Monday, November 08, 2010

Quebec priest performs exorcisms

Most people are skeptical when it comes to ghostly possessions and hauntings, but not the Catholic Church.

Quebec Priest Luc Beaudoin has performed a dozen exorcisms since he was ordained in 2006. 

He maintains that all too often people open the door to the spirit world without realizing the dangers.

“Sometimes, people have held seances or dark ceremonies at the homes I visit,” he said.

“You need to take these things seriously. You can’t play with those types of practices. The Ouija board, for example, shouldn’t be taken lightly.”

Beaudoin said someone needs to intervene if paranormal activity is present in a home.

“Evil has invaded the house and only faith can overcome it,” he said.

In an hour Beaudoin can exorcise a house by blessing the home, reciting prayers and reading carefully chosen psalms.

The priest said spirits often haunt areas where violence occurred and show their trapped presence by creating sounds of footsteps and banging on the walls.

He claims he once performed an exorcism on a house built on an ancient Native American burial ground.

“There were really strange things happening in that house,” he said. 

“From what people told me, they’d feel a presence like someone was touching them.”

Beaudoin has never performed an exorcism on a person — he doesn’t have the bishop’s permission. But he said he’s met people taken over by a dark spirit.

“One way to know if a person is possessed is to have them drink holy water,” he said. “If they spit it out, it’s a clear sign.”

SIC: SUN/INT'L