Bad news comes in waves. Good news comes in drips. But here’s two delightful drips. Go figure.
The exorcism by Bishop Thomas Paprocki at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in the state capitol, is officially called “Prayers of Supplication and Exorcism in Reparation for the Sin of Same-Sex Marriage.”
The ceremony will take place Nov. 20, the same day Gov. Pat Quinn is expected to sign Illinois’ same-sex marriage bill into law, CNN reported Friday.
Paprocki said he is following the orders of Pope Francis, noting when the Pope was an archbishop in Argentina he referred to the country’s legalization of same-sex marriage “a move of the father of lies who wishes to confuse and deceive the children of God.”
“The Pope’s reference to ‘father of lies’ comes from the Gospel of John, where Jesus refers to the devil as ‘a liar and father of lies,’ so Pope Francis is saying that same-sex marriage comes from the devil and should be condemned as such,” Paprocki added.
He noted the ceremony will adhere to the Catholic Church Rite of exorcism, which explains Satan can not only inhabit people but can also invade the church and the government.
“We must pray for deliverance from this evil which has penetrated our state and our church,” he said.
Second, the incoming head of the Philippines’ Catholic bishops’ conference issued a stinging rebuke to the country’s priests on Friday, accusing them of becoming the “pastors of the status quo.”
Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan said the Catholic Church in the Philippines does not face a problem of shortage of priests but a “zeal shortage.”
In a letter addressed to priests, Villegas said members of the clergy have descended into just “maintaining the Church, keeping the schedule, continuing the order of the day.”
“This cannot continue,” said the prelate, who will start his term as head of the bishops’ conference in December.
“We must get out to the [villages] and public schools, visit the charity wards of hospitals, teach catechism again, visit homes again, make a ‘mess’ in society,” he said.
He said one of the serious problems the faithful are subjected to is “long-winded and dry homilies” of priests.
“Our youth complain about lifeless and uninspiring liturgies. How can we set their hearts on fire if we ourselves are not afire for God?” he said in his letter to the clergy.
He said teaching Christian doctrines is not enough if priests failed to connect them to life.
“We know the faith but we do not live it,” he wrote
“What does it matter if we know the dogma of the Trinity but we cannot live the love of the Trinity among us? What does it matter if the Ten Commandments can be recited backwards and forwards and yet people continue stealing and killing, cheating and coveting?” Villegas asked.
He described knowledge of the faith without living it as “an ego massage” that makes priests “think that we are good Catholics although the reality is the opposite.”