Woman sues priests for botched excorcism?

zocoss SG

Any idea what is all this about, I read it in the Straits Times yesterday with the headline "Woman sues priests for botched excorcism"

Is this woman trying to get a free meal or is she just plain crazy? This involved The Novena Church and not some small church.

shade343 SG

Are priest suppose to be service providers ?

Honeybunz SG

Question

laurence82 SG

The Straits Times

Singapore
Woman sues priests for botched 'exorcism'
Leong Su-lin
593 words
31 August 2006
Straits Times
English
(c) 2006 Singapore Press Holdings Limited

She claims exorcism at Novena Church left her traumatised but priest denies act

A RARE Catholic ritual made popular by horror movies is the subject of a court case here.

Madam Amutha Valli, 50, is suing Novena Church, two of its priests and seven helpers, for what she claims to be severe side effects of a botched exorcism.

She says the exorcism performed against her will two years ago has left her so traumatised that she now needs 24-hour care.

The procedure, which originated in AD200, has never been officially carried out in Singapore, said Father William Goh, a theologist from St Francis Xavier Major Seminary.

A priest would have to be specially appointed by the bishop to perform any exorcism - which has not happened here, he said.

But Madam Valli, a former national walker, claims that Father Simon Tan and Father Jacob Ong ignored all protocol on August 10, 2004, when they attempted an exorcism on her.

That day, Madam Valli, her daughter and a friend had gone to church with her son, who wanted to pray. She fainted, and the two priests took her to a room to rest.

With her family outside, she claims they performed a 21/2-hour-long exorcism on her, with the help of seven helpers. She said she was pinned down, throttled and verbally abused during the exercise.

Her husband, taxi driver Suppiah Jeyabal, 55, said the incident has turned his wife into a hysterical person who breaks down often.

'She is scared of going out by herself, cannot work, and until recently, was unable to go to the toilet unaccompanied,' he said.

Her medical expenses, amounting to more than $70,000, plus the cost of hiring a maid to look after her, have wiped out most of their savings, and a large chunk of his CPF. This has forced him to take a loan, he added.

So he is seeking damages of more than $250,000, which includes Madam Valli's loss of earnings as a tutor, and future medical expenses. These include long-term medication for symptoms such as insomnia and stress; and psychiatric treatment.

Madam Valli, who has been warded at Changi General Hospital several times, was diagnosed by consultant psychiatrist Dr Angelina Chan as suffering from chronic post- traumatic stress disorder with depression.

In a report last year, Dr Chan wrote that Madam Valli's symptoms 'are a direct result of the traumatic incident that she experienced at the church'.

When contacted yesterday, Father Tan said he had no comment.

However, in an earlier media report, he had denied any act of exorcism on Madam Valli.

She had approached them for help, saying she was possessed, he had said.

He and Father Ong, and the seven helpers had only prayed over her, in an act of deliverance.

Unlike an exorcism, deliverance is the act of praying for a person, and can be performed by anyone.

It helps with 'inner healing' and is done commonly, said Father Goh, and has no side effects.

Exorcisms, on the other hand, involve people restraining the person while the priest commands the devil to leave, and targets those 'possessed by demons', have 'supernatural powers, speak in strange languages and display extreme strength'.

He warned that it was 'prudent' for priests to diagnose a person carefully before telling them that they were possessed.

'Why would you want to put fear in their lives, where there is none, and cause more problems?'

[email protected]

SingaporeMacross SG

Let us not jump to conclusions while the facts are not obvious.

Instead, pray that Justice is served.

NT2 SG

this Sunday, 3 Sep 06 is the annual procession of our lady of perpetual help.

ObiterDicta SG

I hope that as a consequence of this lawsuit, the archbishop will make a more concerted effort to update governance processes and procedures in the archdiocese, and, more importantly, to promulgate the information to the people in an easily accessible form.

The problem with the governance of the local church is that a lot of processes and procedures are not properly published and are only known to priests and a small number of people. Having things published and made known wil allow priests to tell people to 'read the manual', and relieve them of a lot of administrative burdens.

It may perhaps make things more bureaucratic, but it is necessary to take precautions against increased tendencies of people to file lawsuits, amidst a climate of growing hostility towards religion.

regards,
obiterdicta

ObiterDicta SG

if we know the answer, then it would be an open-and-shut case, and there would be no need to file the lawsuit or to go to court.

obiterdicta

laurence82 SG

There is a bit of cold humour here

In contractual laws, assuming there is a some sort of contract here, a party need not pay damages if terms of the contract cannot be carried out due unforeseen events, like acts of God

hohohoho

laurence82 SG

Somemore about exorcism, but not abt the case

The Straits Times

News
'It felt like someone was trying to suffocate me'
Jeremy Au Yong & Melissa Sim
981 words
3 September 2006
Straits Times
English
(c) 2006 Singapore Press Holdings Limited

Different religions take various approaches to exorcism; one woman shares her experience

AT THE climax of the 1973 horror movie The Exorcist, the possessed girl's head spins full circle, she shows superhuman strength and levitates, as two priests say prayers and command the demon to leave her.

While, like any movie, it is sprinkled with dramatic licence, the scene, as Father William Goh describes it, is not that far removed from the truth.

According to the Catholic theologian at the St Francis Xavier Major Seminary, the act of exorcism does indeed involve reciting prayers and commanding the invading spirit to leave its host. And the possessed can demonstrate unnatural strength and power.

But one thing the movie does not show is the lengthy preparation that goes into an exorcism. Father Goh said the ritual, which he calls 'solemn exorcism', is not something that can be performed ad hoc.

A team must first agree that the person is possessed, which can mean sending him or her for psychological evaluation. Only then can a priest specially appointed by the bishop carry out the exorcism.

To his knowledge, it has never happened here.

For all its portrayal in popular culture, exorcism is still a rather mysterious practice.

Last week, however, it was thrown into the spotlight by the case of Madam Amutha Valli, a 50-year-old woman who is suing priests for what she claims are the side-effects of a botched exorcism to which she never consented. The two clergymen from Novena Church deny the charges.

Different religions take varying approaches to exorcism.

For Catholics, any exorcism must involve certain key principles.

Preparation is a significant part of the ritual, with priests undertaking prayers for repentance, divine intervention and protection before engaging in the ceremony. Post-ritual, the victim must also go through counselling to enhance his spiritual life.

The act of exorcism itself is simple and involves commanding the demon out of its host by invoking the power of God.

Father Goh said: 'They may use words like 'In the name of Jesus, I command you to leave this creature of God.' It is a command, not a request.'

He stressed that they do not physically restrain the possessed person.

Buddhists take a different line. Said Mr Shen Shi'an, chief editor of the Web and library departments at the Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery: 'Buddhist exorcism does not aim to kill, trap, hurt, or chase away harmful unseen beings.'

The prayer and meditation is carried out for the purpose of persuading the spirit to leave the body.

'Buddhist exorcism aims for win-win situations for the involved human and spirit - who are seen as two parties negatively affected by grudges that require peaceful negotiation,' he said.

Taoists, meanwhile, mainly use chanting, prayer and physical movements to fight the evil spirit.

Master Tan Kok Hian, vice-president of the Taoist Federation (Singapore), said: 'We believe that there is good and there is evil, and the evil spirits will usually run away when they are faced with good.'

Among Muslims, belief in possession is not universal.

Mr Nazirudin Mohd Nasir, head of the Office of the Mufti at the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore, said: 'We believe there are unseen creations of God such as the 'jinn'.' Jinn are similar to spirits.

'One could possibly be possessed by the unseen, but one should not simply blame everything on this. In fact, some people do not believe in possession, although they believe that the unseen exist.'

The important thing for Muslims, said Mr Nazirudin, is 'to enhance their spirituality, so that they have a strong spiritual self to thwart all forms of disturbance'.

For Muslims who do believe, however, he said there were those in the community who specialised in the exorcism ritual.

One 47-year-old teacher, who did not want to be named, told The Sunday Times of her encounter last year with possession.

'Half an hour before it happened I felt something inside me, like I was pregnant,' said the mother of three daughters.

'When it happened it was like somebody was trying to suffocate me from the inside. Then it was like I had no control of my body. I could see out, but I was caught in this box.'

Her family remembered her screaming for hours on end and then abruptly going quiet. Yet, when they took her to the hospital, all her vital signs were normal. 'The doctor told us to look for other treatment,' she said.

That was when they called a spiritual healer. The ritual, which involved reading passages from the Quran, seemed to cure her. All in, the ordeal lasted a day.

Consultant psychiatrist Brian Yeo is rather sceptical about possession. He said he sees one patient every two to three weeks who is supposedly possessed, and more during the Chinese seventh month.

For him, behaviour such as that described by the teacher could be explained medically as entering a hysterical trance state.

'The symptoms are the same, it's just the cause that is different. Such a state might be triggered by stress,' he said.

'When I see someone levitating, speaking in fluent Portuguese and telling me tomorrow's 4D results, then I'll be totally convinced, but for now let's just say I won't rule out possession completely.'

[email protected]

[email protected]

ALL JUST HYSTERICS?

'The symptoms are the same, it's just the cause that is different. Such a state might be triggered by stress. When I see someone levitating, speaking in fluent Portuguese and telling me tomorrow's 4D results, then I'll be totally convinced, but for now let's just say I won't rule out possession completely.' - PSYCHIATRIST BRIAN YEO

JustDroppingBy SG

i've heard stories from my tuition teacher (christian non-catholic) that a friend of her's was possessed... then a some people pull him down... then one person will say something like in the name of Jeses Christ get out of this man's body or something like that....

on the spot.... no preperation....

it is still called exorcism?

SingaporeMacross SG

No, its called Deliverance.

SingaporeMacross SG

This is the Rite of Exorcism

http://www.angelfire.com/goth/drgargoyle/texts/exorcism.html

alvin-ncs SG

... Idea

Honeybunz SG

No update on that?

I just find the woman's account of the story too farfetched, sound so much like Hollywood movie.

I am not saying this to defend our priests. I only side with reasons and justice. If the priests are wrong, or likely to be guilty, I won't be saying this... just like that time when Fr Kang was found guilty.

The whole time we only hear the woman's side of the story. Nobody else on her side saw what happened. Could her mental condition cause her hallucination?

I really look forward to more update on this.

If the "excorcists & helpers" were proven guilty, I will shut my mouth and just pray for them.

zocoss SG

What happen to this case does anyone know? I didn't read anything on it in the papers for a long time already.... What happen? Case over? Confused

Honeybunz SG

One of the priests and one of the witnesses came out to say that when they saw the woman, she was behaving abnormally. They had to stop her from hurting herself when conducting deliverance.

Dunno about news after that cuz I didn't follow.

But the trial will be on next year I think.

Icemoon SG

The woman should have seeked the charismatic ministers to do excorcism or deliverance .. whatever you call it but it will be much more effective.

The charismatic ministers have more experience chasing out demons, so won't you want to find people more experienced?

Not sure which local Catholic priest is qualified to do excorcism, but in the whole of US there are only 10 qualified priests for the job.

Ariedartin SG

ahem… a qualified charismatic minister is not equivalent to a qualified catholic priest. each have their own standards by which they qualify, and its likely to because the charismatic diagnose more cases as possession than a catholic priest due to higher degrees of paranoia than is neccessary. please don’t take everything at face value.