Dear Marielle:

You can tell your students that a Possessed person may go heaven if they die in a state of grace just like the rest of us.

Possessed people can be in a state of grace. The devil possesses their body, not their soul. Possession can impair the persons ability to resist the devil's promptings and thus they may commit acts that are objectively sinful. But, in accordance with Church teaching, if one's will is impaired, or one is forced, they are not responsible for their actions. Sin requires freedom of will to choose to sin. For example, if the demons force a possessed person to steal something, the person has not sinned because he did not will to sin, the act of stealing was forced upon him.

There can be possessed people who want to be possessed and have no desire to be free. Some Satanist may be like this. Such people would certainly be on the road to hell, but only God can know who goes to hell. For that manner, except for those persons declared Saints by the Church, we also cannot know for sure who goes to heaven.

In the majority of cases, however, a possessed person does not wish to remain that way. They want freedom.

Often times the reason a person becomes possessed is through their own sinful actions that lead them to this severe consequence. We have had clients who began their journey leading to possession with something simple like playing with tarot cards, horoscopes, and Ouija Boards. Ouija Boards are particularly dangerous. Interest in demonic movies, music, books, and games can lead some people down the road to demonization and even possession. God knows what he is doing when he inspired St. Paul to teach us that we should not only avoid evil and sin, but to avoid even the appearance of evil (1 Thess. 5:22).

Many find themselves possessed because of their own sins, but innocent people can be possessed too. The most famous case of exorcism was right here in Iowa of a woman possessed since she was around 16 years old. She was innocent and did nothing wrong. The possession was facilitated by her evil father. This story is recounted in the book, Begone Satan, by Rev. Carl Vogl.

The control of the devil is not 24 hours/day. During lucid times the possessed person may be able to receive confession and even receive the Eucharist. Other times when the demons are in control the person may not be able to even approach a Church let alone attend Mass.

The bottomline: Yes, possessed people who die while still possessed may go to heaven if they are in a state-of-grace. Possessed people can be in a state-of-grace.

For those who wish to be free of the demons and look to Christ and His Church to seek that freedom there is a certain possibility, as it is with all of us, that they will die in a state-of-grace and and thus enjoy eternal friendship with God.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary