Springfield Bishop Exorcises Demons of Gay Couple
FOUL: It’s been a long time since we brushed up on our Rituale Romanum, one of the key guides to Roman Catholic rituals. Specifically we wondered whether Title XI, the rite of exorcism, could be applied to gay marriage.
It has long been our understanding that individuals allegedly could be possessed by Satan and/or demons, but not entire state governments. However, given the state of Illinois’ political history, we suppose that’s possible.
On Wednesday night, as Gov. Pat Quinn was in Chicago signing the state’s new marriage equality law, down in Springfield, Bishop Thomas Paprocki was performing an exorcism that he said was designed to deliver the state from the evil of the gay-marriage law.
The bishop explained in his sermon, “I’m not saying that anyone involved in the redefinition of marriage is possessed by the devil, which, if that were the case, would require the remedy of a ‘Major Exorcism,’ but all of us are certainly subject to the devil’s evil influences and in need of protection and deliverance from evil.”
In front of a congregation of several hundred people at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Bishop Paprocki read the exorcism ritual. In Latin. Apparently demons understand Latin, but we didn’t get much past “Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres,” so we looked up the translation.
We don’t know about a “minor” exorcism, but the major exorcism ritual is very lengthy, involving holy water, the Litany of the Saints, unclean spirits, reading from all four official gospels, references to Beelzebul (not Beelzebub), serpents, scorpions, fear and trembling, begetters of death, profligate dragons, spotless lambs, asps, the father of lechery, the magician of Elyma and smiting.
Bishop Paprocki, who has been outspoken not just about gay marriage but contraception and the dangers to one’s soul of voting for Democrats, defended the exorcism against charges that it was a “stunt.”
“I did not seek to enter any controversy, and I don’t relish being part of one,” he told the congregation, adding that not only are gay couples who marry “culpable of serious sin,” but so are politicians who enabled it.
However, the bishop emphasized that he wasn’t suggesting that the governor or other state leaders were possessed by demons. Which is a relief.
— Kevin Horrigan
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