Does anyone here believe in ghosts?

[user1464187087]

As per the title, does anyone believe in ghosts?
I have had a couple of things happen in my life that were very strange. Has anyone else?
And it makes a nice change from talking about Bonnie Blue. 😀

The Catholic Church takes it very seriously -

https://catholiconline.news/catholic-church/exorcist-crisis-explodes-as-ai-and-social-media-fuel-surge-in-occult-practices-church-warns/

Except that, in practice, it doesn’t. There are precisely two priests with training in exorcism in my entire home country (traditionally devoutly Catholic). Technically there’s supposed to be one for every diocese but there never has been. I know one of the two very well — he’s long past retirement age, and it’s many years since he was called out. His training is quite clear that it’s always treated a MH issue/vulnerable person/neurological condition etc unless specifically ruled out.

I mean, the Catholic priesthood in Europe and North America is dying off and no one is entering seminaries to replace them. Not having enough exorcists is a pretty minor problem in the scheme of things.

I’m not sure I’d see the International Association of Exorcists bothering the pope as evidence of anything. Their most recent book is about the commercialisation of Halloween and argues that trick or treating and dressing up means you’re ‘celebrating the start of the Satanic year’, and urges Catholics instead to dress up as saints and pray to the Blessed Sacrament on November 1st instead of trick or treating.

@ShutteredUp" the Catholic priesthood in Europe and North America is dying off and no one is entering seminaries to replace them. Not having enough exorcists is a pretty minor problem in the scheme of things."

I'm not sure where you are but quite the opposite is true here (North of England).
Our Priest retired and we soon got another one (the retired Priest now "helps out" when needed) Another one was training in Rome and has now been ordained and will be joining the Diocese soon.
We have another one training in Spain.
Every year our Parish runs the RICA Course (Rite of Initiation for Christian Adults) and has about 20 people attending.
I can't say how many exorcists we have in the Diocese as that will be kept very confidential.
This book is written by an Anglican Vicar https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reluctant-Exorcist-Biblical-Approach-Scepticism/dp/1909728314

More info here

maybe - 350 year old childhood house, still where parents live. Unexplained footsteps, door knobs rattling, old woman standing in corner - all in my old bedroom (now the spare room) and experienced by different people over time.

And yet the statistics say that the numbers entering Catholic seminaries in England and Wales have been plummeting since the mid-1960s.

That could well be true but the priests I mentioned all trained abroad.

Yes, because hardly anyone is entering British seminaries.

When I was a teenager the local woods after dark was a favourite spot for a general messing about and sex. I doubt much has changed 😂

So what has that got to do with the discussion about ghosts?
Does it matter where priests train ?

It started with you claiming that the Catholic church took exorcisms seriously.

I pointed out that it doesn't in practice, in part because almost no men are training to become priests outside of the developing world, so while a cohort of ageing priests are spread thinly over groups of parishes for the key stuff like masses, burials, baptisms etc, dioceses are not going to be overly concerned with fripperies like exorcisms.

The idea that the Catholic church has a crack team of exorcists ready to take your call and show up to dispel demons with holy water and crucifixes is based largely on Hollywood horror films.

@ShutteredUp "while a cohort of ageing priests are spread thinly over groups of parishes for the key stuff like masses, burials, baptisms etc, dioceses are not going to be overly concerned with fripperies like exorcisms."

You are misinformed.
Our priest was ordained only 9 years ago and we have a retired one helping out. We have one who is training in Rome who is certainly not "ageing"
Every diocese has one priest trained in Deliverance Ministry (which is what Exorcisms are). Only the Bishop knows who they are.

"The idea that the Catholic church has a crack team of exorcists ready to take your call and show up to dispel demons with holy water and crucifixes is based largely on Hollywood horror films."
I never said anything resembling that silly post. ^.
Exorcisms are very rarely performed, and only when all other avenues have been exhausted. That's why only one Priest per Diocese has the specialist training.
It seems, however, that The Holy Father is concerned www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/03/26/world-needs-more-exorcists-amid-satanism-pope-warned/