- Sharing your home with ghosts and not sure who to call?
Try the Anglican Church.
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- Church leaders say homeowners who become convinced their
houses are haunted are calling on priests to help them banish troubled
spirits.
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- And priests are obliging - with holy water and prayer.
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- The Very Reverend Graeme Lawrence, Dean of Newcastle,
said he recently blessed the home of a young couple who believed items
of furniture had been moved in their house.
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- He said the "intelligent and sensible" couple
came to him in desperation after they were unable to find a rational explanation.
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- Dean Lawrence said priests were very careful to identify
people who had a mental illness, but said most who asked for an exorcism
were intelligent, thinking people.
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- "Sometimes, it has to be said that, for some people,
there is a psychological projection going on and you try to make sure that
you don't cause any further damage to these people," he said.
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- "But from time to time I have gone to a dwelling
and taken some of the baptismal water from the font with me and I have
quite clearly blessed the house, and asked for God's blessing.
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- "As a sign I've sprinkled the baptismal water and
prayed that the presence will depart.
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- "Whether that's been successful or not I don't know
but people have said they began to feel better."
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- Dean Lawrence said the church had a long history of providing
rites and ceremonies for blessings or exorcisms, and the church in Britain
often appointed a senior priest as resident exorcist.
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- Bishop of South Sydney Robert Forsyth said exorcisms
were rare but they did happen.
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- "People do make such requests and ministers are
available for that kind of thing," he said.
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- "A minister is very careful to make sure we don't
get caught up in either simple superstition or mental illness but, despite
this, there are spiritual issues not exhausted by either of these."
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- The Catholic Church did not respond to The Sun-Herald's
request for information.
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- Jack Sims, who conducts heritage ghost tours in inner-city
Brisbane, said he was often approached by people wanting to research their
home's history in the hope of identifying a presence.
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- He said he knew of Anglican and Catholic priests prepared
to perform "clearings" but warned against psychics and sceptics
who were quick to capitalise on superstition and quick to charge exorbitant
fees.
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- "I do believe in ghosts but I also believe people
get a bit carried away,"he said. "Seek a rational explanation
first, then do some research to see whether there could be a possibility
that someone died there and could be lingering. Then go to your parish
priest."
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- Copyright © 2005. The Sydney Morning Herald.
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- http://www.smh.com.au/news/=true
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