Animal Afterlife?

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Hello, Bishop Manchester. Do you think some animals go to Heaven after they die? — Ruben H.

Animals possess a material soul which dies with the corporeal body. We have a spiritual soul which continues after death and does not die. Does this mean that animals will not be present in the afterlife? We really do not have the answer, but from a Christian perspective there are clear hints that God will restore the universe at the end of time. The visible universe is itself destined to be transformed "so that the world itself, restored to its original state, facing no further obstacles, should be at the service of the just," sharing their glorification in the risen Jesus Christ.

As animals belong to the visible universe, it seems possible that they too might share their glorification in the risen Jesus Christ. It might also be possible that God would re-create those animals who have been a pleasure and comfort to us in our earthly journey. I would like to think so, but, of course, we do not finally know in this life. It is something nonetheless for which we can hope.

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Disembodied Voices

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Dear Bishop, I am a co-founder of a ghost hunting group in the middle of America and something I've wrestled with explaining to myself and others is, what are the disembodied voices we capture on our digital recorders? Are they departed spirits, "holograms" of historical energy replaying itself or something more sinister. As a Christian, I believe souls go to heaven or hell when we die, so does that remove human spirits from being the cause of the voices we capture? I'd be very interested in your thoughts. May God bless you! — D.L.W

Disembodied voices can be attributed a variety of phenomena, and "ghosts" are certainly one of them.

The basic Christian premise of good souls going to Heaven and the bad ones go to Hell is strongly questioned by a belief in ghosts. Ghosts are considered by most who believe in them to be the spirits of people who have never departed the Earth. These spirits travel around continuing to do the same things that were done in life. This is completely against the fundamental tenet of Heaven and Hell as understood by most Christians. Paradoxically, many Christians still claim to believe in the existence of ghosts.
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The Catholic Church, however, believes that ghosts, ie spirits, do exist. There are even times when spirits appear to our benefit, but Catholics are warned against attempting to contact spirits.
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“Ghost” is simply another word for “spirit” (geist means “spirit” in German). Spirit is of three kinds: the human spirit which combined with body make up a human being; the defined spirit that has no body, such as angels; and the infinite Spirit, or God, of Whom the Third Person is the Holy Ghost. When someone asks whether ghosts exist, he usually has in mind the first kind, a human spirit. Hence Father John Hardon defines a ghost as “a disembodied spirit. Christianity believes that God may, and sometimes does, permit a departed soul to appear in some visible form to people on earth. Allowing for legend and illusion, there is enough authentic evidence, for example in the lives of the saints, to indicate that such apparitions occur. Their purpose may be to teach or warn, or request some favour of the living” - Fr John A Hardon SJ, Modern Catholic Dictionary (Garden City, New York: John A. Hardon, © 1980) published by Doubleday and Company, p. 229.
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The last sentence of Father Hardon’s definition implicitly gives the Church’s teaching on ghosts. Appearances of ghosts are understood with regard to our salvation. Ghosts can come to us for good, but we must not attempt to conjure or control spirits. The Church teaches that spiritism, ie seeking recourse or power from ghosts, is contrary to the virtue of religion (the Commandment: “You shall have no other gods before Me”):

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“All practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to place them at one's service and have a supernatural power over others — even if this were for the sake of restoring their health — are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion. These practices are even more to be condemned when accompanied by the intention of harming someone, or when they have recourse to the intervention of demons. Wearing charms is also reprehensible. Spiritism often implies divination or magical practices; the Church for her part warns the faithful against it. Recourse to so-called traditional cures does not justify either the invocation of evil powers or the exploitation of another’s credulity.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, number 2117).
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Thus, while the Church recognises the existence of ghosts, Catholics are not to intentionally seek them out — for good or for ill. Another theory about ghosts is that these spectres are actually a space-time-continuum replay of events that have happened in the past. This theory is possible, and is the most likely one that could fit into the belief system of the majority of Christians. Finally, there is always the strong risk that a "ghost" might, in fact, be a demon masquerading as a departed soul to torment and deceive the living. The Catholic Church unequivocally teaches that angels and demons are real personal beings, not just symbolic devices.
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Daemonolatreiae libri tres or Compendium Maleficarum? Or Malleus Maleficarum?

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Hello Bishop Manchester. Many books have been written on the subject of demonology and witchcraft. The three most famous books in my opninion are the Malleus Maleficarum (Kramer, Sprenger) Compendium Maleficarum (Guazzo) and Demonolatry (Remy). If you had to recommend just one of the three just previously mentioned to someone that is new the subject of demonology, which one would you pick? — Ruben.

You might want to try Daemonolatreiae libri tres by Nicholas Rémy before moving onto Compendium Maleficarum by Francesco Maria Guazzo. Guazzo was greatly influenced by Duke Charles III of Lorraine’s leading lawyer and demonologist, Nicholas Rémy, who produced one of the most important early works on demonology and witchcraft in 1595, Daemonolatreiae libri tres (aka Demonolatry). Malleus Maleficarum, written in 1486 by Heinrich Kramer, an Inquisitor of the Roman Catholic Church, was first published in Germany in 1487. It was translated from the Latin into English by Montague Summers whose edition I thoroughly recommend. Between 1487 and 1520, twenty editions of Malleus Maleficarum were published, and another sixteen editions were published between 1574 and 1669. Jacob Sprenger is also often attributed as an author, but some scholars now question that claim.

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Donald Omand

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Hello dear Reverend Manchester! I recently heard about a book by Rev. Donald Omand (written in 1970). The title is: "Experiences of a Present Day Exorcist". Critics I have read (on amazon.com) are excellent. Have you heard about that book? And if so, would it be among those you would recommend to read? Wishing you all the best, — Hans Verschelden.

I have known and read about Dr Donald Omand for much of my life, though we never met, and, while not entirely convinced by his exorcism of the Bermuda Triangle, I would nonetheless recommend Experiences of a Present Day Exorcist to anyone fascinated by the subject matter this author's life was so dominated by.

I certainly feel Dr Omand to have been sincere in what he set out to do. He is also an exponent of some interesting theories, particularly on the Loch Ness monster not being an animal and the identity of UFOs etc.

Dr Omand, a retired vicar in the Church of England, is an interesting character, to say the least, but perhaps "present day" in the title of his book should now be revised?

Dr Omand being interviewed by BBC television during the re-enactment of an exorcism. 

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Favourite Composer

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Dear Bishop, I know you love and sometimes perform music and just wondered who is your favourite composer out of the many you must have listened to? Blessings, ― Amelia

It is both easy and perhaps a little difficult to isolate one composer out of so many, but if I had to it would be Frédéric Chopin ― also my mother’s favourite composer. Chopin became the source of my inspiration to learn to play the piano. I only recollect my mother playing his works, a composer who never performed his music the same way twice. Each recital reflected Chopin’s mood in that precise moment. His compositions lend themselves to a degree of freedom and self-expression rarely found in classical music prior to the century in which my mother was born. So, despite liking so many other composers ― Olivier Messiaen immediately springs to mind ― I have an emotional attachment to Chopin's music which makes me love his compositions more than anything else when I hear it.

The first piece by Chopin I played on the piano was the Nocturne in E-flat, Op 9, No 2, which can be heard by clicking on the portrait of the composer above. I quickly gave it my own interpretation which I don't feel Chopin would have minded. At least, I hope not. My father also played the piano, but it was jazz that inspired his choice of music, as did a cousin who went on to become a classical concert pianist where Chopin featured significantly; though I believe Bach was her absolute favourite composer. I, too, feel drawn to Bach, but it is Chopin who really makes the heart leap. When death approached the composer he seemed to detach his mind from his person, and to show towards his illness and death itself that same aristocratic indifference which, in his ordinary life, he had reserved for importunate visitors. His thoughts returned to his sister and to the friends about him, and on 13 October 1849 the Sacraments were administered. On the 15th, in a moment of respite, he asked Delfina Potocka, who had hastened to his bedside, to sing for him. The piano was moved to the door of his room, and, holding back her tears, Delfina sang two songs.

On the following day Chopin asked that his manuscripts and all his papers be burnt, but this wish was not respected. Haunted by the fear of being buried alive, he asked ― in writing for he could no longer speak ― that his body be opened after his death. On 17 October 1849, at two o'clock in the morning, Chopin ceased to live. The funeral was not wanting in grandeur. His adoring public flocked to the Church of the Madeleine to take leave of him. Chopin's body was placed in the nave to the sound of Marche Funèbre from his Sonata in B-flat minor orchestrated by Réber. Mozart's Requiem was sung. Two of the Préludes, the fourth and the sixth, were performed on the organ.

Frédéric Chopin's heart was carried back to his native Poland by his sister, where it was placed in the Church of the Holy Cross in Warsaw. His body was interred in the cemetery of Père Lachaise in Paris where, still to this day, people, myself included, visit his tomb to pay tribute. 

Chopin was dead and the legend of Chopin was born. He was the incarnation of the romantic suffering hero, assigned to the role of extremist in all the conditions of the human soul ― despair and fever, tears and exaltation. Yet Chopin rarely gave himself to any sentimentality. He seems to rise above all the historic and aesthetic categories, evading, as Debussy put it, "the game of classifications." His art has the formal perfection, the intelligence, balance and measure of classical art. But if Romanticism ― in its deepest significance ― can unveil hidden worlds through inspired vision, then Chopin truly belongs to Romanticism, for he reveals through his music the inner mystery of man's heart.

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Remembrance

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There's magic in a Mother's touch,

And sunshine in her smile.

There's love in everything she does

To make our lives worthwhile.

We can find both hope and courage

Just by looking in her eyes.

Her laughter is a source of joy,

Her words are warm and wise.

There is a kindness and compassion

To be found in her embrace,

And we see the light of heaven

Shining from a Mother's face.

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Ancient Astronaut Theory?

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Hello Bishop Manchester. Last night I was watching Ancient Aliens on the History channel. After watching it, I would like to ask you what is your opinion of the Ancient Astronaut Theory? — Ruben H.

It is not my field of expertise, but I firmly believe in life on Earth originating with God and not the result of any intervention by visitors from outer space.

Erich von Däniken introduced the theory in the late 1960s and early 1970s, gaining support through the 1968 publication of Chariots of the Gods? I recall people getting excited over the prospect which was not unique, as it had been used as a device in science fiction.  Quatermass and the Pit, a 1958 British television science-fiction serial, involves a psychic projection of these visiting aliens that remained behind on the alien craft and is seen by certain people who come in contact with it. Professor Quatermass has a working theory where he believes that in its most primitive phase mankind was visited by these aliens. Some humans were taken away and genetically altered to have special abilities such as telepathy, telekinesis and other psychic powers. They were then brought back to Earth — the buried artefact was one of the return crafts that had crashed. With their home world dying, the aliens had tried to change humanity's ancestors to have minds and abilities like theirs, created in their own mental image, but with a bodily form adapted to Earth. In effect, humanity are the Martians.

Proponents of ancient astronaut theories often maintain that humans are either descendants or creations of extraterrestrial beings who landed on Earth thousands of years ago. An associated idea is that much of human knowledge, religion, and culture came from extraterrestrial visitors in ancient times, in that ancient astronauts acted as a "mother culture". Ancient astronaut proponents also believe that travelers from outer space known as "astronauts" or "spacemen" built many of the structures on earth such as the pyramids in Egypt and the Moai stone heads of Easter Island or aided humans in building them.

Writers such as Erich von Däniken, Giorgio A Tsoukalos, Zecharia Sitchin, Robert K G Temple, David Icke and Peter Kolosimo support the idea that ancient astronauts actually existed, but this is not taken seriously by the overwhelming majority of academics, and has received no credible attention in peer reviewed studies.

Some ancient astronaut proponents such as Von Daniken and Barry Downing believe that the concept of hell in the Bible could be a real description of the planet Venus brought to earth by extraterrestrials showing photos of the hot surface on Venus to humans.

"The Nephilim were on the Earth in those days — and also afterward — when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them" (Genesis 6: 1–4). The characteristics of the Ark of the Covenant and the Urim and Thummim have been said to suggest high technology, perhaps from alien origins.

In the Book of Ezekiel, part of the Old Testament, a prophet has a vision of a flying vessel accompanied by fire, smoke and loud noise. Some ancient alien theorists have argued that the vehicle’s design closely mirrors that of a modern spaceship, alluding to the text describing an early encounter between humans and alien astronauts.

Proponents argue that the evidence for ancient astronauts comes from supposed gaps in historical and archaeological records, and they also maintain that absent or incomplete explanations of historical or archaeological data point to the existence of ancient astronauts. The evidence is said to include archaeological artifacts that they argue are anachronistic or beyond the presumed technical capabilities of the historical cultures with which they are associated (sometimes referred to as "Out-of-place artifacts"); and artwork and legends which are interpreted as depicting extraterrestrial contact or technologies.

Mainstream academics have responded that gaps in contemporary knowledge of the past need not demonstrate that such speculative ancient astronaut ideas are a necessary conclusion to draw. Francis Crick, the co-discoverer of the double helix structure of DNA, nonetheless strongly believed in what he called panspermia, the concept that earth was "seeded" with life, probably in the form of blue-green algae, by intelligent extraterrestrial species, for the purpose of ensuring life's continuity. He believed that this could have been done on any number of planets of this class, possibly using unmanned shuttles. He talks about this theory in his book Life Itself.

Thomas Gold, a professor of astronomy, suggested a "garbage theory" for the origin of life, proposing that life on earth might have spread from a pile of waste products accidentally dumped on Earth long ago by extraterrestrials.

And so on.

I believe all these theories overlook the most remarkable and important factor about the Universe in which we dwell — its Creator.

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