossible healing.

Think right now about a next conclave, It has not fallen in style but simple obviousness. And when the doors of the Sistine Chapel will close, The church will have to deal with the various problems left inheritance by this pontificate, which remains judged overall only by history, perhaps even in many years. The Supreme Pontiff Francesco was elected after an act of renunciation by his predecessor, Rare event result for all of us traumatic, especially for the unhappy ways chosen at the time by Benedict XVI, complete with an extravagant invention of the "Emeritus Papacy", or of sviant terms as "extended papacy", "Active papacy and contemplative papacy" ...

That of the Holy Father Francis It is a pontificate that is placed in a social and geopolitical context of great decadence on a planetary level, With a sceristianization of Europe that has already reached irreversible levels for twenty years. Elsewhere, an bleeding of faithful was consumed in what were once the two lungs with which Catholicism breathed: Latin America and Africa. Francesco's was a pontificate full of problematicities, made of ambiguity and lack of clarity, There are no lack of forms of despotism put in place in the total contempt of ecclesiastical laws and rules. Deny that this pontiff will leave a confused church, divided and quarrelsome due to open processes on all fronts, based on the unusual principle that "the important thing is to open the processes" without however concluding and bringing them to full fulfillment, It means denying the most clear evidence of the facts. But, Those who tell us that in several years will not have to be made thanks to Francesco's pontificate for having preserved and saved the Church by problems and damage that without his action, not understandable on the spot, they would have been greater, or even irreparable? Francesco is a complicated man who fits as such in a very complicated historical moment, any judgment given to the present on him and his pontificate could be completely wrong tomorrow. Certain expressions or decisions judged as eccentric - and in fact they are -, how completely different could appear tomorrow? It wouldn't be the first time that certain men, not included at the moment in their action, they were subsequently celebrated as a personality that were on decades compared to the present time in which they lived. That's why sometimes, just when you are perplexed, disoriented and suffering for certain ambiguous attitudes and not easy even to decipher, while exercising the legitimate critical sense it deserves prudentially suspend the judgment.

One of the serious problems that this pontificate will leave to the next conclave it is given by the fact that the cardinal voters do not know each other among them. The last secret consistory took place in 2015. Let's clarify: The Consistor is the assembly of the cardinals convened by the Roman Pontiff and can be secret, public, semi-public (see WHO). The one in which only the cardinals gathered to discuss in private form are called "secret", i.e. secret, with the Supreme Pontiff, Regarding the various problems of the Church and its government. Today, to the serious problem of cardinals who do not know each other among them, Another unknown to the secularists of the international left who magnify the poor church for the poor adds it, so much poverty excites them in the houses and on the skin of others, praising this pontificate that would have appointed dozens of cardinals "from the suburbs of the world" and "from the poorest countries". We fly over the scarce doctrinal and theological formation by several of these sant'Uomini from those privileged situations for which today a cardinal purple can be deserved: "The suburbs" ... "poor countries"… Several of these cardinals are bishops of countries where the presence of Catholics cannot be called even a small minority: on the island of Tonga, whose bishop Cardinal Soane Patita Paini Mafi is, The baptized Catholics are about 10.000. Cardinal was created in the 2020, at the age of just 46 year old, Giorgio Marengo, Apostolic Vicar of Mongolia, where Catholics count 1.200 baptized on 3.300.000 inhabitants. These cardinal voters, Emblem of the "poor church for the poor" of the various "existential suburbs", they govern local churches that can survive and live in contexts of great discomfort and authentic poverty thanks to the donations that come to them as rich local churches, or by large foundations dependent or related to them. To be understood: A single Austrian parish, German, Australian, Canoeing About, North American … It can maintain an entire diocese in certain poor countries of Latin America, of Asia and Africa, where the relationship between the euro and the dollar and their national currency is totally disproportionate in purchase value.

Tomorrow, in the Sistine Chapel, a group of cardinals from these countries, rigorously chosen among the exponents of the so -called more advanced progressiveness, With delicate ease they will make people understand that the cords of the bag hold them, leaving dozens of "poor-peripheral-existential" cardinals the obligatory choice played on the survival of local churches that can live only thanks to external aid. Of course, once this was called simonia, Today it is called instead "poor church for the poor".

At present, the poor so exalted in this pontificate they were left hostage of the whims of the rich as never before, After giving life to a college of cardinal voters who do not represent the various items, The most diverse opinions and positions that have always enriched the church inside, but an univocal voice, monocorde. And among the various damage perpetrated, This will perhaps be the worst, because weighs as a heavy mortgage like lead on the next conclave. This with all due respect to the poor Church, that inside the Sistine chapel will beat the poor with the cords of the bag of the most progressive and more ideologized rich.

From the island of Patmos, 2 March 2025

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WHAT IF THE SIMONY RETURN AGAIN AT THE NEXT CONCLAVE?

At present the poor so exalted in this pontificate have been left hostage to the whims of the rich as they had never been before, after having given life to a College of cardinal electors who do not represent the various and noumerous voices, opinions and positions that have always enriched the Church internally, but a single, monotonous voice.

— Ecclesial actuality —

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Everyone has their own style, individual or collective. In the first, as in the second case, it can be spontaneous, or studied on the table. The Fathers of this magazine The Island of Patmos , during ten years of journalistic activity, starting from October 2014, several times due to opportunity, other times due to the virtue of prudence, have renounced dealing with emerging themes linked to the Church and the Papacy, being first and foremost presbyters ; editors and publicists to follow, but presbyters ahead of everything. Certain topics may require to be dealt with when there is greater knowledge that can lead to a truthful, fair and balanced judgement.

Why don’t you write anything about the health of the Holy Father, several readers have asked us? Yes, in fact the Supreme Pontiff Francis has been hospitalized at the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic for two weeks now and we have not uttered a sigh about him and his state of health in these columns of ours. And on the basis of what should we have done it, perhaps based on the daily medical bulletins, followed by interpretations and hypotheses, including the most absurd ones, which however arouse that unhealthy itch which for social media is like yeast in croissants?

When a Supreme Pontiff is seriously ill, talking about succession is inevitable. Some do it with competence and delicacy, some with incompetence and lack of respect for his August Person. These latter it would be enough ask, whose successor’s the new Roman Pontiff is: of the one who died before him, or of the Blessed Apostle Peter? Thus grasping the level of their preparation. Someone has complained that talking about a conclave is a lack of respect towards a Supreme Pontiff blandly defined by medical bulletins as being in sometimes “serious” and sometimes “stationary” conditions, all alternating with various small improvements or worsening. The truth is that the Supreme Pontiff is a terminally ill patient who is ending his life and the reserved prognosis will be dissolved after the cardinal chamberlain recites the solemn phrase: «The Pope is really dead» (The Pope is truly dead), then he will address his corpse by calling it by his baptismal name: Jorge Mario. This because the papacy, being an office, not the extreme degree of the Sacrament of Orders, once acquired by juridical means, not by sacramental means, ceases with death. Contrary to the priesthood, acquired through the Sacrament, which makes us priests for eternity: «You are a priest forever» (you are a priest forever) (Ps 110,4).

Way back in August 1990 my father died, he was 34 years younger than the current reigning Pontiff. Today, in Italy, the average age of the Italian male is 84 years; in Argentina, that of the Argentine male, is 74 years. Dying at the age of 88, after having already exceeded the Italian average by four years and the Argentine average by fourteen, one could say very serenely that the Holy Father will not be cruelly torn from the loving arms of the nanny. I mentioned the premature death of my parent which occurred within a year due to a metastasized tumor that was not diagnosed in time and therefore impossible to cure, to narrate that while he was in a terminal state I did not wish him to continue living, but I prayed to God’s mercy that he would take him as soon as possible. Today, in certain circumstances, without wishing death on anyone, I continue to pray to God that certain sufferers may be brought quickly to the House of the Divine Father, without ever forgetting the salvific value of human suffering, which the Holy Pontiff John Paul II spoke about in his magisterium in his Apostolic Letter Salvifici Pain, which opens with the words of the Blessed Apostle Paul:

«In my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church» (With the 1, 14).

Those who invite prayer for the health and healing of the Holy Father live in the world of the unreal. We must pray, yes, but so that God grants the Holy Father the grace of a peaceful death, limiting his physical, human and spiritual suffering. With the complex and serious pathological state that afflicts him, including a now total absence of immune defenses, his public exposure would be impossible, and it would be equally problematic to welcome people who could be a vehicle for the transmission of micro bacteria. If he remains alive for a few more months and returns to the Vatican, to the Martha House Sancthae, his conditions of physical debilitation will be so serious that it will be necessary to set up a hospital-type space in that residence with the constant presence of a team of specialists present day and night. Is all this perhaps desirable for a man like the reigning Pontiff for whom isolation and the lack of free contact with people would be something absolutely unbearable and unsustainable? This is to respond to all those romantics who pray for the now lost health of the Holy Father and for his impossible recovery.

Thinking at this moment about an upcoming conclave is not a fall in style but simple obviousness. And when the doors of the Sistine Chapel close, the Church will have to deal with the various problems left as a legacy by this pontificate, which remains judgeable, overall, only by history, perhaps even many years from now. The Supreme Pontiff Francis was elected after an act of renunciation by his predecessor, a rare event and a traumatic for all of us, especially due to the unfortunate methods chosen at the time by Benedict XVI, complete with the extravagant invention of the «emeritus papacy», or misleading terms such as «enlarged papacy», «active papacy and contemplative papacy» (!?)…

That of the Holy Father Francis is a pontificate that takes place in a social and geopolitical context of great decadence on a global level, with a de-Christianization of Europe that has already reached irreversible levels for twenty years. Elsewhere a hemorrhage of faithful has taken place in what were once the two lungs with which Catholicism breathed: Latin America and Africa.

Francis’ pontificate was full of problems, ambiguities and lack of clarity, there were also forms of despotism in total contempt of ecclesiastical laws and rules. To deny that this Pontiff will leave a confused, divided and quarrelsome Church due to trials open on all fronts, based on the unusual principle that «the important thing is to open the trials», without however concluding them and bringing them to full completion, is to deny the clearest evidence of the facts. However, who tells us that in several years we will not have to thank the pontificate of Francis for having preserved and saved the Church from problems and damage which without his actions, not understandable at the time, would have been greater, or even irreparable? Francis is a complicated man who fits into a very complicated historical moment, any judgment given in the present about him and his pontificate, could be completely wrong tomorrow.

It would not be the first time that certain men, not understood at the time in their actions, were later celebrated as extraordinary personalities who were decades ahead of the present time in which they lived. This is why sometimes, precisely when one is perplexed, disoriented and grieve for certain ambiguous attitudes and not even easy to decipher, despite exercising legitimate critical sense, is necessary and prudently suspending judgement..

One of the serious problems this pontificate will leave for the next conclave is this: tthe cardinal electors do not know each other. The last secret consistory took place in 2015. Let’s clarify: the consistory is the assembly of cardinals convened by the Roman Pontiff and can be secret, public, semi-public. What is called “secret” is that in which only the cardinals gathered to discuss in a private, i.e. secret, form with the Supreme Pontiff participate, regarding the various problems of the Church and its government. Today, to the serious problem of the cardinals who do not know each other, there is another one unknown to the secularists of the international left who glorify «the poor Church for the poor», so much does poverty in the homes and on the lives of others excites them, praising this pontificate which has appointed dozens of cardinals «coming from the peripheries of the world» and «from the poorest countries».

Let us not dwell the poor doctrinal and theological training of several of these holy men coming from those privileged situations for which today they can deserve a cardinal’s purple: «the suburbs» … «the poor countries». Several of these cardinals are bishops of countries where the presence of Catholics cannot be defined as even a small minority: on the island of Tonga, of which Cardinal Soane Patita Paini Mafi is bishop, there are around 10,000 baptized Catholics. Giorgio Marengo, apostolic vicar of Mongolia, where Catholics number 1,200 baptized out of 3,300,000 inhabitants, was created cardinal in 2020, at the age of just 46. These cardinal electors, emblem of the «poor Church for the poor» of the various «existential peripheries», govern local churches that can survive and live in contexts of great hardship and authentic poverty thanks to the donations that come to them from rich local churches, or from large foundations on linked to them. To be clear: a single Austrian, German, Australian, Canadian or North American parish can maintain an entire diocese in certain poor countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa, where the relationship between the Euro and the Dollar and their national currency is totally disproportionate in terms of purchase value.

Tomorrow, in the Sistine Chapel, a group of cardinals from these countries, rigorously chosen by Holy Father among the exponents of the so-called most advanced progressivism, will with delicate ease make it clear that they hold the purse strings, leaving dozens of “poor-peripheral-existential” cardinals the forced choice based on the survival of their local churches that can only live thanks to external aid. Of course, once this was called simony, today it is instead called «poor church for the poor».

At present the poor so exalted in this pontificate have been left hostage to the whims of the rich as they had never been before, after having given life to a College of cardinal electors who do not represent the various and noumerous voices, opinions and positions that have always enriched the Church internally, but a single, monotonous voice. And among the various damages perpetrated, this will perhaps be the worst, because it weighs like a lead-heavy mortgage on the next conclave. With all due respect to the poor Church, which inside the Sistine Chapel will strangle the poor, with the purse strings by rich most progressive and ideologicalized.

From The Island of Patmos, March 2, 2025

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REDISCOVERING THE BEAUTY OF GRAZIA'S LIFE THROUGH THE WORK OF BEATO ANGELICO

The feast of Beato Angelico remembers that every man, illuminated by grace, Although called to walk on steep paths, continually rediscover one's nature as a divine masterpiece. Creation, although disfigured by sin and the difficulties of life, it is always the place where the chiaroscuro of human existence intertwines with true and profound love.

 

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Fra Angelico, born Giovanni da Fiesole, he was a Dominican friar who lived his religious life between torment and ecstasy. Through this writing I would like to share some thoughts on this Dominican brother famous throughout the world for his art and his faith.

To illustrate life, Angelico's works and pictorial style I made use of the precious advice of the Dominican brothers Sister Paola Gobbo and Brother Manuel Russo. So let's start from life: Giovanni da Fiesole was born in the last years of the 14th century, between 1395 and the beginning of 1400, in Vicchio, a town in Mugello, today in the province of Florence. Since I was young, one of his most obvious gifts was painting. To follow this talent, he decided to leave his home. It is known with certainty that he moved to Florence for his apprenticeship. Experts maintain that his teacher was Lorenzo Monaco, a Camaldolese from the Florentine abbey of Santa Maria degli Angeli. His stay at Monaco lasted until 1417. As was typical of the shops of the time, in his early years Giovanni learned the art of miniature painting, of the panel and the fresco, depending on the master's commissions. The master took care of the most important parts of the works, leaving the secondary ones to his boys, who also had the task of preparing the materials and grinding the pigments. In this way, the disciples learned the trade by observing and practicing.

During the apprenticeship period, the composition of the works followed rigorous rules established by the iconographic tradition of Byzantine origin. The hierarchy established the size of the characters in proportion to their dignity, with the central place reserved for Christ. Even the scenic environment, the number and role of the characters, their attitudes were all set. The artists used traditional patterns, as if they had a ready-to-use manual that indicated the methods and subjects to paint. Even the color, fundamental for its expressive and iconographic value, was subject to significant limitations. For example, the gold background of the panels prevented a naturalistic setting and the colors of the clothes were fixed: yellow indicated Pietro, red and blue indicated Mary, blue and red indicated Christ.

In this context, artistic genius was expressed through rigid legislation, but with full creative freedom. The risk was high, since the works could be rejected by clients not ready for such innovations, or they could bring fame, precisely because novelty attracted and fascinated. This was the most important lesson that Giovanni learned in the Monk's workshop. The latter had drawn from the masters of the past, like Duccio da Buoninsegna, Simone Martini, the Lorenzetti brothers, Cimabue and Giotto. Giovanni Monaco's art took place in the transition between Gothic and Renaissance Humanism, learning from the greats of the past to "go beyond" tradition and studying the innovations of his time.

The first document concerning Fra Angelico it is dated 1417 and concerns his enrollment in the Company of San Nicolò, at the Carmine church in Florence, sign of a spiritual journey undertaken. In this document he is recognized as a «painter”. On that date, thanks to a posthumous gloss that reports the wording: «Fecesi friar of Saint Domenicho», we know he was still secular. He entered the reformed Dominican convent of Fiesole between 1420 and the 1422, by joining the Order of Preachers. We'll see you again, a few years later, also his brother Benedetto, miniaturist.

There were two Dominican convents in Florence: Santa Maria Novella and San Domenico in Fiesole. Of the first it is written that the priesthood was not granted to artists because they were considered servile workers. Beato Angelico instead fully entered the Fiesole convent. Religious education had a decisive impact on Fra Giovanni's life and art. To religious profession, he found himself at a crossroads: become a lay brother, today we would call him a lay brother, which would have ensured him greater freedom in his work, or friar cleric. He chose, with his superiors, the second street, probably because they judged him capable of being an authentic friar, priest and preacher through art. For this we must thank Saint Antoninus of Florence, who glimpsed the genius of Angelico and allowed it to develop and bear fruit.

In his works we find these themes predominant: the centrality of Christ, knowledge of the Holy Scripture, the magisterium of the Church, adherence to Thomistic theology, the exemplary nature of the saints and the attention to the requests and expectations of the people, and finally the simplicity of his creations. Among the numerous commissions that Angelico received, there was that of his prior Sant'Antonino, who wanted to create a series of wall paintings in the convent of the observants of San Marco. Work began in 1437 e, between 1439 and the 1445, Beato Angelico painted in fresco 54 compositions with over 320 figure umane.

Inside a convent they were legal, indeed requests, sacred images accompanying the common rooms, of the dormitory and cells. Non-sacred images were prohibited and precious materials were excluded. For this reason Fra Giovanni chose the fresco technique, whose compositional materials are simple, lowly, natural: lime, sand, terre. The beauty of these wall paintings is that they are found in the places intended by the artist. This is an advantage for us because we can grasp Angelico's thought, who created them in those precise places according to a project and a message that was very clear in his mind. For example, outside the entrance to the guesthouse of the convent he painted Christ the pilgrim welcomed by two friars. In the novitiate the figures of the crucified Christ stand out, support for those who entered religious life and an invitation to recognize and unite with love. Everything was designed to recall the minds of the friars to the divine, the divine that inhabits the human. It was a sort of help to maintain that climate of contemplation and deep listening that inhabited Dominican homes.

Let's look briefly at Angelico's pictorial work. It is transmitted to us by Vasari that he:

«He would never have put his hand to the brushes without first praying. He never made a crucifix that didn't wet his cheeks with tears.".

This tells us how mystical the soul of Beato Angelico was and how much his art came from deep contemplation, from an experience that becomes a message. Some authors tell us that he painted in a state of ecstasy. Obviously it's not the ecstasy we think it is, but something similar to a "kidnapping"; that is, being totally immersed, in what you are doing and thinking, with utmost dedication, placing all our faculties at that service. Angelico was immersed in the Mystery that he intended to celebrate with his art where he found that vital center where God lives and speaks to the heart.

Paola Mancinelli writes: «Artistic creation is always an event of truth and generosity as well as the possibility of humbly giving shape to the mystery of being after having received the call as a thirst for beauty» (cf.. The amazement of beauty, Oristampa, Florence, 2008). It's a wait, conceive and give birth to an intuition, an image that almost suddenly generates in our mind, before our eyes. Certain that what we produce will only be a reflection of that Beauty that flashed in our spirit.

As for the other aspect of tears that he indicates to us, he was reminiscent of Vasari, they are an expression of love, of pain, of involvement so Angelico was moved to the deepest fibers of his soul. If it is true that "the tongue speaks of the abundance of the heart", this also applies to artistic expression, through which Fra Giovanni showed his entire interior world. We cannot separate the man from the artist, the man from the consecrated, this unity which is not separable.

Il Beato Angelico seppe to touche dalla "gracias gracias facens" (the grace that makes us welcome), a gift that illuminates the path of humanity, guiding her through the challenges and darknesses of life. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches:

«Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is favor, the free help that God gives us because we respond to his invitation: become children of God, adopted children, participate in the divine nature, of eternal life. Grace is a participation in the life of God; introduces us into the intimacy of Trinitarian life. Through Baptism the Christian participates in the grace of Christ, Head of his body. As an “adopted son”, he can now call God “Father”, in union with the only begotten Son. He receives the life of the Spirit which instills charity in him and forms the Church. This vocation to eternal life is supernatural. It depends entirely on the free initiative of God, since he alone can reveal himself and give himself. It surpasses the capabilities of man's intelligence and willpower, as of every creature" (cf.. CCC 1996, 1997, 1998).

Jesus Christ, with his sacrifice, he gave us "grace upon grace" (GV 1,16), a continuous flow of love and redemption that manifests divine glory. This is why Fra Angelico, with his art, continues to speak to our hearts, offering a path of beauty and light that shines in the darkest moments. His party, today, takes on an even deeper meaning, especially in an era marked by war, the division and isolation produced even by social media, when instead spiritual rebirth and beauty, including the artistic one, they are essential for all humanity.

God's grace is both a concept and a reality which truly expresses and represents the unconditional love and divine favor that is offered to us without merit. This grace makes the glory of God present, visible through the works of Christ and his followers.

Fra Angelico, with his art, he was able to capture this glory, transferring divine grace into his works with representations that speak directly to the soul. His works, such as «The Annunciation» and «The Last Judgment», they are visual testimonies of that grace, and they call us inviting us to reflect on our relationship with the divine.

In times of crisis like ours, beauty plays a fundamental role for our spiritual and moral rebirth, that of the rediscovery of the Good of Beauty. Scriveva Hans Urs Von Balthasar:

«In a world without beauty, in a world that is perhaps not without them, but he is no longer able to see her, to deal with it, even good has lost its attractive force, the evidence of its must-be-fulfilled; and man remains perplexed by it and wonders why he shouldn't rather prefer evil" (cf.. Gloria 1 – Perception of Form, Jaca Book, Milan, 2012, 18).

Fra Angelico, with his being an artist, he showed how beauty can be a vehicle of grace and redemption. Even the light that illuminates his paintings is a symbol of the divine light that guides our steps, even in the darkest moments.

The feast of Beato Angelico remembers that every man, illuminated by grace, Although called to walk on steep paths, continually rediscover one's nature as a divine masterpiece. Creation, although disfigured by sin and the difficulties of life, it is always the place where the chiaroscuro of human existence intertwines with true and profound love. Fra Angelico, with his art, invites us to see beyond appearances, to discover the beauty hidden in every corner of our lives.

The artists, like Fra Angelico, they have the gift of dragging us beyond immanence, beyond the paths of pure rationality and theoresis. Their art takes us between torment and ecstasy, making us live experiences that go beyond simply seeing. Beauty, in this sense, it becomes a way of knowing and experiencing the divine. It is a path that invites us to let ourselves be transformed by grace, to see the world with new eyes, illuminated by the light of faith.

In conclusion, the path of light through grace is a journey we are all called to take. Fra Angelico, offers us invaluable guidance on this journey, showing us how beauty and light can illuminate our darkest paths. His party, today, invites us to rediscover our nature as divine masterpieces, to let ourselves be transformed by grace and to walk with confidence towards glory. This celebration can be a time of rebirth for all of us, especially for artists who, with their work, continue to bring light and hope to the world.

The hope, which is also the guiding theme of this jubilee, as Holy Scripture reminds us, when it comes from God it is always founded and does not confuse. Hope, like art and the beauty that is its necessary corollary, is harmonious, integral and proportionate. So that we all become beautiful and hopeful, let's rediscover the art of Beato Angelico who depicted the beauty and uniqueness of Christ for us.

 

Santa Maria Novella in Florence, 18 February 2025

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THE ANCIENT INTELLIGENT ANIMAL AND THE NEW ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

These are the occasions in which man has demonstrated his intelligence, certainly not imposing itself as the strongest animal, or fast, or skilled, but showing himself capable of managing a superior instrument with his adaptable intelligence, exercising his ability with which he has always been able to adapt to those numerous historical changes which today are called technological changes.

- Actuality -

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In these days one of the most present topics in the news and in social media it is focusing on AI (Artificial Intelligences) and its positive implications, but above all negative, especially with the summit that is being celebrated in Paris: AI Action Summit.

It is appropriate to start from two important premises: each of these systems is ultimately an instrument in the hands of man and for this reason reflects with an unimaginable enhancement nowadays the same research and way of thinking and acting of man. Therefore it is man himself who can direct the instrument to help and improve progress, science and human life itself, how can he use this tool for the worst nightmares ever experienced in history.

The very concept of Intelligence must be clarified: Due to their power and speed, the systems can achieve calculations and operations that human beings individually or in groups would not be able to easily achieve, but so far they are sectoral and specific operations; while the singularity of human Intelligence is characterized by creativity and simultaneity in operating multiple functions and themes. The fear is not so much about where artificial intelligence systems can arrive as tools, but to what point is laziness reaching, the reluctance, the ignorance and inactivity that people are reaching in everyday life, favoring leisure in an increasingly vain and superficial world, rather than trying to best develop one's qualities, gifts and abilities.

Today life itself is structured to be lived passively, in zombie or “amoeba” mode, despite having access to unlimited information at our fingertips and with such a vast range of technical tools and technologists with which we could work wonders.

Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming society and the world of work, so much so that its development and diffusion raise important ethical questions, social and economic. While Europe pursues as a strategy a theoretical framework of a regulatory and human-centered approach, especially the protection of fundamental rights, the United States and Asia, especially China, they instead chose a pragmatic and economic approach where they left carte blanche for innovation and competition. There has been a massive investment in AI research and development by governments with the sole goal of achieving the leadership worldwide in the sector.

One of the main concerns about AI is its potential impact on the world of work: the automation of production processes would lead to an increase in unemployment and social inequality, especially in the manufacturing sectors, agricultural, of trade and services.

The other important issue is the ecological impact, AI models are complex and require enormous amounts of energy, with a consequent significant impact on the environment. The widespread use of smart devices and the production of large amounts of data also raise concerns about natural resource consumption and e-waste management. Exists, along with the two concerns just indicated, also the danger of losing control over AI and the consequent fear of developing capabilities that can surpass human control and generate unpredictable consequences for society. Equal fear generates the danger of the improper use of AI for harmful purposes, such as the creation of autonomous weapons or the manipulation of public opinion.

AIs have an immediate and devastating impact in different generations of society, especially the older ones, who are much more vulnerable, as well as defenseless and often unable to grasp the danger when they find themselves involved in scams , thefts and deceptions for which they are not prepared, not having received adequate information from anyone, today more pressing than ever, about the dangers that may arise.

If AI as a powerful technology offers great opportunities, at the same time it also raises big questions. On the one hand, an open dialogue that takes into account the potential benefits as well as the risks for workers and the environment appears essential, so that its development and use is ethical and sustainable and aimed at the good of humanity. But, as you know, when money is involved it is difficult to have a solid guarantee on the operation of the project, and everything could remain within the ideal scope of beautiful words.

Workplace AI will not lead to the abolition of human work if we accept the profound transformation of the labor market that is already taking place, It is therefore essential to invest in education and training to prepare workers to coexist with AI as humans did in the past with the arrival of the steam engine or the automobile.; because these are the occasions in which man has demonstrated his intelligence, certainly not imposing itself as the strongest animal, or fast, or skilled, but showing himself capable of managing a superior instrument with his adaptable intelligence, exercising his ability with which he has always been able to adapt to those numerous historical changes which today are called technological changes, reinventing new activities and developing new skills.

 

the Island of Patmos, 15 February 2025

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(English text after the Italian)

 

When the devil puts his tail, BETWEEN EXORCISMS AND NARCISSISMS…

Major exorcism is the therapy of choice to fight the Evil One? It's still: the action of the Evil One is always and only the extraordinary one or the ordinary action is not much more subtle and insidious? To answer these questions we make some further clarifications …

— Pastoral current events —

.

Author
Ivano Liguori, Ofm. Cap.

.

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Perhaps a clarification is due, because as expected, my article from 7 last February (see WHO) caused some readers to turn up their noses, so much so that they came to interpret my writing as an attack (personal?) to all those beautiful souls who daily fight against the Devil.

In short, all we were missing was the killjoy Capuchin friar to hinder the army of those warriors of light who with Captain Jesus - who is not up there but down here with the flag in his hand - catch the devils red-handed as the good Angelo Branduardi sang (you see WHO).

I consider my writing extremely clear so much so that it acts as a corollary to the beautiful note from the International Association of Exorcists (you see WHO) who certainly cannot be blamed for being a group of partisans and exalted troublemakers. And of demonology and the related sacramental of exorcism, two Fathers of this island of Patmos of ours perhaps know something about it. Both myself and Father Ariel S. Levi di Gualdo we both underwent training for this delicate ministry, in the usual year 2009 and at the same academic-ecclesiastical institution. Certain alarms must also be given, we must warn the Christian faithful against certain deviations as the prophets in ancient Israel used to do with the stiff-necked people: «Whether they listen or not – because they are a bunch of rebels – they will at least know that a prophet is among them» (cf. This 2,2-5). Some things just have to be said.

I believe that the priest today must rediscover his role as prophet, of the one who speaks in the name of God, something that is increasingly rare in an ecclesial community where clerical-religious personalism has become hypertrophic. Being a prophet involves inevitable hardships, of misunderstandings, an inconvenience that is difficult to accept but necessary, until proclaiming – from the rooftops (cf. LC 12,3) – even what most people don't want to hear. And all this without veils of rash judgments but with that prophetic parrhesia that we find within the folds of the pastoral responsibility that we owe to the people of God entrusted to us with sacred ordination.

Having said this, I would like to return further to some well-known issues, so well known, which are routinely ignored, disregarded and needlessly cunningly manipulated.

1. What is an exorcism?

It is the invocation of the name of God made in order to ward off the devil from a person, from an animal, from a place or thing. When it is done in the name of the Church, by a legitimately appointed minister and according to the rites foreseen in the approved liturgical books, exorcism is called public and has the value of sacramentals. If not, this is a private practice. Public exorcisms are divided into simple and solemn or major. In this article I will not stop to analyze the simple exorcisms that were part of some blessing rites included in chapter IX of the old Roman ritual or those inherent to specific paths and stages of the catechumenate journey and the baptism of children and especially adults.

Clarified this, the public exorcisms foreseen for cases of obsession or diabolical possession are called solemn or major, or in cases where the devil, operating from the outside, permanently prevents the individual's actions or in cases where Satan works through the individual's organism by acting from within the body of the possessed person, exercising more or less full dominion.

The prayer of exorcism more sought after by certain demonopathic believers, needless to say, the solemn exorcism. The need is so strong that even some alleged prayers for liberation have the structure of real solemn exorcisms, complete with an accusative and imperative formula. As I have said many times, We are looking for the strongest exorcist or the most talented charismatic person who has the most effective command formula against the devil to definitively solve all problems. We have to smile bitterly because in everyday jargon we often hear about the skill or otherwise of an exorcist or a charismatic person.. This lexical distinction has no reason to exist from a theological-spiritual point of view, it's not about using the skill typical of a cleric fantasy di D&D but everything starts from the authority of Christ who acts in the person of the exorcist and who God the Father welcomes and grants in view of the ultimate good of the soul.

At this point in the discussion a question is de rigueur: major exorcism is the therapy of choice to fight the Evil One? It's still: the action of the Evil One is always and only the extraordinary one or the ordinary action is not much more subtle and insidious? To answer these questions we make some further clarifications, already mentioned in my previous article of 7 February.

2. Baptism and Confession to fight the Devil

We should first of all remember that the first form of fight against the Devil is baptismal life, that new life in the Spirit which is nourished by a radical change of mentality or Metanoia (dal greco repent – of methane), from which the Italian term conversion derives. The Metanoia it marks a passage from the mentality subject to sin and concupiscence - of which Satan is the prince and creator; origin and cause (cf. GV 12,31; Ef 2,2; 2Color 4,4; 1GV 5,19) – to that of the Holy Spirit in which the risen Lord reigns (cf. With the 1,13; RM 6,14; 8,2). This change of register - of mind and heart - is already in itself a powerful path of liberation as Christ has freed us so that we remain free (cf. Gal 5,1). In the catechumenate path, this joyful freedom that Christ has gained for us is contrasted with the slavery of sin that the devil never stops arousing in man with his plots in contempt of God (cf. Rite for the Christian Initiation of Adults n. 78; 113; 156; 164; 171; 178; 255; 339; 372; 377; 379; 381 these are the different prayers that we define as simple exorcisms. Their analysis from both a liturgical and sacramental point of view would be useful to highlight the tension towards metanoia and the new life that the catechumen obtains with immersion in Christ's Easter).

Always remaining on the baptismal theme, how can we fail to include the Our Father prayer which was solemnly given to us in baptism and which asks God for liberation from the evil one. The Our Father is the prayer of children but it also constitutes the first simple supplicatory formula for liberation from the power of the evil one. The prayer of the Our Father is liturgically placed as the final culmination of the rite of Baptism (cf. Rite of Baptism of children n. 76 and Rite for the Christian Initiation of Adults nos. 188-189), and this is to express the tension towards a daily conversion in which every day the baptized believer asks God to be freed from the evil one in order to be able to participate as worthily as possible in that sonship of a son in the Son.

Another necessary clarification. The fight against the Devil takes place with good sacramental practice in which confession constitutes the most effective and eloquent weapon of choice than any other exorcism prayer. Recognizing and renouncing the works of the devil in my personal life becomes essential to ward off Satan. If I can do this, I recognize the vital action of the Holy Spirit who acts and convinces me about sin, righteousness and judgment (cf. GV 16,8-9). In the majority of cases, a good priest confessor is enough to resolve what could take much longer due to negligence, with the not remote risk of opening the door to the extraordinary action of the devil, according to what the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church already provides: «sin leads to sin; With the repetition of the same documents it generates the vice. The result is perverse inclinations that darken the conscience and alter the concrete evaluation of good and evil." (cf. n. 1865 and on the reality of sin cf. in nn. 1846-1876).

Frequently reiterate this teaching of the Church It absolutely doesn't mean throwing the baby out with the bathwater, demonizing exorcism. On the contrary, in doing so we intend to give a right place to a sacramental, contextualising it within a journey of mature and realistic faith that we are all called to follow, even with difficulty. Giving up Satan has never been an easy and immediate task.

3. The exorcist is not one Guest star

Another major clarification on exorcism concerns the one who is its minister par excellence. The canon 1172 of the Code of Canon Law declares that no one can legitimately perform exorcisms on the possessed if he has not obtained a special and express license from the local Ordinary (§ 1). This license must be granted by the local Ordinary only to a priest distinguished for piety, science, prudence and integrity of life (§ 2). The same things are reiterated by the "Letter to the Ordinaries concerning the norms on exorcisms" of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of 29 September 1985 (you see WHO) and from the ritual of the "Rite of Exorcisms and Prayers for particular circumstances", effective from 31 March 2002.

Therefore based on what has been established by the Church it is necessary for a person to perform solemn exorcisms in a legitimate way:

a) that it is only and exclusively a presbyter.

b) that such designated presbyter is licensed, conferred in a personal and direct way and expressed by the local Ordinary. The conferral of this faculty must therefore appear clearly from the bishop's decree. The license cannot be considered tacit or presumed. It can only be implied if connected to the office of exorcist.

(c)) in particular cases, for the exercise of the ministry of exorcism outside one's own diocese, the decision and judgment of the local Ordinary is necessary, who must be promptly informed by carrying out due discernment.

The ministerial action of the exorcist priest is meek and humble, he is the minus-ter is the smallest compared to Him who is Lord and Savior. No priest can undertake the fight against the demonic spirit alone, no layman or supposedly charismatic or psychic can have his own authority over demons. This authority was given by Christ to the apostles (cf. LC 9,1) and to the disciples who believe in him (cf. MC 16,17; LC 10,19) and who were established and sent by the Church as ministers of liberation and consolation.

4. Meetings and weekends of liberation and healing, all it takes is a little transparency

I have already explained in my previous article the danger posed by these parallel gatherings in the life of the Church, which look a lot like seditious gatherings. Gatherings managed by lay people without any authorization and competence which constitute a disorder for the faith journey of the faithful. What perhaps many still don't know is that stringent regulations have been issued in various dioceses of Italy regarding this type of demonstration and the like.. An example of this is the Sicilian Episcopal Conference (you see WHO), the Piedmontese Episcopal Conference (you see WHO); a note to this effect from the bishop of Trieste: «I saw Satan fall from heaven…» (you see WHO); and the excellent with a bailout of the diocese of Brescia which also includes various norms relating to the ministry of the exorcist (you see WHO).

I reiterate that prayer meetings and Christian formation must be carried out in ecclesial environments, except for those national convocations which involve thousands of people and which must guarantee very precise security and manageability criteria which are not always possible to have in official ecclesial contexts. It would be good practice, not of etiquette but of obedience to the Church, inform the diocesan bishop of these meetings. Inform the local Ordinary in good time with an official letter about the type of meeting, on the topic discussed, on the speakers who will speak and on the activities carried out at the same time. And only when approval has been received from him, together with his fatherly blessing we can proceed. Putting the bishops in front of a fait accompli, it is very reminiscent of the modus operandi of the fuitina of the past years with which rebellious parents were forced to agree to the marriage of their children. Personally I believe that everything must be documented to be transparent in view of the good that we want to bring to souls, knowing that the devil tends to hide and hide as much as possible. It would be appropriate to read the bishop's letter of approval in these assemblies to participate more fully in that ecclesial communion which has its center in the diocesan bishop. Unfortunately, the reality of the facts is of a very different kind and the bishops find themselves warning the clergy and the people of God against these meetings, enjoying the same success as the shouts against the bravos of Manzoni's memory. But there is more if the organizer of such meetings is from another diocese, it is enough to investigate a little to discover that these characters - both clerics and lay people - have been considered unmanageable since time immemorial and difficult to recover except with canonical sanctions and recourse to the competent departments.

5. Publishing about the devil: ecclesiastical approval still exists?

If we look around the most common Catholic bookstores, we often have to resign ourselves to not finding the requirement of catholicity, sometimes not even that of Christianity. But this would open a chapter that is better closed immediately. When dealing with the devil and exorcisms, it is now well established that this topic has found its perpetual youth in publishing, in other words we say that there is a good market. While we congratulate those who manage to live with these publications - you have to eat - I cannot help but offer constructive criticism. Dealing with specifically theological themes, the authors of these works of demonology, of pastoral care of exorcisms or prayers of liberation, they should obtain a permit from the competent ecclesiastical authority. What does this mean? What we are talking about is certainly not the permission to publish or not a book but the guarantee that what is published does not conflict with the faith, the moral, the magisterium and discipline of the Church. It means having the tranquility of mind to operate in continuity of intent with what the Church believes and lives regarding its teaching. Even in this area, editorial works on demonological topics approved by the competent ecclesiastical authority are very rare, Indeed, it is often enough to consider the single publishing house with which certain volumes are published to already have a more than satisfactory overview of the distance from any form of Catholicism and Christianity as well as a certain assonance with Christianized esotericism..

In conclusion I hope that this further article of mine be considered for what it really is, a heartfelt reflection on a very complex and delicate phenomenon such as exorcism and demonology. There is still so much to say and it is not excluded that he could return to the topic. For the moment, no one should feel attacked or compromised in their work but rather encouraged to live more and more in the light of the truth that makes everything clear., awaiting that definitive triumph of Christ over the devil at the end of time.

Sanluri, 11 February 2025

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WHEN THE DEVIL PUTS HIS TAIL ON US, BETWEEN EXORCISMS AND NARCISSISMS…

Is major exorcism the therapy of choice to fight the Evil One? Is the action of the Evil One always and only the extraordinary one or isn’t the ordinary action much more subtle and insidious? To answer these questions let’s make some further clarifications…

— Pastoral actuality —

 

Author
Ivano Liguori, Ofm. Cap.

.

Perhaps a clarification is due, because as expected, my article of February 7th (see HERE) has raised doubts in some readers, so much so that they have come to interpret my writing as an attack on those beautiful souls who fight against the Devil on a daily basis.

All we needed was the Capuchin friar to hinder the army of those warriors of light who with Captain Jesus – who is not up there but down here with the flag in his hand – catch the devils red-handed as the Italian sing Angelo Branduardi sang (see HERE).

My writing extremely clear, and conform y to the optimal note from the International Association of Exorcists (see HERE) which certainly cannot be blamed for being a group of exalted partisans. Two Fathers of this island of Patmos know something about demonology and the related sacramental of exorcism. Father Ariel S. Levi of Gualdo and I both underwent training for this delicate ministry in the year 2009 at the same academic-ecclesiastical institution. Certain alarms must also be given, the Christian faithful must be warned against certain deviations as the prophets in ancient Israel: “Whether they listen or not – because they are a rebellious race – they will at least know that a prophet is among them” (cf. Ezekiel 2,2-5). Some things just have to be said.

I believe that the priest today must rediscover his role as a prophet who speaks in the name of God, which is increasingly rare in an ecclesial community where clerical-religious personalism has become hypertrophic. The prophetic mission involves inevitable hardships, misunderstandings, an inconvenience that is difficult to accept but necessary, to the point of proclaiming from the rooftops (cf. Luke 12, 3) even what most people would not like to hear. And all this without veils of rash judgments but with that prophetic parrhesia contained in the pastoral responsibilities that we must exercise towards the people that God has entrusted to us through sacred priestly ordination.

Having said this, I would like to return further to some issues that are so well known that they are regularly ignored or cunningly manipulated.

1. What is an exorcism?

It is the invocation of the name of God made to ward off the Devil from a person, an animal, a place or a thing. When it is carried out in the name of the Church, by an authorized minister according to the rites provided for in the approved liturgical books, the exorcism is called public and has the value of sacramentals. Otherwise is a private practice. Public exorcisms are divided into simple and solemn or major. I will not stop to analyze the simple exorcisms that were part of some blessing rites contained in chapter IX of the old Rituale Romanum or those inherent to specific paths and stages of the catechumenate journey and the baptism of children and especially of adults.

The public exorcisms foreseen for cases of obsession or diabolical possession are called solemn or major, or in cases in which the Devil, operating from the outside, permanently prevents the individual’s actions or in cases in which Satan operates through the individual’s organism, acting from within the body of the possessed person, exercising more or less full dominion.

The exorcism prayer most sought after by demonopathic issolemn exorcism. The need is so strong that even some alleged prayers of liberation have the structure of solemn exorcisms with an invocativ and imperative formula. Thas I have often had the opportunity to say, we are looking for the “strongest” exorcist or the charismatic person who possesses the most effective command formula against the Devil to definitively resolve all problems. We have to smile bitterly because in everyday jargon we often hear people talk about the skill or otherwise of an exorcist or a charismatic person. This distinction has no reason to exist from a theological-spiritual point of view, it is not a question of using the skills of a D&D fantasy cleric but everything starts from the authority of Christ who acts in the person of the exorcist and who God the Father welcomes and grants in view of the ultimate good of the soul.

At this point a question is necessary: is major exorcism the therapy of choice to fight the Evil One? Is the action of the Evil One always and only the extraordinary one or isn’t the ordinary action much more subtle and insidious? To answer these questions we make some further clarifications, already mentioned in my previous article of February 7th.

2. Baptism and Confession to fight the Devil

It should be remembered that the first form of fight against the Devil is baptismal life, that new life in the Spirit which is nourished by a radical change of mentality or metanoia (from the Greek μετανοεῖν – of methane), from which the term “conversion” derives. The Metanoia marks a transition from a mentality subject to sin and concupiscence – of which Satan is the prince and creator; origin and cause (cf. Jn 12.31; Eph 2.2; 2Color 4.4; 1Jn 5.19) – to that of the Holy Spirit in whom the risen Lord reigns (cf. With the 1.13; RM 6.14; 8.2). This change of register – of mind and heart – is already in itself a powerful path of liberation as Christ has freed us so that we remain free (cf. Gal 5.1). In the catechumenate path, this joyful freedom in Christ contrast with the slavery of sin that the Devil never ceases to arouse in man with his plots in contempt of God (cf. Rite for the Christian Initiation of Adults nos. 78; 113; 156; 164; 171; 178; 255; 339; 372; 377; 379; 381 these are the different prayers that we define as simple exorcisms. Their analysis from both a liturgical and sacramental point of view would be useful to highlight the tension towards boredom and new life that the catechumen obtains with immersion in Christ’s Easter).

Still remaining on the baptismal theme, how can we not include the prayer of the “Our Father” which was solemnly given to us in baptism and which asks God for liberation from the Evil one. It is the prayer of the sons which also constitutes the first simple dedicatory formula for liberation from the power of theEvil one. The prayer of the Our Father is liturgically placed as the final culmination of the rite of Baptism (cf. Rite of the Baptism of children n. 76 and Rite for the Christian Initiation of Adults n. 188-189), and this to express the tension towards a daily conversion in which every day the baptized believer asks God to be freed from the Evil One in order to be able to participate as worthily as possible in that sonship in the Divin Son.

Another necessary clarification. The fight against the Devil takes place with good sacramental practice in which confession constitutes the most effective and eloquent weapon of choice than any other exorcism prayer. Recognizing and renouncing the works of the Devil in my personal life becomes fundamental to ward off Satan. If I manage to do this, I recognize the vital action of the Holy Spirit who acts and convinces me regarding sin, justice and judgment (cf. Jh 16.8-9). In the majority of cases, a good priest confessor is enough to resolve what could take much longer due to negligence, with the not remote risk of opening the door to the extraordinary action of the Devil, according to what the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church already foresees: «sin leads to sin; with the repetition of the same acts it generates vice. The result is perverse inclinations that darken the conscience and alter the concrete evaluation of good and evil” (cf. n. 1865 and on the reality of sin cf. n. 1846-1876).

Frequently reiterating this teaching of the Church absolutely does not mean debasing exorcism. On the contrary, we intend to give a right place to a sacramental, contextualising it within a journey of mature and realistic faith that we are all called to undertake, even with difficulty. Giving up Satan has never been an easy and immediate task.

3. The Exorcist is not a Guest Star

Another major clarification on exorcism concerns the one who is its minister par excellence. Canon 1172 of the Code of Canon Law declares that no one can legitimately perform exorcisms on the possessed if he has not obtained a special and express license from the local Ordinary (§ 1). This license must be granted by the local Ordinary only to a priest distinguished for piety, knowledge, prudence and integrity of life (§ 2). The same things are reiterated by the “Letter to the Ordinaries regarding the rules on exorcisms” of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of 29 September 1985 (see HERE) and by the ritual of the Rite of Exorcisms and Prayers for particular circumstances, in force since 31 March 2002.

Therefore, according to what has been established by the Church, for a person to be able to perform solemn exorcisms in a legitimate way it is necessary:

a) only and exclusively a presbyter.

b) that this designated presbyter has the license conferred by the local Ordinary. The conferral of this faculty must therefore appear clearly from the bishop’s decree. The license cannot be considered tacit or presumed. It can only be implied if connected to the office of exorcist.

(c)) in particular cases, for the exercise of the ministry of exorcism outside one’s own diocese, the decision and judgment of the local Ordinary is necessary, who must be promptly informed by carrying out due discernment.

The ministerial action of the exorcist priest is meek and humble, he is the smallest compared to He who is Lord and Savior. No priest can undertake the fight against the demonic spirit alone, no layman or supposedly charismatic or sensitive person can have his own authority over demons. This authority was conferred by Christ on the Apostles (cf. Luke 9.1) and on the disciples who believe in him (cf. Mk 16.17; Page 10.19) and who were established and sent by the Church as ministers of liberation and consolation.

4. Meetings and weekends of liberation and healing, all it takes is a little transparency

I have already explained in my previous article the danger posed by these parallel gatherings in the life of the Church, which look so much like seditious gatherings. Gatherings managed by lay people without any authorization and competence which constitute a disorder for the faith journey of the faithful. What perhaps many still don’t know is that stringent regulations regarding this type of demonstration have been issued in various dioceses of our nation. An example of this is the Sicilian Episcopal Conference (see HERE), the Piedmont Episcopal Conference (see HERE); a note to this effect from the bishop of Trieste: «I saw Satan fall from heaven…» (see HERE); and the excellent handbook of the diocese of Brescia which also includes various regulations on the ministry of the exorcist (see HERE).

5. Publishing about the devil: does ecclesiastical approval still exist?

In Catholic bookstores we often no longer the Catholicity, sometimes not even Christianity. But this would open a chapter that is better closed immediately. When dealing with the Devil and exorcisms this topic in publishing has been able to find its perpetual youth, in other words let’s say that there is a good market. While we congratulate those who manage to survivewith these publications – you have to eat – I cannot help but offer constructive criticism. Dealing with specifically theological themes, the authors of these works of demonology, pastoral care of exorcisms or liberation prayers should obtain authorization from the competent ecclesiastical authority. What does this mean? What we are talking about is certainly not the permission to publish or not a book but the guarantee that what is published does not conflict with the faith, morality, magisterium and discipline of the Church. It means having the tranquility of mind to operate in continuity of intent with what the Church believes and lives regarding its teaching. Even in this area, editorial works on a demonological theme approved by the competent ecclesiastical authority are very rare; indeed, it is often enough to consider the single publishing house with which certain volumes are published to already have a more than satisfactory overview of the distance from any form of Catholicity and Christianity, but rather a certain assonance with Christianized esotericism.

In conclusion, I hope that this second article of mine is considered for what it really is: a serious reflection on a complex and delicate phenomenon such as exorcism and demonology. There is much more to say and it is not excluded that he could return to the topic. For the moment, no one should feel attacked in their work but encouraged to live more and more in the light of the truth that makes everything clear, awaiting that definitive triumph of Christ over the Devil at the end of time.

Sanluri, 11 February 2025

.

.

.

The books of Ivano Liguori, to access the book shop click on the cover

.

.

.

______________________

Dear Readers,
this magazine requires management costs that we have always faced only with your free offers. Those who wish to support our apostolic work can send us their contribution through the convenient and safe way PayPal by clicking below:

 

Or if you prefer you can use our
Bank account in the name of:
Editions The island of Patmos

n Agency. 59 From Rome
Iban code:
IT74R0503403259000000301118
For international bank transfers:
Codice SWIFT:
BAPPIT21D21

If you make a bank transfer, send an email to the editorial staff, the bank does not provide your email and we will not be able to send you a thank you message:
isoladipatmos@gmail.com

We thank you for the support you wish to offer to our apostolic service.

The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

.

.

 

.