SOURCE:
http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/top/features/docuмents/02320490.htm
The exorcist
In paranormal circles, Bishop Robert McKenna is a hero. In the mainstream Catholic Church, he is a pariah. " They consider me a fallen priest, " he says. " They’ll denigrate me on any occasion given to them. " Part of the problem: McKenna is a " traditional " Catholic, who rejects the tenets of the Second Vatican Council, which reformed the Church in the 1960s. Even more damaging, perhaps, is the fact over the last 25 years, McKenna, 75, has established himself as one of the world’s foremost exorcists. " The official establishment has no faith in the devil anymore, " he says. " They don’t believe, and when they do, they don’t want to get involved. That’s why the devil is having a field day — the Catholic Church is not there any more. "
The Phoenix contacted Bishop McKenna at Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel, in Monroe, Connecticut, where he has ministered since 1973.
Q: How many exorcisms have you done?
A: Oh goodness, I’ve kept no records. Oh, I don’t know, personal exorcisms, I would make a rough guess at maybe 50 or more; house exorcisms, probably more than a hundred.
Q: What’s the difference?
A: In the case of places, it’s usually a poltergeist activity, furniture being moved, religious statues and crucifixes being broken, people being raised from the floor in their beds, markings on the wall, doors slamming — typical-poltergeist activity. And in most of those cases, I’ve had success in ridding the people of the molestation. But when it comes to exorcising people who are possessed, that’s a different story. The majority of cases have not been completely successful.
Q: Is that hard on you?
A: Yes, yes, so much so that in recent years I’ve given up taking any more cases.
Q: What do you do at an exorcism?
A: I usually follow the traditional rites: prayers to almighty God to deliver the person from the devil, telling the demon to depart in the name of God, applying relics of the saints to the possessed person, and sprinkling him or her with holy water, and that’s basically it.
Q: Is it tiring?
A: Yes. You go at it with readings, prayers, and adorations for a good hour, and if there are no signs of any improvement, and if there’s any purpose for keeping on for two or three hours, then we do. We keep it up for signs that the devil’s weakening.
Q: So this is the devil?
A: Oh yes, no doubt. The cases I’ve dealt with are not by any means people who are just neurotic. They’re always people who are very normal otherwise, gainfully employed, normal people in every sense of the word.
Q: How can you tell it’s not in the mind?
A: I usually take cases that [Ed and Lorraine] Warren or John Zaffis brought to my attention, and they have thoroughly investigated the cases.
Q: Why do some people get this stuff and not others? Bad luck?
A: It can be because they’ve been victims of a hex or curse. They usually become possessed because they’ve been involved in occult practices, such as Ouija boards, tarot cards, or consulting seers of some sort. In the case of places that are haunted, the houses may have been used for occult practices, or they may be located in area where, in earlier times, maybe Indians may have, you know, had idol worship or something like that.
Q: What’s a case that stands out?
A: I’ve had so many. A case I had three years ago comes to mind, a young lad about 20 years old who became so violent during the exorcism, it got to the point he was trying to attack me and do me in. We had people restraining him, bodyguards, and he was a lanky lad, but he became so violent that they couldn’t keep him down any longer. I broke off the exorcism, and as soon as I did, he calmed down. He came back a second and third time, and the same thing happened. I never got anywhere with him. Then, in earlier years, I had a woman from New Jersey who was possessed, and I had many sessions with her. I never succeeded in ridding her of her demon. He would talk through her.
Q: In voices?
A: Oh yes, in a man’s voice, screaming and shouting and threatening to kill me if I didn’t stop.
Q: Ever see any heads spinning?
A: I haven’t seen anything as grotesque as that.
Q: Beds moving?
A: No, I’ve never seen any poltergeist activity, but I’ve seen the effects of it — I’ve left the place and all hell breaks out again: things moving, things thrown, holes knocked in walls.
Q: Do you ever have any doubts that this is for real?
A: Oh, no. There’s no natural explanation for the phenomena I’ve seen.
Q: You haven’t seen heads spinning or beds moving. What have you seen?
A: When there’s a woman talking in a man’s voice, that’s certainly not natural. When a woman who is frail, who weighs about a hundred pounds, has to be restrained by four or more strong men, that’s certainly not natural.
Q: Are you ever scared doing this?
A: Well, yes. I got scared when that boy wanted to break loose and do me in. Otherwise, I trust in the good Lord to protect me, and He always has. No one’s ever laid a hand on me, and that’s a bit of a miracle.
— CW
Topic: McKenna interview (Read 2411 times)