Monday, November 22, 2010

Fr. Thomas Euteneuer - Exorcism and the Church Militant Book Pulled?

I've seen references in the blogosphere to Fr. Thomas Euteneuer's book Exorcism and the Church Militant being pulled. Does anyone have any more information about this?  The reason(s)?

It's listed as being out of print at Amazon, out of stock at Ignatius Press.

tantamergo writes:
"Human Life International was the publisher. They not only declined to print any more copies, they pulled out of circulation almost all copies already printed. They made cryptic statements that “there is no problem with the content of the book, but if we were going to print any more copies, there would have to be changes.” I read it and found nothing even remotely heretical. It’s all a big mystery – Fr. Euteneur first loses his job at HLI, and then they pull his book, all within a month or so of publication (it was published in August)."
Source:
Update from Spirit Daily, with a little more information:
"...it was also announced last week that a book by Father Thomas Euteneuer, the former head of the large pro-life group, Human Life International, will be discontinued. The book, Exorcism and the Church Militant, which ironically lauded the Intercessors, was in wide circulation. Weeks before, Father Euteneuer left the organization when he was recalled to his home diocese after a reported controversy. A spokesman for HLI told Spirit Daily that the organization simply decided it was not its role to promote material on exorcism. "There was no problem fatal to the book," said the spokesman, Stephen Phelan, adding however that had it been reprinted, several changes would have been necessary. Limited copies remain available through Ignatius Press."
Related:

7 comments:

Josh Clark said...

Where can I purchase this book?

Mary Rose said...

Good luck, Josh, with trying to find a supplier. Ignatius Press is out of it and I could not find one store online who is selling it.

It makes me even more curious now that the book was pulled. However, since I'm still rather new with "coming home," I wouldn't pick up on any references to controversial public figures or thoughts.

I have been involved with a few deliverances and witness to others. I am very glad to see this ministry continued by the Catholic Church because I still believe there is a need for it. Sadly, too many churches are not involved in doing it and/or are misinformed about its purpose and preparation for it.

Maybe someday I'll read Fr. Euteneur's book. I have no desire to be involved in deliverance sessions again. Now that I'm back with the RCC, I believe the priests have the spiritual authority to engage in this area. As for me, I'll ask for St. Michael's aid!

Anonymous said...

I'm tantamergo (mispelled, I know, I was brand new to Wordpress and didn't know I was selecting the name I would be stuck with forever, blah blah, etc). As I said, I read the book. I can say that Fr. Euteneur, contrary to what Spirit Daily said, did not "laud" the Intercessors, he only lists them in an appendix as a resource for spiritual warfare. He doesn't discuss them at all, only gives some contact information. I think the "problems" revolve around his criticism of the lack of priority given by bishops towards exorcisms/spiritual warfare, and his encouragement to priests to approach their bishops to get training for exorcism. He's pretty hard on contemporary Catholic leadeship and catechesis for virtually ignoring this important aspect of the Faith. There are other potential reasons - his descriptions of the exorcism process, when it reaches in extremis, may have made some uncomfortable, he may be seen as exaggerating the influence of the demonic in the culture (I think he's dead on), or he could simply have made the wrong person mad. I don't know. Stopping further publication is one thing, but actually pulling copies out of circulation (the book disappeared off of Amazon overnight, and I have reports from Catholic bookstores that HLI paid to have the books returned) indicates a whole different level of opposition. Somebody really does not like this book.

I think it's a very good resource, badly needed on a subject that is ignored far too much in today's Church. I pray some publisher buys the rights, if they can, and puts the book back in circulation. Pray for Fr. Euteneur. From what I understand, he is still "banished" to the chancery in West Palm Beach, FL, with no assignment, almost 3 months after leaving HLI. It is amazing what happens to good priests sometimes.

Thanks for the link.

Anonymous said...

Interesting. We were told by HLI that the book simply sold out. It's really frustrating all this run around regard Fr. E. I'm reading the book as well; we found a few copies at a small Catholic book shoppe and purchased them all.

Rufus said...

Maybe tantamergo can publish his reports of bookstores who were paid to return the book. Why keep such a benign fact a secret? HLI says they did not recall the books and until someone comes up with facts to the contrary (not secret "reports" for non-secrets), I'd go with them.

And where did you hear that Fr. Eutener has been "banished" to the chancery?

Rumor-mongering is not a moral or Catholic response to controversy. We all want to know what happened, but let's pray for Fr. E and all involved in this. I hope he's doing well.

Mary Shaw said...

I've been involved in healing prayer ministry for years. This book is an awesome, well-balanced book that is true to Church teachings.
I'm not surprised about all the trouble Fr. E has had. There is always opposition to any work that sets people free from demonic influence.Unfortunately, much of it comes from within the Church. This book is a major tool for educating and empowering priests to set captives free. Much of Jesus' ministry was to do just this. So many are caught in demonic bondage (not possession)and in need of simple deliverance. Lives could be profoundly changed and lived for the Lord if more priests and laity use the God-given gifts/charisms of their Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders. This book would help that happen. I pray that we, the Church, would stop being afraid of dealing with the issue of the demonic, knowing Jesus is more powerful than this defeated enemy. The issue of the demonic needs to be addressed and the 'everyday Catholic' education. I am shocked at the number of Catholics involved in occult activities (astrology, Harry Potter (witchcraft), vampires, psychics, yoga, etc.) They have no idea of the demonic influences that come through these 'socially acceptable' activities.
I pray this book will soon become available (maybe by another publisher and unchanged). There is no need to sanitize the truth. This book is an invaluable gift to the Church!

Unknown said...

Fortunately we purchased a copy of this book before it became unavailable.

I have been involved in deliverance counseling for nearly thirty years (18 years of that as a Catholic). This book is a great resource for training. We will be using the book in our St. Michael School for Deliverance Counseling curriculum.

One major mistake that Fr. Euteneuer made to have this book published under an HLI copyright. One should always copyright under their own name, or at least have a provision in the contract that copyright reverts back to the author if the book goes out-of-print. If that provision was in his contract, perhaps the book will be republished with another publisher.

I am not surprised that this happened, however. The devil certainly does not like this book.

We need to pray for Fr. Euteneuer for whatever is happening with him, pray that this book will be re-published, and also pray for the evil opportunist who are trying to sell this book for a couple hundred dollars -- shame on them.

Bro. Ignatius Mary, OMSM(r)
saintpiocenter.org