Guide for Examination of Conscience for Confession of Sins

6 STEPS FOR A GOOD CONFESSION

• Examine your conscience - what sins have you committed since your last good confession.
• Be sincerely sorry for your sins.
• Confess your sins to the priest.
• Make certain that you confess all your mortal sins and the number of them.
• After your confession, do the penance the priest gives to you.
• Pray daily for the strength to avoid the occasion of sin, especially for those sins you were just absolved from.

ACT OF CONTRITION

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended You, and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell, but most of all because they offend You, my God, Who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life.
Amen.

FIRST COMMANDMENT
"I am the Lord your God. You shall not have strange gods before Me." (Ex 20:2,3)

• Did I doubt or deny that God exists?
• Did I refuse to believe what God as revealed to us?
• Did I believe in fortune telling, horoscopes, dreams, the occult, good-luck charms, tarot cards, palmistry, Ouija boards, seances, reincarnation?
• Did I deny that I was Catholic?
• Did I leave the Catholic Faith?
• Did I give time to God each day in prayer?
• Did I love God with my whole heart?
• Did I despair of or presume on God's mercy?
• Did I have false gods in my life that I gave greater attention to than God, like money, profession, drugs, TV, fame, pleasure, property, etc.?

SECOND COMMANDMENT
"You shall not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain." (Ex 20:7)

• Did I blaspheme or insult God?
• Did I take God's name carelessly or uselessly?
• Did I curse, or break an oath or vow?
• Did I get angry with God?

THIRD COMMANDMENT
"Remember that you keep holy the Sabbath Day." (Ex 20:8)

• Did I miss Mass Sunday or a Holy Day of Obligation through my own fault?
• Did I come to Mass on time? Leave early?
• Did I do work on Sunday that was not necessary?
• Did I set aside Sunday as a day of rest and a family day?
• Did I show reverence in the presence of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament?

FOURTH COMMANDMENT
"Honor your father and your mother." (Ex 20:12)

• Did I disobey or disrespect my parents or legitimate superiors?
• Did I neglect my duties to my husband, wife, children or parents?
• Did I neglect to give good religious example to my family?
• Did I fail to actively take an interest in the religious education and formation of my children?
• Did I fail to educate myself on the true teachings of the Church?
• Did I give scandal by what I said or did, especially to the young?
• Did I cause anyone to leave the faith?
• Did I cause tension and fights in my family?
• Did I care for my aged and infirm relatives?
• Did I give a full day's work for a full day's pay?
• Did I give a fair wage to my employees?

FIFTH COMMANDMENT
"You shall not kill." (Ex 20:13)

• Did I kill or physically injure anyone?
• Did I have an abortion, or advise someone else to have an abortion? (One who procures and abortion is automatically excommunicated, as is anyone who is involved in an abortion, Canon 1398. The excommunication will be lifted in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.)
• Did I use or cause my spouse to use birth control pills (whether or not realizing that birth control pills do abort the fetus if and when conceived)?
• Did I attempt suicide?
• Did I take part in or approve of "mercy killing" (euthanasia)?
• Did I get angry, impatient, envious, unkind, proud, revengeful, jealous, hateful toward another, lazy?
• Did I give bad example by drug abuse, drinking alcohol to excess, fighting, quarreling?
• Did I abuse my children?

SIXTH COMMANDMENT
"You shall not commit adultery." (Ex 20:14) "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife." (Ex 20:17)

Note: In the area of deliberate sexual sins listed below, all are mortal sins if there is sufficient reflection and full consent of the will. "No fornicators, idolaters, or adulterers, no sodomites,... will inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Cor 6:9-10) "Anyone who looks lustfully at a woman has already committed adultery with her in his thoughts." (Mt 5:28)

• Did I willfully entertain impure thoughts or desires?
• Did I use impure or suggestive words? Tell impure stories? Listen to them?
• Did I deliberately look at impure TV, videos, plays, pictures or movies? Or deliberately read impure materials?
• Did I commit impure acts by myself (masturbation)?
• Did I commit impure acts with another - fornication (premarital sex), adultery (sex with a married person)?
• Did I practice artificial birth control (by pills, device, withdrawal)?
• Did I marry or advise anyone to marry outside the Church?
• Did I avoid the occasions of impurity?
• Did I try to control my thoughts?
• Did I engage in homosexual activity?
• Did I respect all members of the opposite sex, or have I thought of other people as objects?
• Did I or my spouse have sterilization done?
• Did I abuse my marriage rights?

SEVENTH & TENTH COMMANDMENTS
"You shall not steal." (Ex 20:15) "You shall not covet your neighbor's goods." (Ex 20:17)

• Did I steal, cheat, help or encourage others to steal or keep stolen goods? Have I made restitution for stolen goods?
• Did I fulfill my contracts; give or accept bribes; pay my bills; rashly gamble or speculate; deprive my family of the necessities of life?
• Did I waste time at work, school or at home?
• Did I envy other people's families or possessions?
• Did I make material possessions the purpose of my life?

EIGHTH COMMANDMENT
"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." (Ex 20:16)

• Did I lie?
• Did I deliberately deceive others, or injure others by lies?
• Did I commit perjury?
• Did I gossip or reveal others' faults or sins?
• Did I fail to keep secret what should be confidential?

OTHER SINS

• Did I fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday?
• Did I eat meat on the Fridays of Lent or Ash Wednesday?
• Did I fail to receive Holy Communion during Eastertime?
• Did I go to Holy Communion in a state of mortal sin? Without fasting (water and medicine permitted) for one hour from food and drink?
• Did I make a bad confession?
• Did I fail to contribute to the support of the Church?

"Whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily sins against the Body and Blood of the Lord. ... He who eats and drinks without recognizing the Body eats and drinks judgement on himself." (1 Cor 11:27-29)

So, to receive Holy Communion while in the state of mortal sin (having committed a mortal sin which has not been confessed and forgiven in the Sacrament of Confession) is itself a mortal sin - a mortal sin of sacrilege.

"O God, be merciful to me, a sinner." (Lk 18:13)
"Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven..." (Jn 20:23)
"Though your sins be like scarlet, they shall become white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall become white as wool." (Is 1:18)
"If we confess our sins, He who is upright can be depended upon to forgive sins, and to cleanse us from every wrong." (1 Jn 1:9)
"Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing." (Lk 23:24)

Sex virus blamed for rise in head and neck cancers

Sex virus blamed for rise in head and neck cancers

LONDON, March 26 — The number of serious head and neck cancers linked to a virus spread by oral sex is rising rapidly and suggests boys as well as girls should be offered protection through vaccination, doctors said today.

Despite an overall slight decline in most head and neck cancers in recent years, cases of a particular form called oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) have increased sharply, particularly in the developed world.

This growth seems to be linked to cancers caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), the scientists said in a report in the British Medical Journal.

Two vaccines — Cervarix, made by GlaxoSmithKline, and Gardasil, made by Merck & Co — can prevent HPV, which causes virtually all cases of cervical cancer, the second most common cancer in women worldwide.

Many rich nations have launched HPV immunisation programmes for girls to try to protect them from the common sexually transmitted virus before they become sexually active.

The scientists, led by Hisham Mehanna of the Institute of Head and Neck Studies at Britain’s University Hospital Coventry, said that while including boys in immunisation plans was previously seen as too expensive, it may be time to look again.

“We need to look at the evidence again to re-evaluate the cost-effectiveness of male children in light of this new and rapidly rising incidence,” he said in a telephone interview.

More than 500,000 cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed annually in women and it kills around 200,000 a year. Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common cancer among men and women, with about 640,000 new cases each year worldwide.

A recent study found the risk of developing oropharyngeal carcinoma was linked to a history of six or more lifetime sexual partners, four or more lifetime oral sex partners, and, for men, an earlier age at first sexual intercourse.

“Sexual transmission of HPV — primarily through orogenital intercourse — might be the reason for the increase in incidence of HPV related oropharyngeal carcinoma,” wrote Mehanna.

The experts pointed to recent studies which showed a 70 per cent increase in the detection of HPV in biopsies taken to diagnose oropharyngeal carcinoma in Stockholm since the 1970s.

HPV-related cancer was also reported in 60 to 80 per cent of recent biopsy samples in studies in the United States, compared with 40 per cent in the previous decade, they wrote.

Mehanna said the findings had other important health implications. Patients with HPV-related head and neck cancers are typically younger and employed, he said, and because their tumours appear to be less deadly than those caused by factors like smoking and drinking, patients may also live longer with the physical and psychological effects of treatment.

“This means they would need prolonged support from health, social, and other services, and may require help in returning to work,” he wrote. — Reuters

Benefits of papayas

 
Benefits of papayas
 

Papaya was the only studied food found to halt breast cancer
Scientists studied 14 plant foods commonly consumed in Mexico to determine their ability to halt breast cancer cell growth. These included avocado, black sapote,> fuava, mango, prickly pear cactus (nopal), pineapple, grapes, tomato, and papaya. They also evaluated beta-carotene, total plant phenolics, and gallic acid contents and antioxidant capacity. They found that only papaya had a significant effect on stopping breast cancer cell growth. (International Journal of Food Science and Nutrition, May)
Papaya is a store-house of cancer fighting lycopene
The intense orangey-pink color of papaya means it is chock full of cancer fighting carotenoids. Not only beta carotene, but lycopene is found in abundance. The construction of lycopene makes it highly reactive toward oxygen and free radicals. Scientists at the University of Illinois think this anti-oxidant activity contributes to its effectiveness as a cancer fighting agent. Epidemiological studies have indicated an inverse relationship between lycopene intake and prostate cancer risk. They showed that oral lycopene is highly bioavailable, accumulates in prostate tissue, and is localized in the nucleus of prostate epithelial cells.

In addition to antioxidant activity, other experiments have indicated that lycopene induces cancer cell death, anti-metastatic activity, and the up-regulation of protective enzymes. Phase I and II studies have established the safety of lycopene supplementation. (Cancer Letter, October 8, 2008)

Prostate cancer was the subject of a study in Australia that looked at 130 prostate cancer patients and 274 hospitalized controls. The scientists found that men who consumed the most lycopene-rich fruits and vegetables such as papaya were 82% less likely to have prostate cancer. In this study, green tea also exerted a powerful anti-cancer effect. When lycopene-rich foods were consumed with green tea, the combination was even more effective, an outcome the researchers credited to their synergy. ( Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2007)
Isothiocyanates found in papaya restore the cell cycle to eliminate cancer
Organo-sulfur compounds called isothiocyanates are found in papaya. In animal experiments, isothiocyanates protected against cancers of the breast, lung, colon pancreas, and prostate, as well as leukemia, and they have the potential to prevent cancer in humans. Isothiocyanates have shown themselves capable of inhibiting both the formation and development of cancer cells through multiple pathways and mechanisms. (International Journal of Oncology), October, 2008)

Researchers in Japan clarified the mechanisms of action in a type of isothiocyanate found in papaya known as BITC, that underlies the relationship between cell cycle regulation and appropriate cell death. When cancerous cells die on schedule, they are no longer a problem. The researchers established that BITC exerted cancer cell killing effects that were greater in the proliferating cells than in the quiescent cells. Cancer cells that are proliferating are much more dangerous than cancer cells that are in a state of dormancy. (Forum of Nutrition, 2009)
Enzymes from papaya digest proteins including those that protect tumors
The fruit and other parts of the papaya tree, also known as the paw paw tree, contain papain and chymopapain, powerful proteolytic enzymes that facilitate chemical reactions in the body. They promote digestion by helping to break down proteins from food into amino acids that can be recombined to produce protein useable by humans. Proteolytic enzymes protect the body from inflammation and help heal burns. They do a good job of digesting unwanted scar tissue both on the skin and under its surface.

Research has shown that the physical and mental health of people is highly dependent on their ability to produce proteins they can use effectively. However, as people age, they produce less of the enzymes needed to effectively digest proteins from food and free needed amino acids. They are left with excessive amounts of undigested protein which can lead to overgrowth of unwanted bacteria in the intestinal tract, and a lack of available amino acids.

Eating papaya after a meal promotes digestion, and helps prevent bloating, gas production, and indigestion. It is quite helpful after antibiotic use to replenish friendly intestinal bacteria that were the casualties in the war against the unwanted bacteria. When the intestinal tract is well populated with friendly bacteria, the immune system is strengthened, and can better protect against flu and cancer. Being a proteolytic enzyme, papain is able to destroy intestinal parasites, which are composed mostly of protein. To rid the body of intestinal parasites, half a cup of papaya juice can be alternated each hour for twelve consecutive hours with the same amount of cucumber or green bean juice.

Papaya contains fibrin, another useful compound not readily found in the plant kingdom. Fibrin reduces the risk of blood clots and improves the quality of blood cells, optimizing the ability of blood to flow through the circulatory system. Fibrin is also important in preventing stokes. Proteolytic enzymes containing fibrin are a good idea for long plane rides to minimize the potential of blood clots in the legs. People who sit at a desk all day might want to use proteolytic enzymes too.

Proteolytic enzymes are able to digest and destroy the defense shields of viruses, tumors, allergens, yeasts, and various forms of fungus. Once the shield is destroyed, tumors and invading organisms are extremely vulnerable and easily taken care of by the immune system.

Undigested proteins can penetrate the gut and wind up in the bloodstream where they are treated by the immune system as invaders. If too many undigested proteins are floating around, the immune system becomes overburdened and unable to attend to the other tasks it was meant to do. Proteolytic enzymes can digest these rogue proteins, freeing up the immune system.  

Papaya may harbour cancer cure

Papaya Leaves  Harbour Cancer Cure

The humble papaya is gaining recognition in Western medicine for its anticancer powers, with a University of Florida researcher claiming that the power fruit thwarted growth of cancer cells in lab tests.


University of Florida researcher Nam Dang, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues in Japan have documented papaya''s dramatic anticancer effect against a broad range of lab-grown tumors, including cancers of the cervix, breast, liver, lung and pancreas.




The researchers used an extract made from dried papaya leaves, and the anticancer effects were stronger when cells received larger doses of the tea.


In a paper published in the Feb. 17 issue of the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, Dang and his colleagues also documented for the first time that papaya leaf extract boosts the production of key signaling molecules called Th1-type cytokines. This regulation of the immune system, in addition to papaya''s direct antitumor effect on various cancers, suggests possible therapeutic strategies that use the immune system to fight cancers.


The papaya extract did not have any toxic effects on normal cells, avoiding a common and devastating consequence of many cancer therapy regimens.


The success of the papaya extract in acting on cancer without toxicity is consistent with reports from indigenous populations in Australia and his native Vietnam, said Dang, a professor of medicine and medical director of the UF Shands Cancer Center Clinical Trials Office.


"Based on what I have seen and heard in a clinical setting, nobody who takes this extract experiences demonstrable toxicity; it seems like you could take it for a long time — as long as it is effective," he said.


Researchers exposed 10 different types of cancer cell cultures to four strengths of papaya leaf extract and measured the effect after 24 hours. Papaya slowed the growth of tumors in all the cultures.


To identify the mechanism by which papaya checked the growth of the cultures, the team focused on a cell line for T lymphoma. Their results suggested that at least one of the mechanisms employed by the papaya extract is inducing cell death.


In a similar analysis, the team also looked at the effect of papaya extract on the production of antitumor molecules known as cytokines.


Papaya was shown to promote the production of Th1-type cytokines, important in the regulation of the immune system. For that reason, the study findings raise the possibility of future use of papaya extract components in immune-related conditions such as inflammation, autoimmune disease and some cancers.

Extremes of Sleep Related to Increased Fat Around Organs

ScienceDaily (Mar. 5, 2010) — Not getting enough sleep does more damage than just leaving you with puffy eyes. It can cause fat to accumulate around your organs -- more dangerous, researchers say, than those pesky love handles and jiggly thighs.

---

See Also:

Health & Medicine

• Sleep Disorder Research
• Insomnia Research
• Staying Healthy

Mind & Brain

• Sleep Disorders
• Insomnia
• Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Reference

• Circadian rhythm sleep disorder
• Sleep deprivation
• Overweight
• Separation anxiety disorder

A new study by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine reveals how extremes of sleep -- both too much and too little -- can be hazardous to your health -- especially for young minority women, a group most affected by obesity and chronic metabolic disease. The findings also indicate that there's more to "fat" than what we choose to eat -- social factors such as the need to work three jobs in a bad economy -- could be causing dangerous fat deposition around vital organs.

"We put a lot of stock in diet," said Kristen G. Hairston, M.D., M.P.H., an assistant professor of endocrinology and metabolism and lead author on the study. "But this study brings up some interesting questions about the way we live. We may need to start looking at other behaviors -- besides daily food choices -- that could be contributing to the obesity epidemic in younger age groups."

In individuals under 40, the study showed a clear association between averaging five hours or less of sleep each night and large increases in visceral fat, or fat around the organs. Of the study participants under 40, Hispanic men and black women were the largest groups to report getting such little sleep.

Short sleep has become more common in the United States and minorities are disproportionately affected, said Hairston, an affiliate of the Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity, part of the School of Medicine. They are also more prone to metabolic conditions, including increased rates of obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. The study suggests that part of the explanation for higher rates of metabolic disease in this population may lie in the association between sleep duration and fat deposition.

But sleeping the day away won't do much to better one's health, either. The researchers found that getting more than eight hours of sleep on average per night has a similar -- though less pronounced -- affect and is a problem most commonly seen in Hispanic women of all ages.

Surprisingly, the connection between extremes of sleep and accumulation of visceral fat was seen only in patients under 40, Hairston said.

"We don't really know yet why this wasn't seen in participants over 40, but it was clear that, in individuals under 40, it is worse to get five or less hours of sleep on average each night than it is to get eight or more hours," Hairston said. "However, both may be detrimental and, in general, people should aim for six to eight hours of sleep each night."

The study appears in the March issue of Sleep, the journal of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC.

The study raised important social questions for researchers, Hairston said, such as why so little sleep is such a problem in black women under age 40 and what circumstances may be contributing to their sleep patterns and likely to obesity and chronic disease development?

"This was certainly just a starting point," Hairston said. "We definitely know that a relationship exists between sleep and obesity. Now we need to know how this relationship can be modified."

Hairston added that it will be important for future obesity research to consider sleep patterns and the effect they can have on outcomes. Until the connection is understood, physicians should consider gathering information about sleep patterns just as they do other vital information when seeing patients. This information is especially relevant when treating patients about to make or in the middle of life transitions, such as college, marriage and childbearing, because such times are often associated with sleep deprivation in younger years.

"That information may help a physician put into context other issues going on in the patient's life which may be affecting their overall health," Hairston said.

Coresearchers on the study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, were Donald W. Bowden, Ph.D., and Lynne E. Wagenknecht, Dr.P.H., both of the School of Medicine, Michael Bryer-Ash, of the University of Oklahoma School of Health Sciences, Jill M. Norris, M.P.H., Ph.D., of the University of Colorado School of Health Sciences, and Steven Haffner, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

It’s official: An asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs

It’s official: An asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs

File photo of a full-scale model of a Tyrannosaurus rex, one of the most fearsome dinosaurs which ever lived. — Reuters pic

LONDON, March 5 — A giant asteroid smashing into Earth is the only plausible explanation for the extinction of the dinosaurs, a global scientific team said yesterday, hoping to settle a row that has divided experts for decades.

A panel of 41 scientists from across the world reviewed 20 years’ worth of research to try to confirm the cause of the so-called Cretaceous-Tertiary (KT) extinction, which created a “hellish environment” around 65 million years ago and wiped out more than half of all species on the planet.

Scientific opinion was split over whether the extinction was caused by an asteroid or by volcanic activity in the Deccan Traps in what is now India, where there were a series of super volcanic eruptions that lasted around 1.5 million years.

The new study, conducted by scientists from Europe, the United States, Mexico, Canada and Japan and published in the journal Science, found that a 15km-wide asteroid slamming into Earth at Chicxulub in what is now Mexico was the culprit.

“We now have great confidence that an asteroid was the cause of the KT extinction. This triggered large-scale fires, earthquakes measuring more than 10 on the Richter scale, and continental landslides, which created tsunamis,” said Joanna Morgan of Imperial College London, a co-author of the review.

The asteroid is thought to have hit Earth with a force a billion times more powerful than the atomic bomb at Hiroshima.

Morgan said the “final nail in the coffin for the dinosaurs” came when blasted material flew into the atmosphere, shrouding the planet in darkness, causing a global winter and “killing off many species that couldn’t adapt to this hellish environment.”

Scientists working on the study analysed the work of palaeontologists, geochemists, climate modellers, geophysicists and sedimentologists who have been collecting evidence about the KT extinction over the last 20 years.

Geological records show the event that triggered the dinosaurs’ demise rapidly destroyed marine and land ecosystems, they said, and the asteroid hit “is the only plausible explanation for this.”

Peter Schulte of the University of Erlangen in Germany, a lead author on the study, said fossil records clearly show a mass extinction about 65.5 million years ago — a time now known as the K-Pg boundary.

Despite evidence of active volcanism in India, marine and land ecosystems only showed minor changes in the 500,000 years before the K-Pg boundary, suggesting the extinction did not come earlier and was not prompted by eruptions.

The Deccan volcano theory is also thrown into doubt by models of atmospheric chemistry, the team said, which show the asteroid impact would have released much larger amounts of sulphur, dust and soot in a much shorter time than the volcanic eruptions could have, causing extreme darkening and cooling.

Gareth Collins, another co-author from Imperial College, said the asteroid impact created a “hellish day” that signalled the end of the 160-million-year reign of the dinosaurs, but also turned out to be a great day for mammals.

“The KT extinction was a pivotal moment in Earth’s history, which ultimately paved the way for humans to become the dominant species on Earth,” he wrote in a commentary on the study. — Reuters

"There are Priests, Monsignors and Cardinals are Members of Satanic Sects in the Vatican"

Spanish exorcist addresses claims of Satanic influence in Vatican


Frs. Jose Fortea and Gabriel Amorth.

Rome, Italy, Mar 3, 2010 / 04:20 pm (CNA).- A renowned exorcist in Rome recently released a book of memoirs in which he declares to know of the existence of Satanic sects in the Vatican where participation reaches all the way to the College of Cardinals. A second demonologist, also residing in Rome, entered the debate this week, clarifying the origins of the information and defending the Vatican's clergy as an "edifying and virtuous" collection of prelates.


In a book of memoirs released in February, the noted Italian exorcist Fr. Gabriele Amorth affirmed that "Yes, also in the Vatican there are members of Satanic sects." When asked if members of the clergy are involved or if this is within the lay community, he responded, "There are priests, monsignors and also cardinals!"


The book, "Father Amorth. Memoirs of an Exorcist. My life fighting against Satan." was written by Marco Tosatti, who compiled it from interviews with the priest.


Fr. Amorth was asked by Tosatti how he knows Vatican clergy are involved. He answered, "I know from those who have been able to relate it to me because they had a way of knowing directly. And it's something 'confessed' most times by the very demon under obedience during the exorcisms."


The famous Italian exorcist was also asked if the Pope was aware of Satanic sects in the Vatican, to which Fr. Amorth replied, "Of course, he was informed. But he does what he can. It's a horrifying thing."


Benedict XVI, being German, comes from a place "decidedly averse to these things," argued Fr. Amorth, saying that in Germany "there practically aren't any exorcists." However, he clarified, "the Pope believes (in them)."


The Italian priest also warned of the existence of bishops and priests who do not believe in Satan in the interview. "And yet, in the Gospel, Jesus speaks extensively about it, so it should be said, either they've never read the Gospel or they just don't believe it!"


Fr. Jose Antonio Fortea Cucurull, a Spanish priest and theologian who specializes in demonology and is now studying for his doctorate of theology in Rome, responded to Fr. Amorth's assertions on March 1.


After reading reports of Fr. Amorth's accusations pointing a finger at members of the clergy, including cardinals, Fr. Fortea declared that it is a "duty of justice" to speak out in their defense.


Noting that some prelates "are more spiritual and others more earthly, some more virtuous and others more human," he wrote on his blog, "from there to affirm that some cardinals are members of Satanic sects is an unacceptable distance."


The Spanish priest then explained the sources of information used by Fr. Amorth to say that Satanic sects are operating in the Vatican.


In addition to the people that seek help for demonic possession, said Fr. Fortea, "innumerable persons come to us who claim to have visions, revelations and messages from Our Lord." Among these, "a certain number offer apocalyptic messages and revelations about the infiltration of Satanism and the Masons within the dome of the Church."


Fr. Fortea added that the only acceptable stance is to suspend judgment of the messages while they are subjected to time-intensive discernment, "sometimes months for each one of the cases."


The other source Fr. Amorth refers to, according to Fr. Fortea, is the demons who are being exorcised. Of this, the Spanish priest wrote that knowing whether or not the demon is telling the truth "is in many cases impossible."


"We can know with great confidence when a demon tells the truth in the subject directly related with the exorcism. That is, the number of demons, their name and similar things. But we cannot be confident in what regards concrete news relating to people."


"Father Amorth does not have other sources of knowledge than the two that I just cited," indicated the Spanish exorcist, "I refer to his own words for this affirmation."


Fr. Fortea observed that the existence of similar messages from the same sources is "something known by me just as (it has been) by many other colleagues for many years."


"Among exorcists, some have come to similar conclusions as those of Fr. Amorth. Others have not."


Fr. Fortea also defended those implicated in Fr. Amorth's statements, stating, "Our College of Cardinals, if we compare it with past centuries is the most edifying and virtuous that history has ever known. One would have to go back to the epoch of the Roman Empire to find a body of electors so distanced from all earthly pretension as the current one is.


"Cardinals might be better or worse," he reflected, "but all have upright intentions and seek the glory of God."


He concluded by emphasizing, "Statements must be proven, especially when they are about such grave accusations that affect the honorability of those who form part of the Head of the Church as far as they help the Supreme Pastor.


http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/spanish_exorcist_addresses_claims_of_satanic_influence_in_vatican/