Argentina: Priest Performs Blessing at Location of Imp Sightings

Source: El Once Digital

Date: January 6, 2005

Priest Performs Blessing at Location of Imp Sightings

Residents of Parana's Antartida Argentina district requested the presence of the parish priest of the Our Lady of Guadalupe church in order to receive spiritual assistance after the alleged apparition of imps.

Under these circumstances, Father Eduardo went to their homes, performed several prayers, blessed the site and sprinkled holy water in the homes and trees where the strange figures were seen "with the purpose of calming the spirits seen."

Neighbors said: "Following the manifestation of the imps and their exposure in the media, we began to feel fear. For this reason we asked the parish priest to assist us."

Once the subject became widely known, "many people came by and notified others. There were even mentalists or parapsychologists who gave their opinions on radio and other media," said one of the spokeswomen for the group, who swears having seen seven imps on Friday, December 30, who attached personnel from the Fifth Sheriff's Office with stones during the moment of greatest tension. The fact itself was not confirmed by the authorities, but they did agree to note that something threw stones at them from the dark.

The local parish priest, who requested that his name not be published "due to hierarchical matters", remarked that "one must be careful with the things that are being said. Some remarks must be taken with a pinch of salt and without saying that anyone is lying, it can be understood that there is a great deal of fantasy in these remarks."

"The subject of imps has no logic and cannot be rationally explained. I know that some people came to church asking for spiritual assistance," he summarized.

He made it clear that "It is very strange [for people to say] that they flew and turned up everywhere. Therefore they will continue to believe in this, which borders on fantasy."

On the other hand, he cautioned that "no one has requested an exorcism, but this can only be authorized by the local bishop when faced with definite proof of the Devil's presence. From what we were told, there is nothing diabolical or related to evil in this place."

Along these lines, he differentiated between "assistance to souls in purgatory, which must be aided through prayer; but to go from there to say that [that they can turn] into imps is another story."

Another resident told Diario Uno that in the canyon area "men and women can be seen involved in strange things, such as practicing some sort of rituals like Umbanda, which request the presence of spirits for doing good and evil."

Translation (c) 2005. Scott Corrales, Institute of Hispanic Ufology (IHU). Special thanks to Christian Quintero, Planeta UFO.