Church's teaching on ghosts

The simple answer, albeit perhaps unsatisfactory, is that we do not believe in ghosts. It is fundamental to our belief that when we die, we rise to new life and enter the fullness of the kingdom. The notion of a spirit roaming about the world until some kind of life experience is satisfied is not consistent with that belief.

Sorry! - This is being re-posted here as well.....

It has been suggested by some that ghosts could possibly be souls serving their time in purgatory. a friend shared with me a story he read about St. (Padre) Pio. He was alone praying in a church when he saw the apparation of a young man in a cassock and surplice approach the altar and begin to light the candles. Of course, the candles never actually lit because the man was an apparition. On several more occasions, St. Pio witnessed this happen. In a dream, he was able to make contact with this ghost and discovered that the young man, when alive, had served at the church he was in and had had doubts concerning the Real Presence. As part of his time in purgatory, he had to approach the altar where he served and "light" the candles in honor of Jesus present there. The appearance of his apparaition was an appeal to St. Pio for prayers for those in purgatory.

Again, this is speculation on the part of some, in no way binding on believers.

I think, if ghosts do exist, and I've never seen one but have many friends who have claimed to see them, they could be pleas from purgatory for prayers. Just my humble opinion.

I don't know if this is right, but I always thought that 'ghosts' could exist but that they were really evil spirits - as this world is Satan's domain.
I've always been confused by the account in 1 Samuel 27 about Saul consulting a medium and Samuel appearing - but I know that other christians have the opinion that it wasn't actually him, but the devil deceiving Saul by taking the form of a ghost.
I'm not a catholic and do not believe that someone can be saved once they have died and therefore don't believe in purgatory (which I know is a whole different debate!) but I do think that any 'ghostly' apparition is not good news.

Supanova said:

I'm not a catholic and do not believe that someone can be saved once they have died and therefore don't believe in purgatory

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Supanova,

No offense to you intended, but apparently you don't understand what purgatory is. It's not being saved after death. It is not a second chance to get to heaven. This is a common mistake among non-Catholics.

From Purgatory

Nothing Unclean

Purgatory makes sense because there is a requirement that a soul not just be declared to be clean, but actually be clean, before a man may enter into eternal life. After all, if a guilty soul is merely "covered," if its sinful state still exists but is officially ignored, then it is still a guilty soul. It is still unclean.

Catholic theology takes seriously the notion that "nothing unclean shall enter heaven." From this it is inferred that a less than cleansed soul, even if "covered," remains a dirty soul and isn’t fit for heaven. It needs to be cleansed or "purged" of its remaining imperfections. The cleansing occurs in purgatory. Indeed, the necessity of the purging is taught in other passages of Scripture, such as 2 Thessalonians 2:13, which declares that God chose us "to be saved through sanctification by the Spirit." Sanctification is thus not an option, something that may or may not happen before one gets into heaven. It is an absolute requirement, as Hebrews 12:14 states that we must strive "for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord."

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This should give you some insight to what purgatory is all about.

God Bless!

What exactly is purgatory then? (sorry I know this is off the original topic).

Supanova said:

What exactly is purgatory then? (sorry I know this is off the original topic).

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Purgatory for Everyone - this was written by a non-Catholic on the necessity of purgatory.

First Things Article said:

What I have in mind are the many beliefs shared by Roman Catholics and evangelicals concerning, in particular, the nature of salvation. This growing consensus was expressed most notably in “The Gift of Salvation,” a document signed by a number of leading Roman Catholic and evangelical spokesmen, which reiterates the classical view that there is a close relationship between justification and sanctification. Salvation, in this view, is far more than forgiveness of our sins; it is also a matter of thorough moral and spiritual transformation. The document stresses this point by denying that faith is mere intellectual assent and asserting that it is “an act of the whole person, involving the mind, the will, and the affections, issuing in a changed life.” It then goes on to insist that Christians are bound by their faith and baptism “to live according to the law of love in obedience to Jesus Christ the Lord. Scripture calls this the life of holiness or sanctification.”

*It is here that “an indiscreet theological question” must be faced. If salvation essentially involves transformation—and, at that same time, we cannot be united with God unless we are holy—what becomes of those who plead the atonement of Christ for salvation but die before they have been thoroughly transformed? These people will have accepted the truth about God and themselves through repentance and faith, but their character will not have been made perfect. Their sanctification has begun but it remains incomplete. Such people do not seem to be ready for a heaven of perfect love and fellowship with God, but neither should they be consigned to hell.

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Great article NYJ

Supanova said:

What exactly is purgatory then? (sorry I know this is off the original topic).

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Purgatory is a state or a place (depending on how you want to look at it), where the believer is fully purged of his or her sins. While Christ's sacrifice brings us to the father, there still exists sin in our life.

"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8, NIV)

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However...

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9, NIV)

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Thus, while we can approach our Lord, we need to continually confess our sins to him, which makes sense out of why 1 John 1:9 commands it (to those who are already Christians).

So if we have sin in our life, it affects our ministry. Scripture says that our prayers can even be hindered (1 Pet 3:7), perhaps due to sin. Sin also makes a division between us and God, just as Adam and Eve felt guilty before God. Yet confessing our sins restores our life with God, and many times God will discipline or 'punish' us for such sin:

My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son (Heb 12:5-6)

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This would explain why Christians will face persecution of one kind or another: So we can eventually grow in maturity/perfection, which is the call of every Christian (Matt 5:48, 1 Cor 13:20). But if we die prior to being fully mature in Christ, naturally we cannot possibly look at God without dying. His holiness would kill us. Plus, scripture tells us that men in heaven are perfected (Heb 12:22) and nothing impure can possibly enter heaven (Rev 21:27). Thus, purgatory exists for additionally purging, or purgation to make us holy as Christ is holy, so we may fully experience God in heaven without any stain of sin in our lives.

Here's how I look at it: we're all in a state of purgation, and if we're not 100% sanctified in Christ when we die, then we will be completely sanctified in Christ in this state of purgation prior to entering heaven.

Hope this helped

-Jason

Papist said:

What does the Church teach about ghosts? My wife and I saw one once at the same time. We both saw a figure of an old man in a grey suit in the corner of a room we were in in an old building in Edinburgh. It was like: Did you see that old man? Yes I did!

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My guess is that maybe it's a sort of demon manifesting in the physical realm? I don't know if that's possible but I remember someone telling me a similar story.

-Jason

While we are talking about it, I took this picture on a haunted road here in Canton, Michigan "Denton Road."



Spooky, eh??

heh, it's not too difficult to play around with cameras

Someone took a picture of me and the light happened to make it look like there was a ghostly image behind me

-Jason

But what does the Catholic Church say about ghosts?????

I would like to add 1 Samuel 28 to the discussion. A ghost is summoned from the earth by a medium, not a demon or angel, but a ghost.

I'm personally open-minded to hear explanations on this. I'm interested in hearing what might be said here. I haven't made up my mind on this yet. TTYL Jesus loves you!

panterapat said:

But what does the Catholic Church say about ghosts?????

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That we should focus on Christ and Christ alone. That we should pray for the souls that have left this world in Christ’s friendship. We should leave the evil spirits to God to take care of; we should never try to rebuke them ourselves.

Even St. Michael says, “May God rebuke you.” We do not know the nature of any spirit, whether it be a fallen angel or a vision from Satan trying to deceive us, our focus is on Christ and we are to pray to God for the souls of those that are no longer with us.

Shelb5 said:

That we should focus on Christ and Christ alone. That we should pray for the souls that have left this world in Christ’s friendship. We should leave the evil spirits to God to take care of; we should never try to rebuke them ourselves.

Even St. Michael says, “May God rebuke you.” We do not know the nature of any spirit, whether it be a fallen angel or a vision from Satan trying to deceive us, our focus is on Christ and we are to pray to God for the souls of those that are no longer with us.

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If I ever see a ghost you can bet I will be focusing on Christ, BIG TIME!

I find it hard to believe in ghosts. Do you really think God would "forget" someone, which would force them to wander the earth in spirit form?