Register Radio - Occult Curiosity and Dealing with Death

This week on Register Radio, Dan Burke and renowned exorcist Father José Antonio Fortea warn us about the dangers of opening the door of curiosity to the devil. Also, Brittany Maynard and Glenn Campbell face their mortality quite differently. What would you do? Jeanette DeMelo and Priests for Life’s Janet Morana talk about the ways of dealing with death.

The Dangers of Curiosity in the Occult with Fr. José Antonio Fortea

Fr. José Antonio Fortea is a native of Spain. He’s a specialized theologian in demonology. Fr. is also author of several books about demonic possession and exorcism, and he’s given lectures on this in many different countries.

According to Fr. Fortea, “There are two positions. One is to fight Halloween as a whole and not to be involved in any way. The other position is okay with the costumes, okay with my child to be dressed as a prince or an astronaut or Shrek, but nothing esoteric. I think perhaps the second position will be easier, especially here in Spain.” 

“The problem of Halloween,” said Fr. Fortea, “is that it can spread an interest for the occult and the esoteric world, the feel for the witches and things like that. If parents try to claim Halloween to be just a party of kids and to claim it from the esoteric world and the interest for witches and the cruel and horrible costumes, I think it could be done.”

He continued, sharing that the real problem is if children or teenagers become too interested in ouija boards, spells, and related things. “In that moment, when you call those beings, they may come to you and may be around you,” he said. He mentioned that becoming possessed is not so easy; becoming possessed in an instant is very rare.

In terms of whether elements of exorcism are rooted in things like centering prayer and transcendental meditation, Fr. Fortea said, “No. It is true that many exorcists try to convince people not to do such practices through the fear that demons are involved in those practices. Well, I am not so inclined to defend that.”

He continued, “If there is a New Age practice that you use to call spiritual beings, such as demons or souls in hell, they will go. But if you do a practice of the New Age, but you are not asking a spiritual entity to come, no spiritual entities will go there. Many Oriental practices, perhaps not all, may not be good or according to the Catholic faith, but that doesn’t mean demons will go there.”

Fr. Fortea’s book, Interview with an Exorcist, is a read Dan Burke recommends. Hear more about what Fr. Fortea has to say about exorcism and possession in the entire interview.

Discerning Ways of Dealing with Death with Janet Morana

Janet Morana is the executive director of Priests for Life and the co-founder of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, the world’s largest mobilization of women and men who have lost children to abortion. Janet also writes guest blogs for the Register. Her most recent blog on how Glen Campbell and Brittany Maynard face their mortality very differently is up at here.

“How this story really came into my radar is I watched the news in the morning,” Morana said. What she heard was that “they’re basically praising Brittany Maynard, [saying] look what she had to go through to move all the way to Oregon to claim her right to die, and she has terminal brain cancer. And then, in the next story, they’re talking about Glen Campbell. Glen Campbell, sadly, is suffering from Alzeimer’s.”

Morana continued, sharing that Glen Campbell did a huge tour across America with his family as his health was declining, singing his song. “You could see he looked aged, but his guitar skills were right on. The family was saying he understood that this was going to be a tough road but they were going to face it all together as a family, because they loved him and they’re going to surround him with love.”

“It struck me, the irony. Look at this family: they don’t know how much longer Glen is going to deteriorate. Look at the love and support, and they had the courage to take him on the road and to show everybody, this is how you deal with it,” Morana said. “The media’s praising Glen’s family, but in the next spot, they’re applauding Brittany Maynard. To me, it’s like from opposite ends of the universe.”

“I still feel there’s still hope,” Morana said, referring to Brittany Maynard.

Brittany has been quoted as perhaps having changed her mind. “She basically said that ‘I’m saying I’m going to do this on Saturday. It’s my choice, and if I decide to do it or not do it on Saturday, it’s still my choice.’ She’s basically telling people butt out and leave me alone,” Morana said.

A lot of people are commenting that they’re praying that Brittany changes her mind.

There are countries where this has been legal for a long time. Some of the abuses with assisted suicide that take place in Holland and Belgium are, according to Morana, “almost to the point of death squads.” She mentioned that children born with handicaps are being euthanized as well.

“From the right to die and everything else, you’re going to have infanticide, because life is no longer sacred,” Morana said. We’re supposed to think as St. John Paul II said, “Life is always a good.”

“The scary thing I found here in the United States, now with Obamacare we already have health care rationing. The next thing they’re going to start choosing is what treatments they’re going to pay for and not pay for,” Morana said, indicating that it will turn into a selection of who will live and who will not.

Links mentioned in this interview:

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