Indigenous smoking ceremonies performed for Catholic schoolchildren are creating an alarming spiritual malaise.

Although elements of paganism have been creeping into various parishes and dioceses for some time, the blatant idolatry on display during the 2019 Amazon Synod really opened the floodgates. Since that time, faithful Catholics in the West have been inundated by indigenous emblems, prayers and rituals in what appears to be an attempt to change the Catholic Church’s very identity.

In Australia, that trend is quite evident, and the focus on Aboriginal culture which is being promoted politically and in the corporate world is being mirrored by the Catholic Church. When too much attention is given to another form of spirituality, there is always a risk that the pre-eminence of the Catholic faith will be overlooked. However, that is not the extent of the problems facing an institution that is starting to view pagan ceremonies as interchangeable with its own rituals.

Invoking Spirits

Many, including Family Life International, have expressed concern about the spiritual consequences of participation in indigenous rituals. Given that a non-Christian ritual, by its very nature, invokes spirits other than that of the One, True God — that is, it invokes demons — it seems implausible that there would be no evidence of spiritual bondage or oppression among its participants.

FLI sought counsel from that group of experts who sees the devastation of spiritual warfare on a daily basis: Church-appointed exorcists. What they revealed confirmed our worst suspicions.

Fr John Rizzo, former exorcist of the Diocese of Parramatta, has had years of experience in delivering unfortunate souls from demonic attack. In the two weeks before he spoke to FLI, Fr Rizzo had been contacted by three families whose children are at two different schools. Each family wanted his assistance because a child was exhibiting disturbing symptoms that the parents believe are linked to indigenous smoking ceremonies.

Fr Rizzo told Family Life International that he has seen “unpleasant consequences” from children attending smoking ceremonies.

“Children have become irritable after being involved in such situations. Students at some schools are forced to walk through the smoke against their will. Their well-informed Catholic conscience makes them feel uncomfortable! They know that it’s wrong!”

The priest said that he has been seeing “… a certain moodiness and a type of fear that is hard to understand.” Thankfully, he has found that minor exorcisms, which can be prayed by any priest, are proving effective in liberating the children.

“I particularly use the exorcism prayers from the traditional rite of Baptism,” he said. “I recite them in Latin first, and translate afterwards into English.”

Incurable Ailments

The mother of one of the children, Jane, (not her real name) opened up to FLI about her family’s experience.

“My son was attending a Catholic school, where smoking ceremonies were being performed quite frequently. He had also been exposed to regular smoking ceremonies at the public school that he previously attended. As time went by, my son’s health declined and he began to suffer from anxiety.”

For three years, Jane took her son to visit various medical professionals who were unable to diagnose his problem. All they could offer was medication to help with his symptoms — but there was no cure. Things then escalated to the point where, out of fear, the boy was unable to sleep.

“My son is naturally quiet, and he was at first unable to explain the reason for his inability to sleep. He eventually told us that about a week before, he had been visited in the night by a shadowy figure which screamed at him and pinned him down to the bed. When my son started to pray, the figure went away.”

Although it didn’t return, the boy was terrified that it would come back and asked his mother to pray the Rosary with him in his room before bed. The whole family was losing sleep by this time, as the boy was too afraid to be left alone at night.

When Jane’s son told her about the sleep paralysis, she feared that there was a supernatural cause to her son’s problems and contacted Fr Rizzo. After lengthy questioning, Fr Rizzo determined that the boy was suffering from a minor demonic attack. The priest heard the boy’s confession, administered Holy Communion and prayed prayers of deliverance over the boy. He immediately felt better and that night had what he described as his best ever night’s sleep.

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