Virtual world amplifies the enemies of the soul, warns Exorcist

In an online forum Wednesday, Manila Archdiocese’s chief exorcist said the virtual world is opening ways for evil to thrive and destroy the human soul.

Author and lecturer Father Jose Francisco Syquia said dangerous as it is, modern technologies are promising versions of redemption, and even spirituality, that are devoid of God and His providence.

This is just one tactic employed by the evil one to separate man from his God, the director of the Archdiocese of Manila Office of Exorcism (AMOE) said.

Speaking at the first “In Defense of Truth” (IDT 1.0) online conference, Fr. Syquia urged his listeners to realize that “evil penetrates families and communities in the subtlest” albeit sinister way.

The diabolical evil can be gleaned from mimicked human experiences online, but “not all that is technologically possible is morally acceptable,” the priest said quoting Pope Francis’ message to the 2017 plenary of the Pontifical Council for Culture.

“Virtual reality is even made to look more real than objective reality,” Fr. Syquia added.

The crisis of our times, the priest explained, is man’s openness to enemy suggestions brought by his inability to discern beyond media’s external appeal.

“Gadgets make a person fall into an altered state of consciousness which makes him psychically open, if not sensitive to the spirit world.”

Man has then become dependent, even addicted, on gadgets. Quoting the late Apple computer co-founder Steve Jobs, Fr. Syquia said, “a person’s life is now in his pocket.”

Social media apps are “purposely made to be addictive,” he said adding that “addiction is very easy because of man’s concupiscence,” or quite simply his sexual desires.

The results of this man-technology fusion, however, are disheartening, the priest said, citing “hatred, rage, despair, isolation, and loneliness” as chief among them.

These are actually the pains in hell mentioned in the 2010-release “The Dogma of Hell” by Jesuit Father Francis Xavier Schouppe.

Fr. Syquia said the same pains are conveniently “brought into the real and physical world through algorithms digital app developers use to keep audiences glued to their screens.”

Those tech-savvy individuals create tailored fit algorithms in alliance with linguists, psychologists, and other experts studying “netizens’ profiles, behavior, and even vulnerabilities.”

Social media contents must then be understood mostly as products of algorithms designed to heighten levels of the brain’s happiness-inducing enzyme called “dopamine,” and of the stress hormone “cortisol” in the bloodstream.

“The advent of smartphones and I-phones also gave rise to mental health issues, including unforgiveness, apathy, aggressiveness, and rudeness.”

Narcissism, as well as self-absorption, are on the rise, Fr. Syquia said, and loneliness is fast becoming the number one epidemic among members of “Generation Z” or those born from 1995 to 2012.

Low self-esteem is now boosted by the number of likes as well as followers admiring “outrageous even immoral acts.” Preoccupations have also increased, leaving people with “no more time to prepare for their entry into heaven,” Fr. Syquia said.

The exorcist-priest urged netizens to avoid truly evil websites, e.g. those dealing with occultism and witchcraft. They may have incantations and curses attached to them potentially leading to diabolical oppression, if not outright possession, Fr. Syquia warned.

“The devil can speak through social media. In pre- and even actual exorcism rites, electronic gadgets have been used by the devil to communicate to netizens,” the priest also said.

Fr. Syquia urged his listeners to “be aware of the three signs of the Devil” as explained by the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Those signs are isolation, rage, and the third, “nakedness” which points to the highly sexualized world, the virtual world offers without limits or restrictions.

The priest further warns that “online pornography becomes vivid and real that it becomes imprinted in the minds of users.” And worse, the diabolical lies and deceptions in the virtual world tend to leak onto offline settings.

At the end of his talk, Fr. Syquia recommended a pastoral approach to address these challenges.

IDT 1.0 is the first of yearly conferences designed to respond to the Church’s call of promoting and defending truth in Catholic doctrine.

The online conference is organized by the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences – Office of Social Communication (FABC-OSC), Veritas Asia Institute of Social Communication (VAISCOM), and their partners Catholic Media Network – Philippines, and Mary the Queen Parish (MTQP) of Novaliches Diocese.

The program was live streamed on the YouTube channel of Radio Veritas Asia, Facebook page of VAISCOM and MTQP Novaliches, and re-streamed on the YouTube channel of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore (RCAS).